Victoria: High on Adrenaline

The Great Alpine Road, stretching almost 300km from Wangaratta to Bairnsdale, is one of Australia's classic summer touring routes. It begins in pastoral northern Victoria, not far from the Murray River, and takes you high into the Australian Alps, deep into the heart of two alpine national parks and finally brings you out, a stone's throw from the coast, in east Gippsland. We look at four of the best get-out-there adventures you can have along the way.

Horsing around - Dinner Plain Trail Rides

If you've ever harboured secret thoughts of emulating the Man from Snowy River, galloping across the high country plains, then Dinner Plain is the place to do it.

Dinner Plain Trail Rides, which has a summer stables in the ski-resort village, offers a range of guided horse treks ? for an hour or two, a full day, or up to five days if you really want to live the mountain cowboy or cowgirl fantasy.

The trails meander across the mountains behind the village, through forests of tall mountain ash and twisted, stunted snow gums, up rugged and rocky escarpments and along mountain ridge tops where you'll see sweeping views of the mountains and plains beyond. And the best bit is that it is highly unlikely you'll stumble across anyone else during the whole ride ? the mountains are yours to enjoy alone.

All riding capabilities are catered for and most treks include a welcome rest with a bush tucker picnic and cup of billy tea. To book call Helen Packer on (03) 5159 6445 or visit Dinner Plains Trail Rides for more information.

Paddle power - the Ovens River in a canoe

For a more gentle alpine adventure spend a lazy summer afternoon paddling the Ovens River in a canoe. Rio's Alpine Centre, also at Porepunkah near Bright, runs half-day guided canoeing trips.

Time on the water is around three hours and begins with some basic safety instruction and paddling techniques, before a short 4WD trip to the riverside launching point. The canoes are all built for two and are very stable.Steering however, can be another matter, especially if one paddler is stronger than the other.After a little unplanned water-based circle work, a small spate of paddling downstream backwards and a lot of hysterical laughter, we drifted down the river, riding gentle rapids and gliding through long, still pools, splashing mates as they floated past and stopping for the occasional dip in the crystal clear water.

Water birds waded in the shallows as we passed and trout darted beneath our canoes as we took in the views of Mt Buffalo and the Ovens Valley. At the end of the trip, we snacked on a BYO picnic before our guide drove us back to our cars at Porepunkah.

Tours depart 9am and 2pm most days in the Summer and Easter school holidays. Tel: (03) 5756 2208 or visit Rio's Alpine Centre for more information.

On your bike - the Murray to Mountains Rail Trail

From paddle power to pedal power ? the Murray to Mountains Rail Trail is a 94km trail that follows the course of a decommissioned regional rail line from Wangaratta, through Beechworth, Myrtleford, Porepunkah and Bright.

It's the longest trail of its type in Australia, and to do it all takes around three days, but the beauty of it is that because it passes through so many towns, you can pick an choose your sections, doing either a little ? or the lot. And there's a choice of hotels, motels, B&Bs or camping for the overnight stays.

The trail winds its way through fertile farmland, vineyards, small villages and historic country towns ? past cellar doors, farm gate stalls (great for provisions), old tobacco kilns and traces of the gold rush that first opened up this part of the state. Being a rail trail, there's no road traffic to worry about, and at times the trail is deep inside the bush so you won't even see or hear a car.

Even though it's in the Alpine High Country, those old trains weren't very good at hauling heavy loads up steep hills, so most of the climbs and descents are gradual ? good news for those who haven't been on a bike in a while and family groups. For more information about the trail visit The Murray to Mountains Rail Trail for more information.

Messing about in boats - the Gippsland Lakes

The Great Alpine Road meets the coast at the Gippsland Lakes - nature's gift to novice sailors. There are no rocks, reefs or tides and the navigation is easy, so you are free to concentrate on the techniques of sailing.

Riviera Nautic, based at Metung, charters all sorts of boats for all types of messing around traditional fishing boat, putt putt day boats, yachts and cruisers. Our group were all genuine landlubbers, more at home on the ground than at sea, so we signed up for the three-hour sailing lesson before we took control for ourselves.

Our skipper showed us the ropes, explaining how everything on board worked and why, before we started skimming over the water in the mid-afternoon breeze. Surprisingly, it took only a couple of hours before we all felt more or less comfortable at the wheel, eyes trained on the sail to check whether we need to tack and when, racing the other yachts on the lakes, getting hooked on the exhilaration of moving with the wind.

The learn-to-sail packages can be incorporated into the standard boat charter. Simply book your choice of yacht in the normal way, and also book three hours of sailing tuition. For more information call (03) 5156 2243 or visit Riviera Nautic for more information.

Story and image by Lee Atkinson

All information was correct at the time of writing but may change without notice.