It’s wizard in Oz

JOLLY tricky things, boomerangs. I’m being shown how to throw one by Paul Kelly, who’s Irish from his father’s side and Aboriginal from mum’s. We have plenty of room to practice. We’re in the Tower Hill State Game Reserve in Victoria, which sits inside an extinct volcano and about four hours from the state capital, Melbourne.

It’s a haven for wildlife, not that we’re trying to hit any – well, not on purpose. Paul tells me to aim for a tree. It doesn’t really matter what I aim for, the boomerang could still accidently bring down that cute koala bear sleeping in a nearby eucalyptus. After an embarrassing number of failed returns, I produce a deft flick of the wrist and the boomerang flies up, around and almost back. Not as good as Paul, who throws and actually catches the thing when it returns, but not bad. And the koala is safe.

You can get to Tower Hill by driving the Great Ocean Road, funded to provide jobs for soldiers returning from the First World War and dedicated to their fallen comrades. It hugs the cliffs and treats you to some spectacular views with plenty of places to stop and gasp.

Previously, the only access to places along this part of the coast was by sea or rough tracks through the bush, but now exotic sounding places like Port Fairy, Bells Beach and Apollo Bay are reachable without a grim sense of determination and stout walking shoes. A short stay on the Great Ocean Road is an agreeable idea so I pitch up at Seafairers in Apollo Bay, where you can stay in self-contained cliff top lodges. The patio doors at the end of my bed open onto spectacular ocean views. I sleep with the curtains open and am woken up by a beautiful sunrise as the early mist is burnt off over the sea and the sun comes up to warm the wooden deck where I sit and stare at the sea.

Simple pleasures.

After breakfast, I’m heading for the Twelve Apostles, a series of giant rock stacks rising from the Southern Ocean and the central feature of the Port Campbell National Park. Parking up among the hundreds of cars and coach parties, you can hear the constant crash of the sea that eroded the cliffs into the vertical stacks and the clatter of helicopters as they take tourists for a bird’s eye view of the coast.

Our pilot sportingly told us there are no longer 12 apostles, as the wind and sea continues to destroy them, and now only seven remain.

Probably six by the time you read this. Nevertheless, the view of the coast is spectacular.

The end of the Great Ocean Road is Warrnambool, but just down the road is Port Fairy.

This is such a pretty place, it’s almost as if it’s been built specially, like a film set. It’s home to one of the state’s biggest fishing fleets and a ridiculously large number of its houses are protected by the National Trust of Australia.

Port Fairy also has The Stag, a restaurant that served me one of the nicest bits of rare breed pork I have ever tasted. It’s all well worth a look.

If all this driving and flying sounds a bit carbon- footprint heavy, you can also forgo car and helicopter and walk a similar route to the Great Ocean Road. The Great Ocean Walk keeps you closer to the sea than the road, which dips inland at Apollo Bay.

Gavin Ronan and his wife, Dana, set up Bothfeet tours for exercise sissies like me in the belief that experiencing Australia’s great outdoors shouldn’t be daunting, exhausting or mean going without creature comforts. They plan your route, give you maps, feed you and rescue you if you get lost. The longer walks involve a stay at their purpose-built retreat half way along.

I took a short walk with Gavin first down to the beach and then up to the cliff top and never once did he make me feel like an unfit Pom, although I did benefit from the extra stamina gained from chasing a boomerang around the day before.

If you like your pleasures more man-made, Melbourne is a fine and interesting city to explore.

If you want a starting point head for Federation Square, which was designed as a public civic centre and meeting place. The Visitors Centre is here, alongside a huge outdoor screen, distinctive modern buildings, St Paul’s Cathedral and a huge atrium with a forest inside.

There’s so much that it could take days to see it all. If you want some guidance and the chance to discover parts of the city that you’d never find alone, Fiona Sweetman will walk you round on one of her Hidden Secret Tours.

There are plenty of surprises – alleyways double as art galleries or graffiti exhibition spaces and dozens of small and unique business occupy the underground walkway close to the iconic Flinder’s Street station. There are plenty more unusual sights, but you’ll have to discover them yourself because, well, they’re secret at the moment.

With a bag of souvenirs in my suitcase (including a boomerang. I asked the woman in the shop about the returns policy, but she didn’t laugh) it’s time to leave the city and fly home but based on this experience, and unlike something I could mention, I’ll definitely be coming back.

Travel facts

Getting there: Emirates Airline operates a daily service from Newcastle to Dubai, with connecting flights to Melbourne.

Return Economy Class fares start at £997. Return Business Class fares start at £3,461. Call 0844 800 2777 or visit emirates.com/uk

For information on visiting Melbourne and the Australian state of Victoria, see visitmelbourne.com/uk

Accommodation:

A double room at the Crown Metropol Melbourne from about £175 crownmetropol.com.au

A one-night self-contained stay (no breakfast) at Seafarer’s at Apollo Bay from about £80. seafarers.com.au

Activities/transport:

*Walking tours with Bothfeet on bothfeet.com.au. An overnight stay at the lodge is about £180 per person and includes breakfast. Walking tours are extra.

* Ten-minute helicopter flight with 12 Apostles Helicopters is about £65 per person – children full price.

* Melbourne’s Hidden Secrets is about £75 per person. Visit hiddensecretstours.com.

* Guided tours at Tower Hill State Game reserve cost about £12 per adult and children under 15 about £5. See parkweb.vic.gov.au