South Australia
South East Region

To the southeast the landscape changes to rugged coasts and beautiful beaches with sub-terrainean caves, sinkholes and extinct volcanoes.

For most travellers, the southeast – the area between Melbourne and Adelaide – is an area to be passed through as quickly as possible. From Tailem Bend, just beyond Murray Bridge some 85km out of Adelaide, three highways branch out. The Ouyen Highway is the quintessential road to nowhere, leading through the sleepy settlements of Lameroo and Pinnaroo to the insignificant town of Ouyen in Victoria’s Mallee country. 
The Dukes Highway is the fast, boring route to Melbourne via the South Australian mallee scrub and farming towns of Keith and Bordertown, birthplace of former Prime Minister Bob Hawke, before continuing in Victoria as the Western Highway across the monotonous Wimmera. It is, however, well worth breaking your journey to visit the Coonawarra and Naracoorte, in between the Dukes Highway and the coastal route: the former is a tiny wine-producing area that makes some of the country’s finest red wine; the latter is a fair-size town with a freshwater lagoon system that attracts prolific birdlife, and a conservation park with impressive World Heritage-listed caves.

Alternative Highway One
Kingston, on Lacepede Bay, is the first town past the Coorong: here the Princes Highway turns inland, while Alternative Highway 1 continues along the coast before rejoining the main road at Millicent. As the Big Lobster signifies, Kingston has an important lobster industry: you can buy them freshly cooked at Lacepede Seafood by the jetty (Mon–Thurs 9am–6pm, Fri & Sat 9am–7.30pm) for around $35 a kilo. If you do need to stay, you have a choice of the usual motels, the very rough-and-ready Backpackers Hostel, 21 Holland St, or the Kingston Caravan Park, Marine Parade. Lobsters apart, you’re better off continuing down the coast. 

Robe, on the south side of Guichen Bay 44km from Kingston, was one of South Australia’s first settlements, established as a deep-water port in 1847. Robe managed to maintain both dignity and charm, and during the busy summer period the population of less than eight hundred expands to over eleven thousand.

Between  Robe and Beachport are four lakes: for part of the way you can take the Nora Criena Scenic Drive through Little Dip Conservation Park, 14km of coastal dune systems. The drive provides views of Lake Eliza and Lake St Clair before returning to Alternative Highway 1 and the former whaling port of Beachport, which boasts one of the longest jetties in Australia and many lobster-fishing boats at anchor on Rivoli Bay.

Continuing south on Alternative Highway One, there’s a turn-off to Canunda National Park (ranger tel 08/8735 6053) which has giant sand dunes, several signposted coastal walking trails, and an abundance of birdlife; you can pick up leaflets detailing the walks from the Beachport Backpackers. The park is also easily accessible from the town of Millicent, where Alternative Highway One rejoins the main highway.

Coonawarra wine region
Directly north of Mount Gambier, the Riddoch Highway heads through the Coonawarra wine region, and past some World Heritage-listed caves at Naracoorte, eventually linking up with the Dukes Highway at Keith. With most wineries located on a 90km stretch of highway between Penola and Padthaway, this is one of the easiest wine areas “to do” and it’s low key and pretty.

Climate

Climatically, the South East has more in common with south western Victoria than the rest of South Australia. It is one of Australia's most reliable rainfall zones, and has one of the lowest incidences of drought. The region is wetter and cooler than Adelaide, but the climate is still temperate, with warm summers and cool to mild winters. Mean annual rainfall is higher than the rest of the state, and ranges from between 450mm at Keith to 800mm around Mount Bun.

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wpe14B.jpg (180428 bytes) South Australia