Australia’s Great Alpine Road is not normally a route you would choose in winter, unless you were headed for the Victorian snowfields. But that was the 4X4 itinerary chosen by Belgian adventurer Pascal Renes and a friend for a Melbourne-Sydney drive in the month of July. This is his diary of their journey.

Jimmy Watsons -- a favourite of wine lovers

Day 1 (Approx 420 kms). Melbourne is a great city and a couple of days was not really long enough, but we had to be in Sydney at the end of the week and I wanted to test the Great Alpine Road along the way. Our Australian friends thought we were mad and kept pointing out it was winter, which made me even more determined. It was a journey of close to 1,950 kilometres -- and an adventure all the way

Diving with a shark at Melbourne Aquarium, checking out the dim sums in Chinatown and a great meal with an excellent selection of wines at Jimmy Watsons on Lygon Street were among my Melbourne highlights (Belgians love their food, and I also enjoy some adventure as an appetiser).

We hired a 4X4 Nissan Patrol from Hertz (with a fairly good one-way rate) and set off on the road down to Wilsons Promontory, a couple of hundred kilometres drive that took around three hours. It’s a national park and is the furthest south you can drive on mainland Australia. One main road extends to Tidal River village on the promontory's east coast, where an information centre is located.

Wilsons Promontory was a detour (and one that was well worth making). Its rugged granite peaks lead to marvellous white sandy beaches, which were inviting even though it was winter. The park is home to an array of Australian native wildlife, including koalas, kangaroos, wallabies and emus (though all we saw were a couple of wallabies). A top tip: visitors should always take the walk across a wooden track leading over the sands to the lighthouse.

From Wilsons Promontory National Park we drove on to Metung, a tiny village set in the heart of the Gippsland Lakes region. We had been told about Metung by friends who had discovered the village while driving the coastal route from Sydney to Melbourne the previous summer – they changed their plans while in Metung and stopped to do a little sailing with Riviera Nautica,  who have their boats tied up at the wonderfully sounding Chinaman's Creek. It evidently gets its name from the time Chinese fortune hunters passed this way during the Victoria Gold Rush in the 1800s. You don’t need any experience to sail in Metung. Sailing lessons are available in the spring and summer.

Sailing is not a winter activity so we contented ourselves with a good bottle of Yarra Valley red (a De Bortoli if I remember rightly) and some tasty local Gippsland cheeses while we looked out over the balcony of our waterfront apartment. We later had dinner at the local pub – grilled kangaroo steak (my first, but not the last) and fat crispy chips, and another bottle of wine.

Accommodation choice. We stayed at The Moorings at Metung with a choice of self-contained apartments overlooking the marina or motel rooms. The view of the yachts in the marina and pelicans on the bay were worth the slightly extra cost of the apartments.

Metung -- a hidden gem on the coast

Day 2 (Approx 300 kms). We made an early start, no breakfast, just coffee and toast – we would find a breakfast stop along the way, we told ourselves – which being winter was easier said than done. We drove north to start our Great Alpine Road adventure, a route that would take us past the ski fields at Mt Hotham.

The route took us from Metung to Swan Reach on the A1, where we headed west past Johnsonville and turned right on a country road at Nicholson in the direction of the Great Alpine Road. My first experience of Australian country roads on this trip – many more were to come, that’s why I took a 4X4 rental.

Not far up the Great Alpine Road we found a friendly gas station that was also selling breakfast – and some breakfast it was too: king-sized pancakes, fried eggs,  thick slices of lean bacon and locally made spicy sausages. And all for less than you would pay for a Big Mac and French fries back home. We were given a weather report by the young waitress, and it was not looking good: there had been snow the day before and there was a chance that the road ahead would be closed. But we shrugged and pushed on.

One of my favourite souvenirs of the Great Alpine Road drive was a receipt from a small village store in the old gold rush town of Omeo for the hire of snow chains. They were necessary to drive over snow-blanketed Mt Hotham (1,862 metres high).

Snow chains in Australia? Well, it’s a hefty fine if you attempt to drive across the Great Alpine Road’s snowfields in winter without them, and the chain hire was only A$20 plus a deposit. You drop them off in the timber town of Myrtleford at the other side of the mountain. I was also surprised to come across Renes Lookout as we drove through the snow, and wondered who my family namesake could have been.

We stopped off at Mt Hotham for hot soup and met a family from the Northern Territory who were seeing snow for the first time – seeing snow in Australia was a novelty for us as well, something to give us boasting rights back home (surviving blizzards in Outback Australia, or something like that…).

Mt Hotham when the snow arrives

Our day ended in Milawa, located in the King Valley and a true foodie destination – home of some excellent local wines and tasty Milawa cheeses. Our friends in Melbourne had talked highly of the local cheeses and we were looking forward to visiting the Milawa Cheese Factory (it was not to be).

Accommodation choice. We stayed the night at Lindenwarrah, a country house hotel just across the road from Brown Brothers winery. It was not the cheapest choice, but we felt we earned it after our snowfields drive. The Milawa Lodge Motel would have been another option, or the nearby Milawa Muscat Retreat B&B.

There was only one problem at Lindenwarrah: the restaurant had been taken over for a wedding dinner, which meant we had to drive a few kilometres to a decent restaurant. Later, when we returned, there was a knock at the room door -- it was one of the reception staff with a bottle of champagne and slices of wedding cake, an 'apology' from the bride's parents for 'locking us out of the hotel restaurant'. A nice touch.

Day 3 (Approx 530 kms). Once again, no breakfast before we left Lindenwarrah.  We had intended to have a snack at the Milawa Cheese Factory, but at that time, it did not open till half way through the morning (I'm told it now opens at 09.00 seven days a week). Instead, we continued to Beechworth, about half an hour’s drive away, to have breakfast at the Beechworth Bakery, which is run by a ‘celebrity baker’.  Not many of them around. The bakery had won several tourist awards, and, to be honest, I was expecting an element of kitsch -- but we were very pleasantly surprised.

It was just past nine o’clock in the morning and already the place was very busy. We decided that while it was a bit early for brunch we would neverthess have a couple of the ‘house specialities’ – crusty steak pies topped with fried egg, crispy bacon and melted Milawa cheese (so we did become acquainted with the local cheese). It’s called the Ned Kelly Pie and is named after Australia’s favourite rogue, a bushranger back in the pioneering days. The one who wore an iron mask: Mick Jagger played him in the film.

We continued on to nearby Yackandandah (just because we liked the sound of  the name) and came across one or two interesting antique shops. I ended up with a couple of interesting old fob watches at a bargain price, at least a hundred years old.  Yackandandah, like Beechworth, had its foundations based on gold, with the first strikes being made in the mid-1800s. Evidence of gold mining can still be seen all around the town.

We then drove on through Tallangatta, an old town on the shores of Lake Hume which was moved to make way for a reservoir back in the 1950s (yes, they moved the whole town). From there it was on to Corryong, home of The Man From Snowy River. It was too cold to do any horse riding – but I made a note to do it next time.

Corryong -- the best of the bush

We were told about the annual Man From Snowy River Festival held every April, a bush gathering of mountain riders, poets, artists and others who enjoy the Australian High Country and its pioneering heritage. Evidently, about 12,000 people from around Australia (as well as quite a number of international visitors) turn up each year for the event. It recreates the story of Jack Riley, the leg­end­ary horse­man who emigrated to Australia from Ireland as a thirteen-year-old in the mid-1800s. He is the key figure in Australia's most famous poem The Man from Snowy River by Banjo Paterson. Well worth listening to.

From Cooryong we headed to the magnificent Snowy Mountains; crossing from Victoria into New South Wales, on our way to Tumut in the Kosciusko National Park. We enjoyed spectacular views for the entire journey – and hardly any traffic along the way. We drove on through snow decked forests (not deep enough to close the road) to Wee Jaspers and Yass, and eventually ended up in Goulburn, where we decided to spend the night. It had been a long, exciting day’s drive.

Accommodation choice. The Goulburn Comfort Inn Posthouse, situated almost half-way between Canberra and Sydney.The restaurant was already closed when we arrived, but one of the staff heated a couple of steak and kidney pies that we had bought in Beechworth – just for such an emergency.

Day 4  (Approx 450 kms). After another massive buffet breakfast (which included lamb’s kidneys and giant mushrooms), we set off on what was to be a true 4X4 adventure. We were heading for the Blue Mountains where we intended to spend a little time before driving on to the Hunter Valley for a night at a winery resort.

The hotel receptionist winced and said it was too ambitious a plan: our friends in Melbourne had said we were mad driving the Great Alpine Road in winter. We were beginning to doubt the Australian pioneering spirit: alas, the average Australian can tell you everything you need to know about Bali and Bangkok (and often some things you don’t need to know), but often has very little knowledge of his or her own back yard.

The quickest route from Goulburn to the Blue Mountains would have been along the highway, but we had agreed that we would stick to lesser used roads whenever possible. We mapped out a route for the day that would lead us along winding country roads from Taralga, just north of Goulburn to the nature reserve at Tarana, where we would head east towards the old coal mining town of Lithgow and down to Katoomba in the heart of the breathtaking Blue Mountains.

Taralga and a true country pub

We decided to call in at  the Taralga Hotel, a true Australian country pub that has been pulling pints for for more than a century. We had intended to visit the nearby Wombeyan Caves, but got distracted.  One of the locals mentioned the pub’s home made pizzas, so we thought we would give it a go (despite the big breakfast) – and ended up with the largest pizza I’ve ever seen. We ended up munching on pizza for the next hundred or so kilometres.

It was a very enjoyable drive, including a coffee break at a gas station in the middle of nowhere, where the owner, on learning I was from Belgium, began to discuss American military tactics in the Ardennes at the end of World War Two (I suppose he did not often have the chance). If only he had not used bottled coffee.

We explored the Blue Mountains on the cable car at Scenic World, (one of the world’s steepest passenger-carrying cable cars, I was told). Actually, we made the descent on the Scenic Railway, a little bit like a tame roller-coaster, and came back up with the cable car, which was definitely the most exciting way to do it.

After a short pit stop at the busy Imperial Hotel in nearby Mount Victoria, a pub dating back to the late 1870s, and said to be Australia’s oldest tourist hotel, it was time to head off in the direction of Pokolbin in the Hunter Valley.

The twists and turns of The Bell of Lines road

We took a road that led us to the Bells Line of Road, which winds its way through the Blue Mountains, and just for the hell of it decided at some point to make a detour up to Mountain Lagoon and across to Wheeny Creek. It’s a great track, really off the beaten path – and again it justified renting a 4X4 rather than a conventional car, which would not have given us the freedom to explore areas that few get to see.

After a couple of wrong turns on unmarked roads, nothing drastic, we eventually arrived for dinner at the Hunter Valley Resort’s excellent San Martino Restaurant – a gourmet affair with a wide choice of wines from local cellars. San Martino, or Saint Martin, is the patron saint of winemakers – and he would have been proud of the food and wine we enjoyed that night.

Braised quail for starters, and for the main course we had beef fillet with horseradish mash and calves liver parfait; and we could not turn down the dessert platter, which was made up of wonderful chocolate goodies with raspberry and rhubarb sauces. Each dish was served with a glass of wine best suited to the food – and the people at San Martino really know their stuff. We had some great meals during our stay in Australia, and this had to be one of the best, if not the best.

Accommodation choice. We stayed in a two bedroom cottage at the Hunter Resort, which offers a range of accommodation options. The cottage was on the edge of the property’s shiraz vineyards.

Day 5 (Approx 160 kms). After a late breakfast, it was time to take part in the Hunter Resort’s wine course, which was lots of fun, after which we had fish and chips for lunch washed down with their very own Blue Tongue beer.

In the late afternoon we broke with our pattern of driving on roads unknown to most people, even those who live in Melbourne and Sydney, and headed for the nearest highway for the drive into Sydney. And that's when we ran into our first traffic jams of the journey. We should have stuck to Plan A.

Once in Sydney, we checked into our hotel and returned the Nissan Patrol to Hertz. We had an enjoyable dinner with friends at the Balkan Seafood Grill on Oxford Street, and a relatively early night -- I wanted to climb Sydney Harbour Bridge with BridgeClimb the next morning, before heading off to the airport for the Qantas flight to Frankfurt.

Accommodation choice. Harbour Rocks Hotel, which was ideally located in the most historic part of Sydney and close Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Pascal Renes works with the Belgian police and has taken several advanced driving courses. He is a keen driver and likes to go off on a driving adventure, by 4X4 or a conventional vehicle. He has driven extensively in Europe and parts of North Africa and tells us that one of his favourite routes is the Romantische Strasse in Germany. And his worst experience? Relying on a locally bought map after crossing into Rumania from neighbouring Serbia and driving on a highway (of sorts) for two hours only to find it ended in a rutted field.

Check out the Melbourne-Sydney coastal route