Venturing Down Under? Get yourself off the beaten path

You've seen Harbor Bridge, Bondi Beach and the Opera House in Sydney, Queensland's Great Barrier Reef, Ayers Rock -- now called by its Aboriginal name, Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park -- and Melbourne's famous Victorian architecture. You've bought a boomerang, a didgeridoo and an Akubra hat.

Whew! You must be exhausted -- and half trampled by tour buses! It's time to venture off the beaten path. Not too far, just to where you can stop and smell the native eucalyptus ("gum trees").

Don't forget how big this country is -- about the size of the continental United States, with a huge desert center and 18 million inhabitants spread out mostly along the coast. Absorb its diversity in small bites. Let these tidbits from the southeast corner whet your appetite. And remember, when planning your trip, the seasons down under are exactly opposite those in our part of the world.

(H)aveag'day!

TAKE TASSIE

Tasmania, the triangular island state 185 miles off mainland Australia's southeast coast, frequently eludes travelers' radar. The only tour buses you'll see will be around the picturesque capital city of Hobart and at nearby Port Arthur, the notoriously harsh 19th-century prison. Yet this unique place, just a short plane ride from Melbourne or Sydney, offers clean air, pristine sandy beaches, rolling green hills, glacially sculpted mountains and lakes, a wild river system and one of the world's last surviving temperate rain forests, now a World Heritage Area.

You can sail, ski, fly-fish, white water raft, hike (bush walking here), cycle or pursue more languid entertainment, including antiqueing. Tasmania also distinguishes itself in wine and food--especially organic produce, cheese and seafood. With everything from Freycinet Marine Farm oysters and Huon Valley cherries to perfect lamb and Shaw Plantation avocados, you'll eat well. And daily living in the sleepy towns intertwines with interesting flora and fauna. Watch for wallabies (mini-kangaroos), duck-billed platypuses and ant-slurping echidnas.

To get to Tasmania, fly into Launceston. Drive 35 minutes to Deloraine and stay at Calstock, a grand historical country home owned by France-born Remi and Ginette Bancal. Relax in elegant public rooms and spacious, sumptuously decorated guest rooms, replete with ultra-modern marble baths. The estate originally belonged to the richest man in Tasmania; the stables once housed a noble horse breeding program that produced Malua, one of Australia's greatest race horses. Enjoy gracious hospitality and Remi's fine country French cooking, while exploring the fascinating Western Tiers, Great Lake and spectacular Cradle Mountain.

If you're looking for vintner pleasures, follow the Tamar Valley wine route, especially noting lauded Piper's Brook winery. Stay over at Simon Houghton's singular establishment, 1878-built Hawley House, his family's property since 1948. Marvel at gorgeous beaches and magnificent coastal views, or just potter around the house's grounds -- with working vineyards, a Natural Heritage Funded Wildlife Sanctuary, roaming peacocks and Alfred, the pet cockatoo. You can even marry here: Simon, always up to something splendidly quirky, recently installed a wedding chapel.

DRINK IN THE BEAUTY

Continue the winery trail on the mainland by flying to the South Australia capital of Adelaide, a university town with a lively arts community and a provincial, laid-back pace. Adelaide Hills, South Australia's most recently developed wine district, lies a few kilometers away. Drive to Bridgewater Mill, an engaging reclamation project spawned by Petaluma winemaker Brian Crozer.

While the restored 140-year-old iron water wheel churns in the background, sip wonderful Petaluma wines in the bustling "cellar door," the Australian version of a tasting room. The attached restaurant, with an outdoor deck and a smart, glass-clad indoor dining room, serves lunch only, Wednesdays through Saturdays. Award-winning Vietnam-born chef Le Tu Thai creates Modern Australian culinary masterpieces -- fresh Australian ingredients, French technique and Asian touches.

Through the hills from Adelaide, the famous Barossa Valley presents a wine district rivaling Napa, with the charm intact that Napa long ago relinquished to the crowds. An ideal base for your stay is Paul & Yin Knight's beautifully groomed Hermitage of Marananga. This country house hotel, boasting 360-degree vineyard valley views and breathtakingly dramatic sunsets, combines old world charm with five-star modern amenities. Suites, each named for a grape variety, feature color TV and DVD/CD players. Some have Jacuzzi's and wood fires. Yin cooks gourmet breakfasts and dinners, served on Royal Doulton china, with exemplary local wines poured into Riedel glassware.

Just down Seppeltsfield Road is the Seppelts Winery and vineyards, complete with the arresting Greek revival Seppelt family mausoleum. In nearby Nuriootpa, local food celebrity Maggie Beer runs her eponymous Farm Shop and cafe (formerly The Pheasant Farm), featuring her full line of preservative-free gourmet foods -- pates, pickles, verjus, desserts. Visit enticing cellar doors: Grant Burge, Barossa Valley Estates, Elderton. And stop for lunch at Seasons of the Valley, in quaint Angaston, to taste chef Marjorie Coats' fresh duck egg pasta or pork sausages with green pea mash.

EWE'S NEWS

Get up close to kangaroos, emus, Southern Hairy Nosed wombats -- and, of course, ewes, rams and lambs -- at Portee Station, a working, commercial sheep property and nature-based tourism site. The restored 1873-built homestead offers an outback experience coupled with charming, comfortable accommodations. Owner Ian Clark's daughter, Sue, prepares delicious country cuisine.

Coming to Portee from the Barossa, take the road that passes through the tiny village of Kyneton, in the Eden Valley. Look for the signpost to the Henshke Vineyard, and stop there en route to taste exceptional wines. If coming directly from Adelaide, either drive two hours on your own, or have Ian arrange (for a fee) for you to be chauffeured.

Portee Station lies on a billabong (ox-bow lake), on the flood plain of the Murray River. The classic limestone, corrugated-iron-roofed building, with a wrap-around veranda, perches above a green wetland populated by glorious water fowl. Away from the river, the lush land turns to parched mallee scrub and ultimately desert. You can learn about sheep and how a wool growing station operates--shearing occurs in June; ewes lamb in August/September. Or Ian will customize tours to your interests, including bird-watching boat rides on the billabong or night spotlighting for wombats.

GRAND HOTEL

Leaving Portee, you face a difficult choice. Returning to Adelaide, in less than two hours, you can visit the Magill Estate, home of Penfold's winery, its world famous Grange label and a magnificent restaurant. Or drive west for three hours to the Grand Hotel in Mildura, home of Stefano's, the Melbourne Age newspaper's 2002 restaurant of the year. Stefano de Pieri might indeed be the Emeril Lagasse of Mildura, but the town is a dusty outpost, albeit one lined with palms; the Grand Hotel resembles an overgrown Oklahoma motel. If you must make the pilgrimage (the food is excellent!), dump the long drive through monotonous terrain and fly instead from Adelaide.

If time's at a premium, fly from Adelaide to Melbourne. Otherwise, take several days to meander through more wine country (the Clare Valley, Coonawara), then drive along the coast of Victoria on the Great Ocean Road -- with magnificent vistas and world-class surfing. Proceed until a clockwise half-circle ushers you into Melbourne. Or ferry across the entrance to Port Philip Bay from Queenscliff, once a fashionable resort, making a half-circle counterclockwise through the wineries, beaches and nature parks of the Mornington Peninsula.

GOLDEN DAYS

Northwest of Melbourne, in the Macedon Ranges, both modest B & B's and elaborate resorts for "taking the waters" dot Spa Country. Further along, another chunk of Australia's history emerges: Two years after the California gold rush, many failed '49ers followed their lust for instant wealth half-way around the world to then remote, rural Victoria.

In Ballarat, visit Sovereign Hill, a reconstruction of the primitive conditions the '51ers endured. Go to Bendigo, and the nearby small communities of Castlemaine and Maldon, to discover the extravagant architecture created by those who profited from the goldfields. Explore also Bendigo's Chinese edifices, including an 1860 temple. The Golden Dragon Museum documents the many major contributions the Chinese population made to this city's history.

Dine at Bazzani's, a handsome establishment just off the central square. A fine renovation of a Victoria era shop/warehouse, it surprises with sophisticated food, an amazing wine list, an elegant wine room and such interesting touches as an Egyptian-themed cocktail lounge.

TUCKERED OUT

For an endurance test, you could also munch your way through northeastern Victoria's gourmet food region--sampling local wines, cheese, chocolates, breads, jams, nuts. But stop before you're wiped out: there's someone you should know.

"If it weren't for Stephanie, none of us would be here." says Gail Donovan, co-owner with her husband, Kevin, of Donovans, a wonderful restaurant in a former beach bathing house in the Melbourne suburb of St. Kilda. That's Stephanie Alexander, the vivacious chef, writer, teacher and standard-bearer at the heart of modern Australian cuisine. In 1976, when she opened her restaurant, Stephanie's, she inspired a whole new generation of chefs with innovative fare, based on fresh local ingredients. Stressing the joys of good food, wine and friendship, she's forever altered Australia's culinary and cultural identity.

Visit her current enterprise, Richmond Hill Cafe & Larder, in a trendy district just east of Melbourne's city center. While Stephanie, a prolific cookbook author, is not always on premise, the casual cafe, with a fine cheese room and Australian products for purchase, reflects her magnetic philosophy of simple food beautifully prepared.

TA (THANKS) AND G'DAY

As you leave Australia, the world's oldest continent, think of all those gum trees you've encountered -- more than 500 varieties of them, with poetic names such as ghost gums, red river gums, sugar gums and stringy barks. Some stand tall like proud old men; others huddle as gnarled, stunted shrubs against the winds. It's easy to get hooked on Australia's spirit. Bet, like a boomerang, you'll return.

Sydney
Bathers' Pavillion (The Esplanade, Balmoral Beach, 2 9969-5050)
Pier (594 New South Head Road, Rose Bay, 2 9327 6561)
Tetsuya (529 Kent St., 2 9267 2900)

Tasmania
Fee & Me, (190 Charles St., Launceston, 03 6331 4153)
Stillwater River Cafe, (Ritchies Mill, Paterson St., Launceston, 03 6331 4153)

Adelaide & Environs
Bridgewater Mill (Mt. Barker Road, Bridgewater, 8 8339 3422)
The Grange Restaurant (Hilton International Hotel, 233 Victoria Square, 8 8217 2000)
Magill Estate Restaurant (Penfold Road, Magill, 8 8339 3422)

Melbourne
Donovans (40 Jack Blvd., St. Kilda 3 9534 8221)
Flower Drum (17 Market Lane, Chinatown, 3 9662 3655)
Richmond Hill Cafe & Larder (40-50 Bridge Road, Richmond, 3 9421 2808)

U.S. visitors must have a visa. You can get an "electronic travel authority" (ETA) through your U.S. travel agent or airline reservations number. Otherwise, contact the Australian Embassy, Dept. of Immigration, 1600 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20036, (202) 797-3000 or www.austemb.org/DIMA/visitor.htm .

Seasons are reversed -- March and April (fall) will still be warm and pleasant in South Australia and Sydney, more temperate in Victoria and Tasmania. Very hot summers make fall and spring better seasons for a visit.

Qantas offers the widest range of flights from the United States, departing mostly from Los Angeles and San Franscisco. They're also the major airline within Australia. Reservations can be made online at www.qantas.com or 800-227-4585. Check for international and domestic deals.

Flight time from the U.S. West Coast, to either Sydney or Melbourne, is 15 to 17 hours. You cross the international date line en route, so a flight from Los Angeles will depart at 11:30 p.m. and arrive at 9 a.m. the day after tomorrow. Returning, you'll arrive 7 to 9 hours before you left.

Major U.S. car rental companies operate down under. Best rates can be found and booked online through www.orbitz.com , www.usairways.com and Yahoo travel. Driving is on the left side. If changing gear left-handed is awkward, request the more expensive automatic transmission option. All road distances are marked in kilometers (1 kilometer is ⁵ / ₈ of mile).

Train travel and inter-city bus service are difficult.

In major cities, driving and parking is a hassle. Public transport by bus or tram is convenient and much less expensive than taxis. Purchase all-day or multi-day tickets, when possible.

Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt and Starwood (Sheraton, W) all have hotels in Sydney and Melbourne. There's only Hilton and Hyatt in Adelaide, and no properties in Tasmania. The state tourist Web sites, and others noted, will provide online information and reservations.