The Great Southern Touring Route can be divided roughly into three separate regions, each offering diverse experiences but as a whole, offering the very best of what Australia offers. Various connections in themselves can offer excellent holiday opportunities.
Great Ocean Road
> Geelong
> Warrnambool
Grampians
> Villages
Goldfields
> Ballarat
> Spa Country
Connections
> Melbourne
> Adelaide
> Sydney
> New Zealand
GOLDFIELDS
> Towns
> Attractions
> Accommodation
> Restaurants
The wealth created by the gold rush of
the 1850s led to the building of a wide
range of fine buildings - grand hotels,
theatres, an elegant railway station, art
galleries, impressive fountains, statues
and rambling gardens. Attractions include
a Gold Museum, Fine Art Gallery which
is now the home of the original Eureka
Stockade flag, Botanical Gardens famous
for begonias, Lake Wendouree, wildlife
parks and a 23km tree-lined
Avenue of Honour.
Ballarat’s golden past is recreated and celebrated daily at one of the city’s major attractions, Sovereign Hill. The story of the Eureka Stockade is also an integral part of the gold rush days. This was one of just two civil uprisings in Australia. At night, the sound and light spectacular ‘Blood on the Southern Cross’ re-tells the events of that bloody day which many believe make Ballarat the birthplace of Australian democracy.