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| Top Ten: Victoria: Drive the Great Ocean Road and see the 12
Apostles |
| Melbourne Travel Package |
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Melbourne Highlights
Day 1. Melbourne. Be welcomed on arrival in Melbourne and transferred to your
hotel. Three Night Stay: Melbourne – Mercure Welcome Hotel (Standard),
Swanston Hotel Melbourne Grand Mercure (First-Class), Hotel Sofitel (Deluxe).
Day 2. Melbourne City Sights, Phillip Island, Penguin Parade. Take a morning
sightseeing tour of Melbourne and discover its rich history, multicultural
heritage and historic buildings. See Parliament House, beautiful Fitzroy
Gardens, the bustling Queen Victoria Market and the Victorian terrace houses of
Carlton. Later, head to Phillip Island to see the famous Penguin Parade, when a
colony of Little Penguins return from the sea to their burrows in the sand
dunes.
Day 3. Puffing Billy, Winery Lunch, Wildlife. Today travel into the Dandenong
Ranges National Park, home to breathtaking forest, ambling streams and ancient
fern glades. Ride the Puffing Billy steam train through this area of timeless
beauty. Sit down for a hearty spit roast lunch at Fergusson’s Winery,
chatting with local winemakers and tasting local wines. Visit Healesville
Wildlife Sanctuary to see an array of native wildlife including koalas,
kangaroos, platypii and the ‘Eagles Fly’ demonstration. Lx1
Day 4. Melbourne. A morning at leisure. Perhaps do some last minute shopping in
the city or stroll beside the Yarra River at Southbank to enjoy the many
cafés, shops and Crown Casino complex. Transfer to Melbourne Airport.
Want to design your own Australia
vacation? All these tours have DAILY departures to make your
planning easy!
4 day Sydney Highlights
4 day Melbourne Highlights
2 day Outback - Uluru Sunset and Kata Tjuta (Olgas)
4 day Top End - Kakadu and Darwin
4 day Great Barrier Reef and Cairns
2 day Kangaroo Island Wildlife Experience
*Tours must be 2 days or more to qualify for savings. Please ask for discount
at time of booking.
Suggested Victorian driving
tour duration : 4 nights. Closest International Airport :
Melbourne Victoria - travel deals to Australia
Day 1 Melbourne to Warnambool Depart Melbourne by car: Travel along the
West Gate Freeway over the West Gate Bridge and onto the Princes Highway.
Werribee is approximately a 30-minute drive from the city of Melbourne.
Directions to Werribee Park Mansion are sign posted on the freeway, around 1.5
hours total driving. Werribee Park Mansion - Victoria State Rose Garden: One of
Australia's grandest mansions, built in the 1880s, has been restored and
furnished with magnificent antiques and illustrates the opulent lifestyle of
the squatters at the height of their wealth. Ten hectares on formal gardens
with parterre, grotto and lake, original building includes the gate lodge, farm
complex and laundry. Next to Werribee Park is the Victoria State Rose Garden.
Roses are displayed to perfection in a symbolic Tudor rose-shaped garden. This
garden boasts over 4,000 rose bushes with magnificent masses of colour and
contrast.
Travel from Werribee Park to Geelong: Continue along the Princes Freeway to
Geelong. Details are signposted along the freeway with directions to the
National Wool Museum. Drive time is one hour. National Wool Museum: An
outstanding heritage attraction which provides visitors with a unique insight
into Australia's rich wool heritage. Appropriately located in a beautifully
refurbished bluestone woolstore, originally built in 1872, the museum showcases
the wool industry from early settlement to present day. The National Wool
Museum also prides itself on its five Victorian Tourism Awards for Excellence
in Heritage Tourism. Drive from Geelong to Lorne: Details on how to proceed to
the Great Ocean Road are signposted through Geelong, Victoria's second largest
city.
Travel on through Torquay, known for its surf beaches. Stop at Bells Beach,
home of the Bells Beach Easter Classic surfing championship. Other towns of
interest include Anglesea, renowned for its 'Kangaroo Golf Course' and the
seaside resort of Lorne. Lorne: Stop at Lorne briefly before continuing further
along the Great Ocean Road to Apollo Bay. Lorne is an ideal lunch spot,
approximately a one-hour drive from Geelong. The Great Ocean Road: Constructed
between 1916 and 1932, the road stretches 420 kilometres along one of the
world's largest volcanic plateaus. More than 3,000 ex-servicemen toiled the
rugged terrain with picks, shovels and crow bars to build the road, and were
later joined by the jobless of the Great Depression.
Continue an unforgettable journey along the edge of the world's most inspiring
coastal drive, this spectacular cliff-hugging drive takes you through the
unique wildlife and fauna in the lush Otway rainforests, to the breathtaking
Shipwreck Coast. Two of the most beautiful national parks in Australia are
found along the Great Ocean Road. The Port Campbell National Park captures the
true spirit of this historic coastline. At Loch Ard Gorge, the poignant story
of the shipwreck of the Loch Ard unfolds. Otway National Park is flanked by
towering rainforest on one side and steep cliffs and rugged ocean beaches on
the other. Savage elements have driven many a ship to destruction, taking with
them the lives of hundreds of mariners, convicts and immigrants who were caught
up in the battle between the land and the sea. American, English, Spanish,
Portuguese, French and Scottish vessels were among the 163 ships which are
believed to have foundered on the jagged rocks and soaring cliffs. The same
rugged elements which have caused the wrecks of hundreds of ships along this
coast have left other marks. The Twelve Apostles at Port Campbell, a major
coastal landmark, and London Bridge, are a testament to this.
Travel time to attractions: Apollo Bay to the Twelve Apostles - one hour, 15
minutes; the Twelve Apostles to Loch Ard Gorge - five minutes; Loch Ard Gorge
to London Bridge - 10 minutes; London Bridge to Warrnambool - 45 minutes.
Overnight accommodation: Upon arrival at Warrnambool or Port Fairy, check in to
your accommodation.
Day 2 Warnambool to Halls Gap Breakfast: Suggest a reasonably early
morning and breakfast prior to take advantage of the day to be spent in the
Grampians. Drive to the Grampians: The Grampians is approximately a two-hour
drive from Warrnambool. Take the Hopkins Highway from Warrnambool to Mortlake.
Travel from Mortlake to Ararat and from Ararat to Halls Gap. The Grampians:
Over 400 million years ago, in the place we now know as western Victoria, the
earth rose up to form a vast island of mountains the local Aboriginal (Koori)
people called Gariwerd. It is an island oasis which for millions of years was
pounded by the advancing Southern Ocean. Over the years wind, rain and water
have carved fantastic shapes in The Grampians' ancient stone, creating the
steep craggy, slopes and rock formations which thrust majestically upwards from
the Earth's crust. A Grampians experience is like no other - a place of
Aboriginal Dreamtime legends and rock art, which is rare in Australia. You'll
find records of ceremonies painted in red and white on the walls of many rock
shelters. More than 100 rock art sites have been documented. And the
wildflowers are a spectacle. Many bloom all year round, and some occur nowhere
else on Earth. Lunch; Take a break on the way through to Brambuk Living
Cultural Centre as the Grampians is explored. Brambuk Living Cultural Centre:
The centre is a unique place where you can learn about the culture of the Koori
communities of south-western Victoria. It is situated two kilometres from Halls
Gap on the Dunkeld Road. You can reflect on the past, consider the present and
look to the future as you take in exhibitions, displays, cultural talks and
activities and art site tours. Overnight accommodation: Check into
accommodation at Halls Gap
Day 3 Halls Gap to Ballarat Drive Halls Gap to Ballarat, via Ararat:
Rise early and drive from Halls Gap to Ararat and take the Western Highway to
Ballarat. Ballarat is approximately two hours drive from Halls Gap. Ballarat
Wildlife Park: The park is set in 116 hectares of beautiful peppermint gum
woodland. Experience close contact with koalas, kangaroos, emus, wombats and
much more. The park's commitment to the conservation of Australian wildlife and
the environment is immediately apparent as you stroll through the grounds and
amongst the native animals in an atmosphere of contentment and tranquillity.
Eureka Stockade Centre: Experience the tensions and drama of the Eureka
Stockade as you move through a series of galleries which employ
state-of-the-art multi-media technology to vividly bring the Eureka story to
life. Sovereign Hill gold mining township: Enjoy lunch amongst the faithfully
reproduced architecture of a gold mining town of the 1850s. Sovereign Hill is
Australia's most foremost living museum, where you can experience the life of
the 1850s gold rush recreated in fascinating detail. Pan for gold, ride a
stagecoach, dress up in the costumes of the old days, watch a gold bar being
poured and explore the authentic shops along Main Street. 'Blood on the
Southern Cross': A spectacular sound and light show which runs for 1 hour, 20
minutes, re-enacting the Eureka Stockade. While there enjoy the show and
dinner. Alternatively enjoy dinner at one of the many restaurants in Ballarat
town centre. Foreign language service in Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese, Korean
and German. Overnight accommodation: Check in to your accommodation and take a
stroll down the main street of Ballarat, taking in the truly wonderful
architecture of the town.
Day 4 Ballarat to Daylesford Drive to Daylesford: After breakfast drive
down to Daylesford via Creswick. It is approximately 45 minutes drive from
Ballarat. Convent Gallery: The gallery is a magnificent restored building
retaining many of its Victorian architectural features. It was originally built
as the private residence of a gold commissioner during the 1860s goldrush. The
building was later dedicated as the Holy Cross Convent, a private presentation
school for girls. The convent closed in 1982 and the building has been restored
as a superb art gallery which houses seven galleries displaying glassware,
pottery, fashion jewellery, sculpture and print making, as well as the work of
local potters, painters and artists. Lunch: After exploring the Convent
Gallery, take time for lunch. Return to Melbourne: Return to the city, which is
approximately two hours drive. Overnight: Melbourne
Day 5: Melbourne This morning return the car to either a city or airport
depot or continue with an extension to Phillip Island.
Includes a car and accommodation.
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