A two hours drive from Adelaide and you will find yourself in the peaceful Yorke Peninsula. To the west and overlooking Spencer Gulf are lovely coastal towns with secluded bays for swimming and perfect shallow reefs for snorkeling. Beautiful beaches dot the coastline down to the tip of the peninsula at Innes National Park which offers not only great views over the gulf but great camping as well.

Also, one of the best diving experiences can be had at Wardang Island  which forms a breakwater for the western coast and is reached easiest from nearby Point Victoria.  There are nine shipwrecks off her shores which make for a full days exploring. Sacred to the local Narunga Aboriginal people, you will need to obtain a permit to visit the island and being that you need to register your dive trip here it doubles as a safety precaution.

The Flinders Ranges are endless folds and crumples of mountains and escarpments with a very close tie to the Aboriginal Dreamtime. Find out about Akurra, a massive serpent that guards the waterholes and was responsible for the formation of the contours and grooves as it wriggled through this land.

Another region that has wilderness and wine in spades, although Clare Valley also lays claim to being the prettiest, reminiscent of either southern Ireland or Tuscany depending on the season. The Riesling Trail is one Australia’s best cycle/walking tracks, not least because you can amble through 33km of gum-studded countryside, stopping at dozens of wineries including  remarkable Sevenhill Cellars. (Mixing Australians, great wine and hired bicycles may sound like a recipe for disaster but people seem to keep themselves reasonably tidy…) To the east is copper country, where the unusual town of Burra, with its Monster Mine (and five pubs) made 19 th-century South Australia richer than Croesus.