"Lucky Winfall - Murray Princess... " a State of South Australia Travel Page by Mikebb

We went to a travel show in October 2004 to research proposed trip to Europe mid 2005. Travel agent pressed us to enter free competition. We won the prize, trip flying Qantas to Adelaide and weekend on the Murray River aboard the Murray Princess paddlesteamer.

We took the opportunity to extend our holiday, hiring a car for 14 days we drove through the Barossa Valley onto Burra and then back to the Murray River following it through South Australia including the towns of Berri and Renmark and into Victoria including the towns of Mildura, Swan Hill, Echuca, Wodonga and then travelling up to Mt Kosciuszko and onto Cooma. This journey took several days including plenty of stops to enjoy the river and other sights along the way.

From Cooma we made the short trip to Canberra where we spent several days touring the various museums, the old and new Parliament house and other sights of Australia's capital city.

From Canberra we drove down the Monaro Highway to the South Coast of New South Wales stopping for an hour at the Bega Cheese Factory and Museum before arriving at the beautiful seaside town of Merimbula where we stopped overnight. The next morning we took the long drive along the Princess Highway over the border into Victoria , through the Alfred National Park onto Orbost and eventually reaching Lakes Entrance mid afternoon for an overnight stay. Lakes Enterances is situated on the Bass Strait and is a very scenic place.

The next morning we continued along the Princess Highway reaching Melbourne mid afternoon. It was an easy drive with much of the time being on a freeway which was well signposted for those travellers who were interested in visiting the adjoining towns. We had an overnight stay in Melbourne before travelling to Ballarat where we visited Soverign Hill a recreated 19th century gold town. This was a highlight of the trip and is a "must see" for anyone visiting Victoria. The following day we drove to Adelaide where we had a few days exploring the city and beachside suburbs before returning home to Perth.