The Great Ocean Road in Four Days

Leave Melbourne early via Geelong and join the Great Ocean Road at Torquay. Stop at Bells Beach (the Easter classic surf break), Anglesea, Aireys Inlet (the Split Point Lighthouse), and Lorne for lunch. The road from Lorne to Apollo Bay hugs the cliffs and is the most photographed section. Aim to be in Apollo Bay by late afternoon, with time for a beach walk before dinner.

Spend the morning in the Great Otway National Park. The Maits Rest rainforest walk and the California Redwoods are both 30 minutes from Apollo Bay. Drive on to Cape Otway to climb the lighthouse, then turn west and start picking off the limestone coast: the Gibson Steps for the only access onto the beach below the cliffs, then the Twelve Apostles main viewing platform. Aim to arrive at the Apostles 90 minutes before sunset for the best light. Stay overnight in Port Campbell, the small fishing town five minutes from the main viewing area.

Sunrise at the Twelve Apostles before the tour buses arrive, then drive to Loch Ard Gorge ten minutes further west. The gorge has a network of short walking tracks that take an hour to explore, including the cemetery for the Loch Ard shipwreck victims. Continue west past London Arch and the Bay of Islands, then leave the coast at Warrnambool and drive inland through Portland to cross the South Australian border at Mount Gambier. Spend the evening at the Blue Lake, which turns bright cobalt every November.

The longest drive of the trip, 530 kilometres from Mount Gambier to Adelaide. The road runs through the Coorong, a 130 kilometre coastal lagoon system separated from the Southern Ocean by a thin strip of dunes (Younghusband Peninsula). Stop at Salt Creek and Meningie for breaks. The drive takes around six hours with stops, so plan a relaxed evening in Adelaide rather than trying to fit anything else in. The next morning is for the Central Market.