10 weekend adventures: Melbourne

Your ultimate weekend adventure guide in Victoria.

1. Forrest

2 hrs / 156 km southwest
Activity: Mountain biking.
The Drawcard: Get down and dirty with 15 tight and twisted trails snaking around the tall eucalypts and fern gullies just outside the small village of Forrest, deep in the Otways. Ranging from 1.5 km sprints to 11 km thigh-burners, the trails have been specially constructed to cater to all riders from hardcore to half-arsed.
Fuelstop: Forrest (pop. 200) will never win a latte competition, but the beer’s cold at Forrest Pub, Station Street, or tuck into a traditional counter meal at the Royal Main in nearby Birregurra. 
Website

2. Blue Johanna

3 hrs / 210 km southwest
Activity: Surfing and fishing.
The Drawcard: When Torquay’s world-famous Bells Beach isn’t running, the place to be is Blue Johanna. Tucked well west along the Great Ocean Road, this rugged beach paradise is a whole new world of wild. Signs warn that it’s never safe for swimming; this place is not for the faint hearted. Lucky for the timid the fishing is good too.
Fuelstop: Joh’ Blue (as locals call it) is a place, not a town, so unless you’re staying in one of the fine B&Bs, you’ll have to head 15 minutes uphill for a pint and grub at Lavers Hill Roadhouse and Tavern.
Website

3. Labertouche Caves

1 hr, 15 mins / 100 km east
Activity: Caving.
The Drawcard: Cloaked from the world by a rainforest gully, Labertouche is a rare granite boulder infill cave, a fact that gets the geo-nuts excited. Its long tunnels and chambers require horizontal ‘wild’ caving techniques. That is, lots of ropes, wire ladders, drops and tight squeezes. By all reports it’s easy to get lost in there, so always go in a team and notify the appropriate people. Beginners should go on a guided tour.
Fuelstop: This is strictly BYO adventuring, but you can celebrate surviving the subterranean at the Royal Hotel in Drouin.
Website

4. Wilson’s Promontory Marine NP

3 hrs / 220 km southeast
Activity: Sea kayaking and scuba diving.
The Drawcard: Sea kayaking around the Prom’s perimeter is perhaps the best way to experience it, allowing you access to places that no onland trail reaches. Azure and, if you’re lucky, flat seas float you alongside gigantic granite rock faces that plunge dramatically into the water and secluded coves await a perfect picnic lunch. There are also the Prom’s islands to cross to for exploration. If that’s not isolated enough, try paddling Corner Inlet Marine and Coastal Park, on the Prom’s northwest corner, or better yet, go underwater for a scuba experience you’ll not likely forget.
Fuelstop: In-park, it’s pack your own, but on the way there and back, take time to stop at the gourmet haven that is Koonwarra Food, Wine and Produce Store.
Website

5. Lerderderg State Park

1 hr / 65 km west
Activity: Walking and camping.
The Drawcard: Lerderderg (a little brother to the Grand Canyon) carves its way amid eucalypt woodland with the river guiding trekkers through. There’s a range of options from short strolls to the challenging overnight expeditions including O’Briens Crossing–Lerderderg River–Mackenzies Flat. It takes in several river crossings and plenty of gold rush history. But that’s why this is a weekend gem of a discovery; it’s the Wild West on Melbourne’s doorstep.
Fuelstop: Head to the northwest tip of Lerderderg State Park to Blackwood and the St Erth Gardens and Café – famous for seasonal menus with a focus on local and garden produce. 
Website

6. Port Phillip Bay, St Kilda West

10 min / 6 km south
Activity: Kiteboarding.
The Drawcard: A cacophony of billowing sails filling the sky whenever there’s a breeze is the visual proof that you don’t have to stray far from the concrete jungle to get all wet and wild. There are numerous on-site schools when the season is blowing and start up lessons don’t take long, nor are they expensive. So take your time to get dragged across the sand and waves for a while.
Fuelstop: Try Fitzroy St (the Prince or the Espy just around the corner for beers) and Acland Street (for lunch, coffee or ice cream) in St Kilda.
Website

7. Baw Baw / Walhalla

2.5 hrs / 179 km east
Activity: Trekking.
The Drawcard: Get a taste of the Great Alpine Walking Trail over a single weekend by tackling the Great Walhalla Alpine Trail. This section covers the first 40 km of the main 680 km trail in reverse, from Mt Baw Baw Alpine Resort back to historic Walhalla, passing through native wildflower meadows before descending into towering mountain ash rainforest and eventually to the wild Thomson River. Set up as a tour walk, you can easily do this unsupported, so long as you arrange transport to and from either end.
Fuelstop: It would be rude not to celebrate with a hearty meal at Walhalla’s Star Hotel – its Parker’s Restaurant does a cracking high-end à la carte or head next door to the Grey Horse Inn for pies, cakes and coffee.
Website

8. Yarra River, East Warburton to Millgrove

1.5 hrs / 80 km east
Activity: Liloing (you can kayak too, but push on to Launching Place if so).
The Drawcard: On a summer’s day, jockeying a blow up is a damn fun way to explore any river stretch. And for fun and proximity, you can’t go past the top end of the Yarra. It’s cleaner than you’d expect and there are some pretty-in-green stretches winding through fern gullies and towering stands of gums. There’s even the odd rapid, the best ones between Warburton and Millgrove. A great day’s outing, especially for families.
Fuelstop: Stop for a long lunch at either Wild Thyme, the Good Food Room or Three Sugars in Warburton main street. They all serve up cracking mountain-fresh plates. 
Website

9. Goulburn River

3 hrs / 227 km north
Activity: Canoeing.
The Drawcard: Canoe safari. Conjures up enticing mental images, huh? Paddling down the Goulburn River, the longest in the state, through massive red gum forests delivers on the daydream with cockatoo flocks thrown in as a soundtrack. The Goulburn meanders through remote and pristine bushland in the southern region of Barmah Forest. This is no adrenaline adventure, more a Zen sojourn of contemplation winding its way around countless river bends.
Fuelstop: Nothing much on the river, but a dinner on the way home in Shepparton is made worthwhile by Bohjass Wine Bar, once a local secret no longer.
Website

10. Cathedral Ranges

2 hrs /114 km northeast
Activity: Climbing.
The Drawcard: The best thing about the Cathedral Ranges (aside from their visual magnificence) is that when it comes to rock climbing, there’s something for everyone. From scramblers to thrill junkies hanging by their pinkies, the terrain has it all. That doesn’t mean this is an easy adventure as most of the better climbing sites require some hefty treks in and camping.
Fuelstop: You still can’t go past the now (deservedly) famous Healesville Hotel for top notch grub with its focus on Yarra Valley produce and wine. 
Website

11. Point Chaffe’s campground, Big River, via Marysville

3 hrs / 171 km east
Activity: Rafting.
The Drawcard: What better way to impress your mates than throw them all together in a rubber dinghy and send them hurtling down a river knowing that at some point, you’re all hitting the watery deck? Big River provides some of the best beginner rafting close to Melbourne. Start at Point Chaffe’s campground and let the current take you away, pointed in the direction of Lake Eildon. With 12 km of continuous moderate rapids (Grade 2/3) ahead, this trip will have you hooked on rafting as quick as the chute that just flipped you over.
Fuelstop: Middle of nowhere on a river? You’re kidding yourself if you think there’s anything but berries and mushrooms out here (and be careful of those). Marysville pub does a great pub plate on the way home.
Website

12. Mt Buffalo

Just over 3 hrs (in a Porsche) / 320 km northeast
Activities: Abseiling, climbing, scrambling and walking.
The Drawcard: Dangle like a spiced adrenaline teabag from one of the longest commercial abseiling drops in the world. Yes, this is pub story territory. Buffalo’s 300 m North Wall frays the steeliest of nerves with a multi pitch effort over two rope changes (there are no strings long enough for the entire drop). The Ovens Valley swings below you like a train set landscape and the thrills continue when you get to the bottom courtesy of a nail-biting climb and scramble up a sheer gully to get back topside. Mt Buffalo also boasts some of Victoria’s best climbing, good walking, mountain biking and horse treks.
Fuelstop: On the valley floor is a cornucopia of gourmet delights in Myrtleford and Bright. Simones is the best known restaurant in Bright and The Range in nearby Myrtleford has been showered with praise - and a prestigious two hats. A deserving place to celebrate your survival really.
Website

RELATED ARTICLES
Other weekend adventures