ADELAIDE HILLS IN AUTUMN Mon 14 th May Sun 20 th May 2018 7 days/6 nights Join us on a wonderful 7 Day Autumn tour featuring the pretty Adelaide Hills! Our prime destination is historic Hahndorf, rich in German heritage and tradition. Traveling aboard our Daytripper coach, fully equipped with the highest in safety standards and comfort, stay in comfortable accommodation, enjoy lovely meals. With lots of sightseeing and cheerful commentary from our Coach Captain, this will be a delightful break away with loads of fun to boot! The Tour Price Includes: Luxury Daytripper Coach Travel 6 Nights Luxury Accommodation All Touring and Entrance Fees as per Itinerary Most Meals as per Itinerary (18) Morning Teas Tour Highlights: Mary MacKillop Interpretative Centre Visit a Coonawarra winery Mount Gambier Beerenberg Strawberry Farm Jurlique Farm 4 nights in Hahndorf Free time to explore Hahndorf Village Benind the scenes tour Adelaide Oval tour Hans Heysen s The Cedars Migration Museum South Australian Museum High Tea in Glenelg Spirit of the Coorong luncheon cruise Stawell Buda Historic Home and Garden Forest Glade Garden Mt. Macedon
Day 1 Melbourne to Mount Gambier (L/D) Welcome to our 7-day tour to South Australia Once we have loaded the coach we are ready to go! Today is a travel day so sit back and enjoy our 5 Star Luxury Touring Coach as we depart Melbourne and follow the Princes Highway via Colac and Camperdown to Warrnambool. Comfort stops along the way. Here we enjoy lunch at the Flying Horse Bar and Bistro. This afternoon, our journey takes us through Port Fairy and Heywood across the border into South Australia to Mount Gambier. (Lunch in Warrnambool / dinner at the motel) Overnight: Comfort Inn Silver Birch, Mount Gambier Day 2 Mount Gambier to Hahndorf (B/L/D) Following breakfast, we briefly take in the sights of Mt. Gambier. Mount Gambier has a population of about 23,000 people. Their water supply comes from the famous Blue Lake - the largest of the many crater lakes in the area. Just 50 kilometres north of Mount Gambier is the delightful village of Penola. The town was established in the 1850 s and has a colourful history. Fortunately, a lot of this history has been preserved and is on display along Petticoat Lane and throughout the Mary MacKillop Interpretative Centre. We stop for a look and hear the story of the Blessed Mary MacKillop. The Mary MacKillop Interpretative Centre brings together the other buildings on the site the School House, the Church, Shrine and Old Convent around a central square and a reflective pool that adds stillness and peace to this special site. From here we travel through the Coonawarra Wine District. We visit Wynns Coonawarra Estate Winery for a wine tasting, the oldest winery in the area having been established in 1896. We then continue to Keith where we stop for a light lunch at the Keith Hotel Motel. We join the Dukes Highway and express to Hahndorf our base for the next four nights. The delightful Manna of Hahndorf is located right in the heart of the town. Tomorrow we will do some local touring by coach but we have left the afternoon free to explore Hahndorf (Breakfast and dinner in the motel / Pub lunch)
Day 3 Exploring Hahndorf (B/D) Today we will spend the full day exploring the Adelaide Hills. Our first stop is Beerenberg Strawberry Farm, fully Australian owned and all products are made at this farm. We will have the opportunity to purchase from their gift range and the enormous range of delicious preserves. From here we ll embark on a unique enterprise on a behind the scenes tour of the biodynamic Jurlique Farm. We will see and learn about the nature and science behind their skin care. As this is a working farm, we are required to wear closed in shoes and long trousers. Back in Hahndorf, we have a special experience being escorted around this historic township visiting Germanic cottages built in the 1830's and hearing local stories along the way. We now have some free time to purchase lunch and take a wander along the street we ll have a different appreciation for the local architecture after our tour. For our final stop today, we have arranged a visit to the home and studio of the world-renowned artist Hans Heysen. He settled in Hahndorf in 1908 and built his studio, The Cedars in the style of a Bavarian Chalet. We will enjoy a guided tour of the house, the studio (which has been kept just the way Hans Heysen left it, including some unfinished sketches) and the extensive gardens. After another wonderful day, we return to our hotel. (Breakfast and dinner at the motel / lunch own arrangement and cost) Day 4 Adelaide (B/L/D) After another hearty breakfast we make our way into Adelaide it really is a beautiful city! We have arranged a tour of the Adelaide Oval. The redeveloped oval offers a unique blend of new and old from the latest in stadium design to the famous features such as the heritage listed scoreboard, the century-old Moreton Bay Fig trees and the grassed northern mound. Our tour will take us behind the scenes to the inner workings of this iconic ground. Early afternoon, we head to Glenelg, a seaside suburb where we enjoy our high tea (lunch). We will enjoy an afternoon of History with visits to the Migration Museum and the South Australian Museum before returning to Hahndorf. Find out more about our shared history and a visit to the South Australian Museum. Later we return to Hahndorf. (Breakfast and dinner in the motel /High tea lunch)
Day 5 The Coorong (B/L/D) This morning we make our way to the historic wharf precinct of Goolwa to join our luncheon cruise aboard the Spirit of the Coorong. Our vessel will take us past the Goolwa Barrage, through the lock and into the Coorong National Park to view the mouth of the River Murray. From the mouth, the cruise heads into the pristine waters of the Coorong, past the spectacular white sand dunes and birdlife as our captain provides an informative and entertaining commentary on the passing scenes, birdlife and history of the area. A delicious lunch of cold meats and salad with tea and coffee is served as the cruise continues deeper into the Coorong waterway. Later this afternoon we make our way back to the Goolwa Wharf whilst enjoying afternoon tea. We return to our motel and relax prior to dinner. (Breakfast and Dinner in the motel /Luncheon cruise) Day 6 Hahndorf to Stawell (B/L/D) This morning we say farewell to our hosts and head south east along the Dukes Highway heading to the border with Victoria. Our lunch venue is the Mornington Bakery in Bordertown. You may not know that Bordertown is the hometown of former Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke! Our afternoon s journey sees us arrive in Stawell with plenty of time to settle in before dinner. (breakfast & dinner in the hotel / light lunch in Bordertown) Overnight: Comfort Inn Goldfields, Stawell
Day 7 Stawell to Home (B/L) Our last day on tour today, as we head home. Our first stop is the historic settlement of Castlemaine. The district dates back to the 1830s when most of the land was actually taken up for farming. The discovery of gold radically altered the agriculture-based landscape as 30,000 diggers worked a number of goldfields. We visit Buda Historic Home and Garden for lunch before a guided tour. The house is one of the great heritage assets of the goldfields region. From here we make our way on to Mt Macedon, visiting the Forest Glade Garden where we have plenty of time to look around being autumn, the garden should be resplendent in the glorious tonings of a myriad of maples, birches, beeches and other exotic trees. We arrive back home late afternoon after a tremendous tour to see Adelaide in Autumn! (Breakfast at the motel / lunch at Buda Historic Home) All itineraries are subject to change due to occasional restrictions in opening times/days of some attractions, e.g. churches, wineries etc. We cannot be held responsible for any changes due to closures, inclement weather etc Tour Cost from: $1799.00 per person Twin Share ($550 single supplement) Minimum numbers required. Tour Price is Valid for Travel during 2018. Please note that itinerary is subject to change without notice. Please send $200pp deposit & Booking Form provided to secure your seats.