South Australia self drive tour, food & culture

Planet

Adelaide hotel, the Adina Apartment Hotel Adelaide Treasury has been beautifully restored under the UNESCO recognised renovation standards.

Kangaroo Island:
Cape Willoughby Conservation Park is home to South Australia's oldest operational lighthouse. This site is rich in maritime history; from the lives of the original keepers to the ships that wrecked off its scenic coastline. Take in the beautiful views that are Cape Willoughby.
Aboriginal peoples have occupied, enjoyed and managed the lands and waters of this State for thousands of generations. For Aboriginal first nations, creation ancestors laid down the laws of the Country and bestowed a range of customary rights and obligations to the many Aboriginal Nations across our state.
There are many places across the State that have great spiritual significance to Aboriginal first nations. At some of these places Aboriginal cultural protocols, such as restricted access, are promoted and visitors are asked to respect the wishes of Traditional Owners.
In places where protocols are not promoted visitors are asked to show respect by not touching or removing anything, and make sure you take all your rubbish with you when you leave. Aboriginal peoples continue to play an active role in caring for their Country, including in parks across South Australia.

The Grampians:
The DULC cabins are architect-designed to blend into the bushland environment. This unique Halls Gap accommodation with rough-sawn timbers, polished concrete, wooden floors and floor to ceiling windows have been designed with environmental sensitivity.

Brambuk National Park and Cultural Centre:
Brambuk provides an opportunity for visitors to connect and learn about what Gariwerd means to the Jadawadjali and Djab Wurrung people, as well as learning about all the exciting opportunities for activities and adventure in this important heritage-listed landscape. Here you can learn about Gariwerd’s key cultural sites, unique plants, animals and landscape features that make this one of Victoria’s most visited National Parks.

Great Ocean Road:
Tower Hill Wildlife Reserve is part of an Aboriginal cultural landscape. Parks Victoria respects the deep and continuing connection that Traditional Owners have to these lands and waters, and we recognise their ongoing role in caring for Country. Experience Tower Hill through an indigenous lens with a guided bush & nature tour. Connect with a 65,000 year old culture, discover one of Victoria’s oldest dormant volcanoes and get close to some of Australia’s most iconic animals.

People

Supporting local and independent businesses are important to us and where possible we include these in all of our itineraries.
Throughout this tour there are recommendations to visit local bars, restaurants and staying in Australian owned properties.

Adelaide:
Adelaide Central Market is one of the largest undercover fresh
produce markets in the Southern Hemisphere.
Explore Adelaide's small bar scene, sip your way around the laneways of Leigh St, Peel St and Gilbert Place or drink in the boozy goodness of Adelaide's east end. You'll be surprised to find speak-easy style bars tucked under the streets, swanky watering holes perched above the city skyline, laneways packed with cocktail lounges and quirky bars hidden behind unassuming walls, Adelaide's bar scene is booming.
At the Botanic Gardens stop for lunch at the Gardens Kiosk or the multi-award-winning Restaurant Botanic, where you’ll dine on produce sourced from the surrounding gardens.

Kangaroo Island:
Kangaroo Island Brewery, the Island's first cellar door microbrewery. Offering great craft beer and excellent food, sip your way through eight different craft beers available to sample. Most materials used to build the KIB are recycled and have an amazing story. From local shearing sheds to local quarried stone. The aim in the next 2 years is to make this brewery and it’s beer 100% KI originated.

Coonawarra Experiences:
Staying at a privately owned guest house, the owners Simon and Kerry's goal is to share a slice of the beauty, charm, people and wonderful lifestyle of the region. They are thrilled to be running a business that supports not just them, but helps promote and support many other businesses throughout the region.

The Grampians
Aboriginal rock art paintings shelters
Evidence of Aboriginal people's long association with the Grampians can be seen at the Billimina Shelter, Gulgurn Manja Shelter and Manja Shelter.

Melbourne:
Head to Federation Square, Melbourne's cultural heart, home to cutting-edge art at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) and an extensive range of Aboriginal works at the Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia (nearby). Explore the galleries before crossing the street to Hosier Lane. Walk down the famous bluestone laneway and admire the street art that has made the Melbourne urban art scene known across the globe.