For city-to-city adventure, consider driving yourself to Sydney, Choose from three distinctive travel routes Sydney-Melbourne Coastal Drive, Sydney-Melbourne Heritage Drive and the Great Alpine Road with each offering unique experiences toremember. If you opt for the Sydney-Melbourne Coastal Drive, you’ll discover that the coastline between Sydney and Melbourne provid some of the most spectacular scenes in Australia; with tranquil coves, long, golden beaches and wild, rocky shorelines carved by the mighty Pacific and Southern oceans Here, there’s no end tothe fun that can be had on the water from surfing, sailing and snorkellingto seeing dolphins, penguins and whales in the wild.
nbers Garden ippstand Buchan Caves, Bathing Boxes, Mosnington Peninsula
Vast stretches of the coastline have been preserved as national parks, teeming with native flora and fauna, including kangaroos, koalas, emus and native parrots.Walk on pure white beaches at Jervis Bay, learn about Aboriginal bushfoods on guided tour, or cruise, waterski or kayak around the Gippsland Lakes The route also offers many opportunities to explore the coastal hinterland, including historic hamlets such as Walhalla and Central Tilba, or the Mornington Peninsula’s fabulous food, golf and spa offerings. At Illawarra Fly visitors can literally walk through the treetops, while at Buchan Caves you can enter 400-million-year-old limestone wonderland. With so much to see and do, the Coastal Drive is an essential Australian touring experience
The Sydney-Melbourne Heritage Drive is an inland route between Melbourne and Sydney and journeys through Australian history.
From Melbourne, you’ll be driving to the gold rush region around Bendigo. You can plunge down old goldmines, see Chinese Dragons and dine in ornate civic buildings now refashioned as cool bars and restaurants.
Then it’s on to the mighty Murray River, where paddlesteamers offer fun way to get downstream and the many farmgates that offer fresh produce for sale. Barmah National Parkis the place to see giant river redgums native wildlife such as koalas and kangaroos, and Aboriginal scar trees.
political hub that is home to some of the country’s most New South Wales offer lush green vistas and quaint villages, including Bowral, the birthplace of cricket legend Sir Donald Bradman
Your route drive can also take you over the
stunning Victorian Alps. The Great Alpine Road lets you drive mountains, into valleys and past rivers to the ocean. Along the way have an outdoor adventure experience rock climbing hang-gliding or whitewater rafting and snow sports in winter.
Sample gourmet delights at welcoming towns along the way. includes three beautiful regions the Yarra Valley and From Melbourne, you drive towards the Yarra Valley, famous for its collection of luxury boutique hotels and wildlife. Say hello to the wildlife at Healesville Sanctuary and meet their devils, kangaroos and wallabies. Not far away, in the fairytalelike forest ofthe Dandenong Ranges, travellers can jump travel through 25 kilometres of cool fern gullies, The route then leads to Phillip Island, famous for its up-close experience of the Penguin Parade. Further along the route on the Mornington Peninsula is where you’ll be able to sample some of the region’s best fresh produce, The Mornington Peninsula is home to the first natural hot springs and day spa centre in Victoria. The region is also renowned for outstanding golf courses, spectacular gardens and perfect place for aquatic adventures, including dolphin and seal swims and
scuba diving around one of Victoria’s many shipwrecks.
provides you approximately five hours driving time for more through the Yarra Ranges to the small towns of Powelltown and Noojee. It then travels across to the spectacular summit of Mount Baw Baw, taking in the sub-Alpine villages of Walhalla, Rawson and Erica and passes through Moe and Yarragon before returning to Melbourne, Guided by interpretive roadside signs, the drive highlights West trees and waterfalls, as well as the region’s great lacal food and boutique eateries. All these routes can be downloaded as free app for iPhone and iPod at wwwvisitvictoria com.
Royal Brune Airlines fights to Melbourne operate daily from Bandar Seri Begawan.
Source: MUHIBAH, the Royal Brunei Airlines in-flight magazine, 2013 Jul-Aug, pages 58-63. Text recovered from the scanned page by OCR and lightly corrected; spelling may differ from the printed edition.
