DOC: The city of Whyalla is a mining and steel production centre on the Eyre Peninsula, about 400km northwest of Adelaide.

While you’re there, put a visit to the Maritime Museum on your to-do list. You’ll find plenty of artefacts and memorabilia including Matthew Flinders’ journals and charts from 1814. There’s also a shipbuilding gallery and you can do a guided tour of HMAS Whyalla, the first ship built in Whyalla in 1941.

If you would like to know the inner workings of steel, take a tour of the fully operational OneSteel Steelworks to see the process of turning the different types of iron into more than 90 variations of steel.

A quieter option is a stroll around the Tanderra Craft Village (open the last Saturday and Sunday of each month). There is a quaint market, speciality shops and tearooms.

The Ada Ryan Gardens with its sea views is a nice spot for a picnic lunch and the Darling Terrace Gallery features artwork of local scenes.

It won’t take you long to explore the city and, once you have, head out of town to indulge in more decadent activities such as Australia’s only Seafood Trail and the local vineyards.

The Seafood Trail is like cellar doors for seafood. It’s a long trail, covering the coastline from Whyalla to Streaky Bay and it takes in fish farms, boat cruises, tastings and dining along the way. You may not have enough time to do the entire trail, so I have picked out a few shorter options for you to look at.

The road trip from Whyalla to Cowell will take a bit over one hour. Cowell is known as one of the best fishing spots in South Australia, so head down to the jetty and try your luck or hire a canoe and go for a paddle, then indulge in a glass of champagne and a freshly shucked oyster for morning tea.

Travel on to Port Lincoln, under two hours away, where you can swim with sea lions or, if you’re adventurous, cage dive with Great Whites. Oysters are a highlight here, with the well known Coffin Bay variety sourced daily from just up the road.

Spoil yourselves and stay at the secluded and romantic Tanonga Luxury Eco Lodges (tanonga.com.au). Or check out Almonta Park Lodge (almontapark.com) at Coffin Bay where you can enjoy a private four-bedroom homestead.

The Eyre Peninsula has a small number of boutique vineyards and they are all near Port Lincoln.

You will find only two cellar doors for tastings, Gardner’s Vineyard, 368 Haigh Drive, North Shields, and Boston Bay Wines (bostonbaywines.com.au).

You will need to call ahead to visit Gardner’s (0428 378 396), but you will find Boston Bay open seven days a week between noon and 4pm. Bookings are required if you wish to enjoy one of their tasting platters.

On the other hand, it’s an easy 280km drive from Whyalla to the Clare Valley region where you will be spoilt for choice.

You can enjoy a cluster of vineyards and the amazing scenery of rolling hills and gullies in one of Australia’s oldest winegrowing regions.

If you can, spend a couple of days and explore the rich heritage and architecture of the area – in between wine tastings.

Park yourselves at the Stanley Grammar Country House (oldstanleygrammar.com.au), a luxuriously restored 1863 grammar school full of antique furnishings, elegant rooms and romantic log fire or, for a real treat, The Louise (thelouise.com.au) in the Barossa.

At this vineyard retreat, 15 lavish suites overlook the vines and the world-class Appellation restaurant.

Spend your days exploring more than 30 cellar doors by car, or have way more fun and hire a bike then cycle the Riesling Trail. There are three loop trails returning you to your starting point passing through cellar doors and local townships.

NO REASON FOR ALARM

I am 73, flying to London solo and not into iPads, iPhones or fancy mobiles etc. I have a six-hour stopover in Singapore en route and a 12-hour stopover on the return; I’m booked into the transit lounge there. I’m worried about falling asleep and missing the call for my connecting flight. Can I take a travel alarm clock in my carry-on baggage?

DOC: Yes you can. You will have no problems taking a small alarm clock on board the aircraft or through customs. The security officers may want to inspect it, so have it easily accessible in your bag or take it out like people do with their laptops and pop it into the tray along with your keys, coins and any other metallic items.

PICK A DIRECTION

One of your recent articles mentioned that the Douro River in Portugal was more sedate than many of the other rivers. So it got me thinking, and I now ask which way is the preferred direction of travel on a river cruise, upstream or downstream?

DOC: River cruising in Europe is one of the calmest boating experiences you will have. It makes minimal if any difference whether you head upstream or down.

If you were to take the most popular route between Budapest and Amsterdam, you will actually find a combination of both. As you leave Budapest you will sail upstream, but as you merge into the Rhine, it will change to downstream.

You may notice the slightest of change in engine noise between down and upstream, but I doubt it and you will generally find the cruise may be a day or so longer if it contains a majority of upstream travel.