Cruise from Adelaide to Yorke Peninsula: uncover the best eats, stays and adventures along the stunning SA coast.

No vehicle? No worries. Book a rental with Avis and pick the car up at Adelaide Airport – you can make the process smoother and speedier by checking in digitally before you travel with Avis PreCheck.

Day one: Adelaide to Marion Bay

(Distance: 376 kilometres, estimated time: 3 hours 25 minutes)

First up: get caffeinated (5.9 kilometres, 10 minutes)

The car is already sorted, so it’s time to caffeinate ahead of the drive. We suggest pulling into Coffee in Common: close to the airport, this warehouse roastery is one of Adelaide’s best. Choose between espresso, batch brew and V60 made with single origin and blended beans roasted on-site. Pair your coffee with a fluffy house-made doughnut (topped with raspberry and dark chocolate or matcha) or a more filling breakfast brioche with maple-glazed bacon, a fried egg, hash brown and coffee-and-onion relish. 

Detour for dolphins and a pink lake (145 kilometres, 1 hour 43 minutes)

Veer west to the Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary, just beyond Port Adelaide (18 kilometres), where the resident bottlenose dolphins frolic beside a 10,000-year-old mangrove forest. Lucky sightseers might witness sea lions and long-nosed fur seals. Or take a longer detour up north (past Port Wakefield) to the small township of Lochiel, about an hour and a half by car. Here crowds gather at the bubblegum-pink Lake Bambunga for otherworldly views. Visit in spring when the lake is full of water to see it looking pink. Otherwise you can walk the salty flats and try to spot the “Loch-Eel Monster” jutting out of the shallow lake.

Stop for lunch and tour an oyster farm (133 kilometres, 1 hour 35 minutes)

Head back down the coast to Stansbury, a sweet town on the east side of the Yorke Peninsula bordered by the St Vincent Gulf. Take in the tranquil waters of Oyster Bay while you enjoy a lazy lunch at Dalrymple Hotel. The award-winning bar and restaurant serves seafood-focused small plates like fish tacos, prawn-and-ginger dumplings and lobster sliders alongside heartier pub grub like eggplant parmies, crumbed pork cutlets and sticky pork belly.

Make the most of the arvo and spectacular setting by booking a hands-on Deckie for a Day tour at nearby Pacific Estate Oyster Farm, where you can sample creamy, plump Pacific oysters and native angasi plucked fresh from the water. From the boat, you’ll learn how they’re farmed and how to shuck the moreish molluscs yourself to enjoy later at home.

Sleep in a chic seaside cottage at Marion Bay (93 kilometres, 1 hour 5 minutes)

Travel on to the idyllic coastal town of Marion Bay on the southern tip of the peninsula and rest your head at My Sister & the Sea, a 1950s weatherboard cottage with Dhilba Guuranda-Innes National Park practically at its doorstep. It houses up to six people and has an outdoor tub to unwind after the day’s drive. Spend balmy nights watching the sun go down while playing games, or lounging on the day beds and hammocks. In winter you’ll keep cosy with the slow-combustion indoor wood fireplace.

Day two: Marion Bay to Adelaide via Moonta Bay

(Distance: 335 kilometres, Estimated time: 4 hours 5 minutes)

Explore the remote wilderness of Dhilba Guuranda-Innes National Park (4.9 kilometres, 6 minutes)

Wake up early and trek through the incredible and largely untouched Dhilba Guuranda-Innes National Park, popular for camping, fishing and surfing. There’s also various hiking trails, an abundance of wildlife (like ospreys and emus), a famous shipwreck and a deserted ghost town.  Find the region’s best beaches here, too – including Shell Beach, where a dip at this secluded rock pool will have you feeling like you’re on your own private island. 

Grab lunch in Moonta Bay before the drive home (169 kilometres, 1 hour 55 minutes)

Further north on the peninsula, Nook & Nourish in Moonta Bay serves healthy brunches like sweet potato and kimchi fritters, caramelised banana oats, and veggie- and grain-packed brekkie bowls. Sip an organic coffee, herbal tea, seasonal juice or vegan smoothie with your meal. Or for a more traditional taste of Moonta – part of the historic Copper Triangle (with Kadina and Wallaroo) where Cornish miners flocked during the 19th century – pull into The Cornish Kitchen, which is still making several hundred Cornish pasties from scratch every day.

For an even heartier lunch, drive another 17 kilometres north to Bond Store in Wallaroo. This restaurant, microbrewery and distillery operates within a restored 1865 building and the menu is all about charcoal grill.

After lunch, it’s time to get back to the city. Every Avis rental car has cruise control, so you can enjoy a relaxed and hassle-free two-hour drive back to Adelaide.

Read the original article published on Broadsheet.