Own arrangements for travel to Adelaide. The group will meet up at our downtown hotel for a welcome dinner and an outline of the fantastic days ahead.

We board our charter coach this morning – and being a public holiday in South Australia today – we'll take advantage of the quiet traffic conditions and take in a few of the city sights before heading southeast and into the magnificent Adelaide Hills. We call into Hahndorf where they say everything is handmade, handcrafted and handpicked. Hahndorf is a contemporary village proud of its German heritage. You'll have time to stroll the tree-lined main street and discover butcher, baker and candlestick makers, plenty of coffee shops... and a whole lot more.
Back on the coach and we continue through farmlands to Langhorne Creek for lunch. The area has a wine history dating back to 1850 and is home to the oldest recorded Cabernet Sauvignon vines in the world. The town itself is on the banks of the Bremer River which flows into Lake Alexandrina. In winter, the river frequently floods across the vineyards, contributing to the terroir of the region.
Irrigation and flood waters have "shaped" the area and local farmers are coming up with innovative ways to manage rising water tables and supply variability.
We travel on to the beautiful town of Strathalbyn, on the banks of the Angas River, for dinner and overnight.

Strathalbyn is recognised internationally for its main street full of antique shops with London House being one of the most historic. There will be time for a stroll down the main street before boarding our coach again and heading south through rolling farmlands and onto Goolwa. From Goolwa we cross onto Hindmarsh Island and a great view point of the Murray mouth. We also visit one of the Murray mouth barrages and learn about the history and current-day operation of the barrage system. The Goolwa Channel Barrage is 632 metres long and is the most important section of the network.
Back onto the mainland and overlooking the southern Ocean we meet up with representatives of South Australia's fledgling pipi (clam) export industry. The word "fledgling" probably brings a wry smile to the face of the local Ngarrindjeri people – they've been harvesting pipi for more than 40,000 years! We will learn how the pipi is hand harvested from the pristine waters off the Coorong National Park, processed and marketed – and of course we'll get to sample pipis, along with other magnificent seafood, over lunch at the renowned Kuti Shack restaurant.
The Kuti Shack is an initiative that brings together Goolwa PipiCo, the Ngarrindjeri people and three amazing seafood chefs who have been talking about partnering in business for a number of years.
After lunch we return to Strathalbyn for a free evening.

This morning we head eastwards to the small town of Wellington. Here we ferry across the Murray River just upstream from where Australia's longest river comes to the end of its 2500 km meandering journey and empties into Lake Alexandrina. We continue south past Lake Albert and onto the inland edge of the Coorong. Colin Thiele, the author of Storm Boy, beautifully describes the Coorong as "a wilderness and of inestimable value to South Australia and the whole of humanity ... It is an elemental region, a place of wind and water and vast skies, of sandhill and tussock, lagoon and waterweed, stone and scrub. It is a place of softened contours, muted colours and sea haze - and of glaring saltpans so intense that our brows pucker and our eyes wince." We continue through the settlements of Meningie and Coorong and onto the historic coastal town of Robe.
Founded in 1846, Robe is one of the oldest towns in SA. It became the state's second-busiest (after Port Adelaide) international port in the 1850s. Robe's trade was drawn from a large hinterland that extended into western Victoria. Many roadside inns were built to cater for the bullock teamsters bringing down the wool. Exports included wool, sheep skins and horses.
During the Victorian gold rushes around 1857, over 16,000 Chinese people landed at Robe to walk overland 200 miles to the goldfields and avoid the £10 per person landing tax imposed by Victoria to "discourage" Chinese immigrants. The £10 tax was more than the cost of their voyage.
Robe's importance as a trading hub decreased with the advent of railways which did not come to the town. The town has become a local service centre for the surrounding rural areas, home to a fleet of fishing boats (especially lobster) and is a popular holiday destination.
On arrival into Robe we are joined by a local historian who will take us for a brief tour of the town's historic landmarks and buildings.
Then it's private dinner upstairs at the Caledonian Inn, rated the best country pub in SA. Over the past 160 years "the Cally" has become a local landmark.

This morning we travel into the heart of the Limestone Coast region of SA’s South East – one of the nation’s highest value primary production areas. Agriculture, forestry and Coonawarra vineyards thrive on the fertile soils, reliable rainfall and abundant groundwater. Not far out of Robe we call into Murray McCourt's Wookwine Cutting – a graphic depiction of hard work, tenacity and vision. We'll see how more than 60 years ago two men and a D7 drained a swamp and created about 1000 acres of productive farming land (ex-Pres Trump would have loved these guys!).
We enjoy a farm visit before continuing on to Penola. The founder of Penola – and our accommodation tonight's namesake – was Alexander Cameron. Born in Inverness-shire, Scotland, Cameron emigrated to Australia in 1839 and established himself as an adventurous overlander and pastoralist by droving sheep to Port Phillip. After marrying Margaret MacKillop in 1843, Cameron continued to overland his sheep westwards to new pastures in South Australia where, in 1844, he was the first to apply for the 48-square-mile Occupation licences surrounding the future site of Penola.
Having built the original Royal Oak Hotel by 1848, Cameron encouraged his station tradesmen to establish their own independent businesses by purchasing 80 freehold acres in April 1850, which he subdivided to found the private township of Penola.
The Camerons’ 18-year-old niece, Mary MacKillop, joined the family as governess in 1860, and soon met the charismatic local scientist and priest, Julian Tenison Woods, with whom she founded a school and later a congregation of religious sisters, the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart. Also known as the Josephites or Brown Joeys, they continue to this day to work with poor and needy communities throughout the world. In 1995 Mary MacKillop became the first Australian to gain Roman Catholic sainthood – St Mary of the Cross.

Farm and scenic visits in and around Penola today.
The first Europeans to this area were the Austin brothers, who arrived in 1840. The Camerons arrived in 1844 to settle the area. By 1850, they were doing a lot of business supplying liquor to the many travellers passing through to the Victoria goldfields.
Another early settler, John Riddoch, purchased Yallum in 1861. Riddoch grew up in poverty in the highlands of Scotland and in 1851 emigrated to try his luck on the Victoria goldfields. Within a few years he was a successful shopkeeper and wine merchant on the Geelong goldfields. He acquired 35,000 acres in the Penola area on which he ran 50,000 head of sheep. It was Riddoch who planted the first grape vines and helped to diversify the pastoral economy of the area with an agricultural industry. In 1890, he established the Penola Fruit Growing Colony which was renamed Coonawarra in 1897.
Free evening.

Today we cross into Victoria’s Western Districts to discover yet more amazingly productive farming. We’ll also tour the ancient eel farming site at Condah.
Later this afternoon we will bask in the quiet sophistication and beauty of Port Fairy.

We continue east today through the rich dairy and horticultural enterprises around Tower Hill and Warrnambool before picking up the most spectacular section of the Great Ocean Road near Port Campbell. Prepare to be enthralled by the winter tempest of the Southern Ocean as it pounds against the iconic and massive sandstone structures dotted along this section of the "Shipwreck Coast". The Twelve Apostles tower 45 metres above the ocean, while London Bridge is waging a defiant, but ultimately futile, battle against the elements.
We leave the coast and head north towards the rich dairying region of Timboon and Colac. Victoria's South Western District produces more than 20 per cent of national dairy output.
Then it's off to Melbourne for overnight.

Fly to King Island

Farm and other visits around King Island.

Free time on King Island this morning (maybe a spot of fishing or golf) then a direct flight to Burnie on the Tasmanian mainland.

We enjoy a guided Cradle Mountain tour this morning and then a farm visit near Deloraine before settling in for dinner and overnight at the magnificent Quamby Estate near Hagley.

More farm, cultural and scenic visits today as we travel to the spectacular Freycinet Peninsula.

Some guided touring around the peninsula including Wineglass Bay and other sights before a free afternoon and evening.

We travel south today along the coastal road, through spectacular scenery and onto the Tasman Peninsula. Our accommodation is located in magnificent Stewart's Bay, and a short stroll along the beach from the Port Arthur historic site.

Travel to Hobart with scenic and technical stops along the way.

Morning guided tour around some major Hobart sights and then a free afternoon for your own exploration. We enjoy a farewell dinner this evening.

Transfer to the airport for your flight home today or you have the option of staying on for a while to do some more exploration of Hobart and Tasmania generally.