QLD and flooding

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Originally Posted by F4Phantom

well after calling inlaws in QLD and calling the hotels it looks like we cant really get access to the area. I will not be taking a 4x4, not that this matters much as I would not drive my kids in anything like floodwater anyway.

So thankyou all for the advice. I am now planning a last minute trip from melb to ceduna or fowlers bay as I really want to see all along there and the kids should like the beaches.

Any paces that are must see along the SA coast?

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The Coorong coast north of Kingston is a huge continuous beach. Great access 5km north of town at The Granites, further up the coast walk over the dunes at 42 Mile Crossing. Then Waitpinga Beach west of Victor Harbor ticks all my boxes for a spectacular beach. Most of the Fleurieu Peninsula is a pleasant scenic drive around to Adelaide. Views over Kangaroo Island and steep cliffs, Deep Creek conservation park. and Cape Jervis. Also wind farms at Millicent, Cape Jervis if they turn you on.

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Originally Posted by bee utey

The Coorong coast north of Kingston is a huge continuous beach. Great access 5km north of town at The Granites, further up the coast walk over the dunes at 42 Mile Crossing. Then Waitpinga Beach west of Victor Harbor ticks all my boxes for a spectacular beach. Most of the Fleurieu Peninsula is a pleasant scenic drive around to Adelaide. Views over Kangaroo Island and steep cliffs, Deep Creek conservation park. and Cape Jervis. Also wind farms at Millicent, Cape Jervis if they turn you on.

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Thanks bee utey. I will not be in a 4x4 so cant drive on the beach, but I will visit kingston then victor harbour, around cape jervis, adelaide, then to streaky bay, ceduna and then maybe turn around there.

3000km return.

I am very interested in must see places/experiences (or places not really worth going too!) along the way as I dont know the area very well.

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Originally Posted by F4Phantom

Thanks bee utey. I will not be in a 4x4 so cant drive on the beach, but I will visit kingston then victor harbour, around cape jervis, adelaide, then to streaky bay, ceduna and then maybe turn around there.

3000km return.

I am very interested in must see places/experiences (or places not really worth going too!) along the way as I dont know the area very well.

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Great trip! All the access points mentioned before are 2wd to the car park and walk to the beach. 42 Mile crossing is about 1km walk, save it for a cool morning. This is in a national park, so no facilities. The old coast road north of The Granites is a bit rough but OK in a 2wd, much nicer than the 110km/h highway.

Once you have passed the Coorong, turn off the highway at Wellington, a ferry crosses the Murray River here. Go around to Goolwa via Milang. The coast from Goolwa Beach to Victor Harbor is touristy but nice enough. At Goolwa you take the Hindmarsh Island bridge and drive down to the Murray Mouth, there's a good flow out the mouth now, and rising. Victor Harbor is the local centre, has a horse tram to Granite Island and penguin watching. All the gulf coast north of Adelaide is relatively dull, but the little towns have a quiet charm if you stop and go off the main road.

Every time I pass this way I also stop at Nelson, just inside the Vic border. Great road to the Glenelg river mouth and the beach. Cape Bridgewater out of Portland is a nice loop too, you end up on the Nelson road into Mt Gambier. About 10km south of Mt Gambier, you can climb the cinder cone of Mt Schank not far off this road, a walk goes around the rim. Mt Gambier volcano is worth a quick spit in too, but the Blue Lake may not be blue.

The maps in the Melways street directory are quite good for touring this part of the world, at least up to Adelaide.

IMO leave out the Great Ocean Road (do that in Winter) just head straight to Portland first.

stupid question but is port Augusta the best way round, is the ferry worth it?

My son traveled from Ipswich to Mackay today.When asked about the conditions his answer was " an ocean of water all the way but only over the road in 2 places" He was driving a Commodore.
So the roads still open at least up the "Bruce" as far as Mackay.

The scenery is what you travel the region for. To avoid Adelaide city and suburbs you come up from Cape Jervis to Myponga. A trip around the Myponga reservoir goes right over the dam wall. From Myponga you travel via Meadows, Echunga, Hahndorf, Balhannah, Woodside, Mt Torrens, Birdwood, Williamstown, Lyndoch, Gawler. This area contains many of SA's best small bakeries and cafes, including Meadows bakery, German Cake shop (Hahndorf), Providore (Balhannah), Lobethal bakery (Woodside) and if you are still upright the Lyndoch bakery. At Birdwood is the National Motor Museum, car nut heaven. (includes a Leyland P76 Force 7 coupe)

If you travel via Adelaide, you leave on Highway One (Port Wakefield Rd) to the edge of the suburbs near Virginia, take the shiny new Northern Expressway to Gawler (which you bypass) then onto Clare etc.

The inland way from Adelaide to Port Augusta is quite pleasant and not much further than the main highway. Towns along this way are Gawler, Tarlee, Auburn, Clare, Gladstone, Laura, Wirrabara, Melrose, Quorn. A famous winery region around Clare. Tourist steam trains at Quorn. Then down one (or more) of the passes to Pt Augusta and down to Port Lincoln. Avoid staying the night at Port Augusta, it's prone to break-ins and petty theft. There used to be an arid areas botanic garden just north of the town, worth a visit. This region is right on the edge of the desert country.

I haven't travelled the Eyre Peninsula much but fellow cyclists describe the region as a permanent headwind area!

Or you run up to Hawker and Wilpena Pound for a day or two, all bitumen and the easiest accessible bit of the Flinders Ranges.

Whichever, enjoy your trip.

thanks bee utey again, I have today paid for accommodation at different places ranging from hotels to caravan parks. Now all I have to do is get to the places on time!


Lots to do this week to get the show on the road.