High Country / Great Dividing Range

BEECHWORTH is a well preserved old town with its origins in the goldrush when it had 61 hotels and its population was over 40,000 (now just over 3000). The town is beautifully situated with mountain views and well worth a visit whether or not you are interested in wine. Wineries include Giaconda Vineyard, Pennyweight Winery, Sorrenburg Winery.
BRIGHT (pictured) is another old gold town and a centre for bushwalking, with good access to the ski centres of Mt Hotham, Mt Buffalo and Falls Creek. Wineries include Boyntons of Bright.
GLENROWAN is the site of Ned Kelly’s last stand and has an amazing 6 metre high statue of him plus a museum. Wineries include Auldstone Cellars, Buffalo Mountain Wines.
MILAWA is home to the famous Brown Brothers vineyard which has been producing wine since the 1880s. Other wineries in the Milawa-Oxley area include Ciavarella Wines, John Gerhig Wines, Reads Oxley Wines.
RUTHERGLEN has a well preserved nineteenth century main street and it is surrounded by wineries which include All Saints, Anderson, Buller and Son, Campbells, Fairfield, Lake Moodmere, Mount Prior, Pfeiffer, St Leonards, Stanton and Killeen, Sutherland Smith and Warrabilla.

South Gippsland

Wilsons Promontory

Wilsons Promontory National Park www.parkweb.vic.gov.au(Wilsons Prom) in South Gippsland, is a favourite Victorian national park only 200km south east of Melbourne. It has rugged granite hills and idyllic, unspoilt bays with white sandy beaches, marshland and sand dunes, all with prolific plant, bird and animal life.
The main centre is Tidal River, where the sealed road stops and where there are camping and caravan pitches and also permanent lodges and flats. From here onwards, access is by track and rough camping spots with rudimentary facilities include Oberon Bay, Roaring Meg, Waterloo Bay, Refuge Cove, Sealers Cove and Tin Mine Cove.
During the busy Christmas-summer season, camping sites and cabins may all be full so phone the Ranger first.

Phillip Island

One hundred and twenty kilometres from Melbourne and accessed across a bridge via the South Gippsland Highway, Phillip Island in South Gippsland is a popular day trip from Melbourne either as a self drive or with one of a number of tour operators. The highlight of the day is the parade of the fairy penguins in the evening when the adult penguins return to their burrows after spending the day out fishing; (local tourist authorities are now calling the fairy penguins 'little penguins' in a silly display of political correctness).  The Phillip Island Nature Park www.penguins.org.au is a self-funding organisation dedicated to the conservation of the island's wildlife and natural features.
A breeding colony of seals live at Seal Rocks in the south west of the island. There is a koala conservation centre on the island and also the Rhyll swamp and bird sanctuary. The island has some good walking tracks and nearby Churchill Island www.penguins.org.au(Churchill Is.), accessed by bridge, also has walking trails.

East Gippsland

LAKES ENTRANCE (pictured), an attractive and popular local holiday centre at the eastern end of the Gippsland Lakes where the lakes open out to the ocean, is the main centre. Lakes Entrance has lots of accommodation with a selection of motels, smarter hotels, guest houses and bed and breakfasts plus self catering.
The nearby small town of METUNG has a large marina and here you can hire craft on the lakes for a few days. The lakes stretch almost 100 km and make a tranquil place to explore, safe from ocean waves and currents. Metung also has good quality accommodation and an attractive ‘yachtie’ atmosphere, and a few days in this area contrast well with a stay in the High Country.
The far eastern Gippsland coast between Lakes Entrance and the border with New South Wales is an unspoiled, wild area for connoisseurs of great beaches and beautiful countryside. The main Princes Highway (Melbourne to Sydney) is some distance away from the coast at this point, preserving the coastline in its natural state. From just beyond MARLO, the Croajingolong National Park www.parkweb.vic.gov.au(Croajingolong) runs along the coast all the way to the border, where it merges into the Nadgee Nature Reserve www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au(Nadgee) in NSW. Check out the tiny, idiosyncratic local cinema in Marlo.
North of Orbost is the Snowy River National Park www.parkweb.vic.gov.au(Snowy River), 390 km from Melbourne. This harsh and wild area is great for bushwalking, camping and canoeing and is best enjoyed in summer. The Snowy River has lost much of its flow to the hydro electric scheme but can still produce dramatic floods and has wonderful gorges and rapids.
To the west of the Snowy River National Park just beyond Lakes Entrance is the Mitchell River National Park www.parkweb.vic.gov.au(Mitchell River), accessed from Princes Highway near Bairnsdale on the Dargo Road. Again a place for canoeing, camping and walking. One highlight easily accessed by car is a a cave with stalagtites called the Den of Nargun, reached by a l km track from the car park.

West Gippsland - Walhalla

West Gippsland merges into the High Country and one tiny town well worth a visit in this area is WALHALLA, not far from Mount Baw Baw and the Baw Baw National Park www.parkweb.vic.gov.au(Baw Baw). 
Walhalla was once one of the richest gold mining centres and still has several original buildings set on the sides of a steep valley. Much of the rest of the town has been beautifully reconstructed/restored and you can visit the Long Tunnel Extended Goldmine or take a train on the restored Walhalla Goldfields Railway. The faithfully reconstructed Star Hotel, opposite the picturesque rotunda bandstand (pictured), is the striking centre of the town and conveniently situated for cross country skiing in the winter. Walhalla was the last town in Victoria to get mains electricity and only achieved this around the turn of the 21st century thanks to the sterling efforts of the local community!