Australia is a huge country that offers exciting and intriguing features throughout the expanse of its area. No matter which part you are in there are a ton of fun-filled activities like hiking, underground art scenes, scenic beaches, heritage sites, museums, and wineries. Let’s discuss some of the most favourite things you can partake in Perth as well as Melbourne. These amusing activities and places can be discovered by Hiring a rental vehicle exploring the cities at your own pace.
1. Hire with us and Create Your Own Memorable Road Trip
The country is known for having some of the best hiking trails and road trip destinations. For example, the road leading to the Great Barrier Reefs, one of the seven wonders of the world, from Cairns is itself a sight to behold.
Perth: This part of the country offers some splendid options to hit the road and visit some great nearby as well as far away destinations. It is always a great idea to hire a self-drive vehicle in Perth and visit the Albany loop if there is a long weekend or head down the Esperance loop if you can spare a week or so. Both offer gorgeous beaches, scenery, and dining options that can be enjoyed with your family or a group of friends.
Fremantle is a port city in Western Australia that’s part of the Perth metropolitan area. It’s known for its maritime history, Victorian architecture and remnants from Australia’s days as a British penal colony. Fremantle Prison, which housed convicts from the 1850s to 1991, now features re-created cellblocks. The 12-sided Round House, a landmark 1831 building, also briefly functioned as a jail. Margaret River is a small town south of Perth in western Australia, known for its craft breweries, boutiques and surrounding wineries. Beaches and surf breaks line the nearby coast, whose waters host migratory whales (Jun–Nov). Stretching between 2 lighthouses north and south of the town, the long-distance walk, the Cape to Cape Track, fringes the limestone caves and sea cliffs of Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park.Why not use Perth as your staging area to travel North and explore as far as Broome and take in all the sights and scenery along the way.Visit Cable Beach Relax have a Spa,Then take in some of the History the Japanese Cemetery,A landmark of Broome’s incredible Pearling History and the people that lost their lives pearl diving in hard hat helmets. Also helps to explain Broome’s special multicultural community. Then to the Courthouse Market and the Historical Museum to get a real feel for Broome and its Cultural History.Or you can just lay back at the beach and enjoy the sea views and watch the world pass you by.
Melbourne: Moving from Western Australia to Victoria, we see a similar trend of vacationing through a road trip to get out of the town and explore, even if it is for a few days. Melbourne has some amazing national parks and reservoirs that are perfect to visit while traveling in a motorhome like Sugarloaf reservoir park in Yarra Glen or Grampians National Park. These make for a perfect weekend getaway.The Great Ocean Road is an Australian National Heritage listed 243-kilometre stretch of road along the south-eastern coast of Australia between the Victorian cities of Torquay and Allansford.The Twelve Apostles is a collection of limestone stacks off the shore of Port Campbell National Park, by the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, Australia. Their proximity to one another has made the site a popular tourist attraction.The Loch Ard Gorge is part of Port Campbell National Park, Victoria, Australia, about three minutes’ drive west of The Twelve Apostles.Phillip Island, a popular day trip from Melbourne, lies just off Australia’s southern coast. At Summerland Beach, spectators gather daily at sunset to watch the Penguin Parade, when Little penguins come ashore in groups. The Nobbies outcrop is the viewing site for Seal Rocks, home to a large colony of Australian fur seals. The Phillip Island Circuit is a well-known track for motorcycle and car racing.Cape Otway is a cape and a bounded locality of the Colac Otway Shire in southern Victoria, Australia on the Great Ocean Road; much of the area is enclosed in the Great Otway National Park.Grampians National Park is a nature reserve in Victoria, Australia. It’s known for its sandstone mountains, wildflowers and wildlife including echidnas and wallabies. Near the village of Halls Gap, the Brambuk Aboriginal Cultural Centre gives insight into local Aboriginal history and rock art. Trails lead to waterfalls like towering MacKenzie Falls and lookouts such as the Balconies, with views of the Victoria Range.
2. Wine and Dine to your Heart’s Content
Both Perth and Melbourne have a lot to serve when it comes to delicacies and places that admire and encourage the food industry.
Perth: Swan valley is one of the most favorite places to visit when you want to experience the mastery and science that happens in the winery industry. The vineyards hold exclusive wine-tasting
events that are bound to give your tastebuds a joyous experience. “It’s a lexicon of flavours,” says winemaker Arch Kosovich as he siphons a splash of 60-year-old muscat from its weathered barrel.
He’s right. The colour and texture of treacle, this dark, wildly complex liquid that has been gracefully ageing in the family’s hand-dug underground cellar since the 1950s is a wonderland of chocolate, coffee, spice and history. Normally this wine is blended away as part of the John Kosovich Rare Muscat: to be able to taste it on its own is a privilege. In many ways, it tells the story of Western Australia’s oldest winemaking region as much as it does one of its pioneering wine families.
While Margaret River might enjoy global praise and attention, as far as age goes, it’s a teenager compared to the Swan Valley, a fertile region north of Perth that includes the northern banks of the Swan River. This year, Margaret River celebrates 50 years since it began commercial wine production. The Swan Valley, meanwhile, is sitting on 183 vintages, not out. Even better, all this history, good cheer and great drinking is less than a half an hour by car from the city centre, putting the valley’s vinous riches well within striking distance for a day trip.Stories like the Kosovich’s ancient muscat are dotted throughout the Swan Valley.The Talijancich Family for instance, are custodians of equally impressive fortified wine stocks that they bottle and release as a diverse range of styles and price points. Cool climate might be all the rage in wine circles, but it takes warm, Mediterranean-style summers to shrivel and intensify the grapes needed for the wondrous, deeply concentrated dessert wines the Swan Valley is famous for.That’s not to say that the region isn’t capable of producing sterling table wines, though.
The late Jack Mann, founder of the family owned Lamonts is renowned as one of the most influential winemakers in West Australian history and his legacy remains today. Lamont’s winemaker Digby Leddin oversees a range that includes regional strengths such as plush shiraz and fruity verdelho as well as wines made from grapes grown outside of the Swan Valley’s borders (riesling from the Great Southern, for instance, and Margaret River cabernet). The on-site café at the Millendon winery, meanwhile, serves robust, generously flavoured share plates: a trademark of Mann’s granddaughter.Faber Vineyards is another local boutique winemaker punching above its weight. Opened by John Griffiths and Jane Micallef, this cosy cellar door – its owners prefer the label “wine studio” – is another example of small being beautiful. Local strengths such as shiraz, grenache and verdelho are, again, supplemented by wines made from grapes grown from around Western Australia.Not all of the Swan Valley’s family-run ventures are small-scale though. You’ve likely heard of Sandalford Winery, the Prendiville family’s sprawling Caversham winery and restaurant. One of the area’s newer big players is Mandoon Estate,an ambitious multifunction venue opened in 2014 after years of planning and building by the Erceg family. In addition to a cellar door showcasing the handiwork of winemaker Ryan Sudano (not least the mighty wines he fashions from old-vine plantings), the estate is also home to a polished, modern Australian restaurant, a family-friendly playground, and on-site craft brewery, Homestead.Speaking of beer, it’s worth acknowledging the area’s growing number of craft brewers, starting with Feral Brewing, and it’s much loved Hop Hog IPA. Arguably the most successful of all the Swan Valley beer stories, Feral’s original Baskerville brewhouse has been converted into a dedicated sour beer production facility for brewer Brendan Varis to indulge his love of Belgian farmhouse-style beers. Between Feral and the region’s other specialist brewers – Duckstein and its playbook of Germanic beers, for instance, or Mash Brewing and its perfectly dubbed product range – ale heads have much to get excited about. Now sweeten the pot with a craft distillery like Old Youngs daring to be different (smoked gin, anyone?) and the Swan Valley’s appeal to adventurous drinkers becomes all too clear.A similar sense of potential is afoot in the Perth Hills, a picturesque region of lush landscapes, rolling hills and farming scenes that feels like it should be much further from Perth than just half an hour by car.”The Hills are like a sleeping giant,” says Fairbrossen winemaker Matthew Bowness. “It feels like it’s on the cusp of blowing up. One of the big differences is the majority of businesses are family-owned so you really get that sense of boutique and artisan. Invariably you’re talking to the owner at the cellar door.”Bowness, a winemaker that’s worked in France and America, is but one reason the Perth Hills is such an exciting prospect. While he’s focusing on organic, minimal-intervention winemaking (the cellar door sells both the family’s wines as well as Bowness’ limited “Side Project” bottlings), the Radice family of LA Fattoria work exclusively with Italiangrapes, while the Davenports at Myatts Field continue to champion Spanish wine varieties and styles.
Melbourne: There is a well-established fact that Melbourne has the best coffee worldwide. Along with some of the finest coffee, Victoria has some awesome fine dining restaurants like Lobster Cave and Richmond Oysters that have the freshest of the fresh seafood prepared by world-renowned chefs.Get a taste for Victoria’s top drops on a journey through its best wine-growing regions. With more than 800 wineries and 600 cellar doors across five outstanding wine regions, Victoria has the perfect grape style to suit every palate.Yarra Valley Wineries craft cool-climate award-winning chardonnays, pinot noir, shiraz and cabernet sauvignon.The Pinot Coast combines the Bellarine and Mornington Peninsulas, with exceptional cool-climate pinot noir, local seafood, salt air and artisan produce on offer.In Victoria’s Shiraz Central, pioneering winemakers create cool-spiced shiraz in classic bush settings. Things get bubbly along the King Valley Prosecco Road, with Italian influenced sparkling prosecco and food to match. And it’s a sweet deal in rural Rutherglen, where fortified muscat wines are made.Make space for wine time in Victoria and discover your favourites.
Discover a majestic, spectacular Southern Ocean coastline, where seductive cool-climate pinot noir, tended by creative winemakers, flourishes.This vast coastline is the southernmost edge of Australia and where outstanding cool-climate pinot noir is paired with locally sourced seafood. Spend days exploring vast beaches or cosy villages, popping into friendly cellar doors, and tasting acclaimed pinot noir, handcrafted cheeses, freshly picked berries and more.The wild heart of Victoria’s highlands is just waiting to be discovered. Sample distinctive cool-spiced shiraz, meet pioneering winemakers, explore spectacular national parks and say hello to native wildlife.The naturally rugged and diverse Shiraz Central region stretches from the north west of Melbourne and is home to a distinct cool-spiced Australian shiraz. Just a short drive from the city are the rolling hills of the Macedon Ranges or Heathcote – from there, explore onwards to the Grampians or Pyrenees regions or the areas around the gold-rush cities of Bendigo and Ballarat. Here, visitors experience surprising cellar doors, uncover classic Australian bush landscapes, witness kangaroos in their natural surroundings or share a yarn with pioneering winemakers who aren’t afraid to do it their way.
Overview King Valley
Knock on a King Valley cellar door and be greeted by generations of winemaking families passionately offering tastings of their groundbreaking Italian varietals.
Victoria’s Mediterranean
Step into Little Italy in the King Valley, where dynamic Italian migrant families established wineries that continue to innovate through the generations. You’ll taste increasingly well-known Italian wines, including prosecco, nebbiolo, sangiovese, pinot grigio, dolcetto, arneis and barbera.
Wine identities
Meet the King Valley’s characters. Delight in rustic Italian cuisine from Katrina’s cookbook matched with house drops at Pizzini Wines, or chat to Otto Dal Zotto about his family’s wines over bocce at Dal Zotto Estate. Encounter the Brown brothers at the eponymous vineyard’s gourmet Epicurean Centre.
Celebrating the good life
Celebrate La Dolce Vita during November at the King Valley, when wineries open their doors to celebrate the arrival of spring, and warm yourself with the region’s red wines at the June Queen’s Birthday weekend’s Weekend Fit For A King.
Prosecco Road
Since 1999, when Otto Dal Zotto planted the first prosecco vines in the King Valley, five other local winemakers have begun producing the sparkling Italian white. Together they have created Prosecco Road, a sensational food and wine trail celebrating the best of the rustic Italian dining experience.
Overview Rutherglen wine region
Spend a few days in and around historic Rutherglen, which boasts 150 years of winemaking history. The cool nights, warm days and long, dry autumns make for ideal viticultural conditions for pioneering varieties that are uniquely Australian in spirit. Choose from more than twenty wineries in the area, from household names to boutique operators, and get acquainted with the signature wines on offer, from muscats and topaques to the rich reds – shiraz, durif and cabernet. Take the unique opportunity to meet the sixth and seventh generation winemakers who draw on family traditions while harnessing modern techniques to keep Rutherglen on the map.
A taste of the country
Along with the signature wines, lesser-known varieties are grown here. Try white Rhone varietals of marsanne, roussanne and viognier are achieving good results, while the tempranillo, sangiovese and zinfandel varietals round out the red wines.
Uncover the depth of flavour in a 100-year-old muscat or enjoy a Rhone wine tasting experience at the striking All Saints’ castle. With so much on offer, take time to meander between vineyards comparing styles and vintages, and enjoy matching the wines with the exemplary cuisine of the local vineyard restaurants and in Rutherglen village.
Ride on
Join the Pedal to Produce Cycle Trail to sample the very best wines, fruit and produce at local wineries, orchards and cafes. Alternatively, hit the Murray to Mountains Rail Trail and discover the grandeur of the mighty Murray River while stopping at cellar doors to enjoy local varieties and country hospitality along the way.
3. Shop to Your Heart’s Content.
Shopping is an activity that can explain a lot about a place. The markets exhibit culture, trends, and a perfect solution to make an uneventful evening interesting.
Perth: You will find a ton of local markets like London court, which is a three and four-level open shopping arcade filled with intricate shops that offer a great escape from the hustle-bustle of the city. Other alternatives for shopping can Frest chase and Carillon city.
Melbourne: Similarly, we can find a plethora of shopping streets that can convert any individual into a shopaholic because of the variety of items sold there. Chapel street stands to be one of the oldest street shopping avenues along with several other quirky spots like Queen Victoria Market and Brunswick street that pacify all your shopping fantasies
Over to You – Both places have plenty for an Adventurous Time
Apart from spending time traveling, dining, and shopping, these places have a lot more to offer in terms of soothing beaches, botanical parks, and historical monuments. One can explore the art and culture by visiting the Blender Studio’s and taking the street art tour in Melbourne or the peaceful Swan River and nearby Bell Tower in Perth. These wonderful cities bring forth various prospects every day and give new crowd favorites for everyone to dwell on.
With our knowledge and expertise at Low Cost Self-Drive Hire we strive to bring you an experience like no other,Hire your vehicle with us and enjoy your family time in the knowledge we have you covered throughout your journey.
We hope to play a large part in your fantastic Memories and experiences.
