obogk

HI There

We arrived in Perth April and trying to plan a holiday for around Sept to visit the East Coast..
Trying to plan it now can anyone shed some light on how long it would take to drive

Sydney - Goldcoast
Goldcoast - Brisbane
Brisbane - Sunshine Coast
THEN
Sunshine Coast - Grand Barrier Reef.

We have a little 21 month girl so if you have been to any one these places and can recommend a place to stay or visit with children would appreciate it.

Thanks

sassie

Hi. Although I'm not that familiar with the Sydney-Gold Coast route, I would estimate it would take approx. 10-12 hours, although depending on how many stops you have. Gold Coast-Brisbane, approx 1 hour, Brisbane-Sunshine Coast, approx 2-2 1/2 hours and Sunshine Coast to GBR (this could vary considerably as the GBR is huge and stretches for hundreds of miles up the north queensland coast. We used to go up to Airlie Beach which is the gateway to the whitsunday island and GBR, and used to do it in about 2 days. Cairns is where a lot of people go for access to the GBR, and that would probably be another 7 hours or so on top.

have a look at www.whereis.com and that should give you an idea of distances.

Have a good trip.

NickyC

You CAN drive Sydney/Gold Coast in a day but it's not recommended - it's at least 10 hours drive. If you had two drivers then fine, but not if doing it with one.

The traditional place to stop overnight on that route is Coffs Harbour which is just past the halfway mark. Heaps of hotels/motels/restaurants there so it's a good choice to break the journey. It's far better to do that trip over two days than racing there in one

cresta57

I'll second that, we drove down a couple of years ago not something I'd do again . We went down the inland route on the New England Highway stopped over at our Daughters place in Tenterfield. On the way back we came up the coast road Stopping overnight is safer and your not so tired to enjoy the scenery next day.

Sydney to GC 10/12 hrs depending upon stops.
GC to Brisbane just over an hour from the top end.
Brisbane to Sunny Coast just over an hour depending upon traffic.

If your driving from the Sunshine Coast up to the GBR the closest place to go out on a boat snorkeling/diving or just exploring on the reef is from Bundaberg the trip out from there takes about 3 hrs to Lady Musgrave Island. I found that it's better to drive another hour or so North from Bundaberg and catch a boat out from 1770. That trip is just under an hour so more time at Lady Musgrave less time on a boat full of seasick tourists
Try searching for Lady Musgrave Island there's a couple of companies run trips.

AndyR1976

Hiya, I'm an Aussie and have done the drive between central coast (just north of Sydney) and various stretches of the coast many times.

I can cover about 800kms in a day (about ten hours) so if you look ata map you can roughtly figure out each stretch.

Its about one day to Gold Coast/Brisbane (10 hours) then LOTS of hours between there and Cairns!

My last trip to Port Douglas I gave myself 5 days to get back to Sydney for a wedding!

I did 5 8-10 hour days straight - literally drive 800 kms then slept, then drive 800kms ...etc

With the cost of petrol climbig and internal flights getting cheaper its probably just as easy these days to get a flight for any distances over about 1000 kms!

A

My girlfriend (who was with me) was NOT impressed! Although she did get to catch up on all her magazine reading!!

rodandhayley

14 hours sydney to brissy did it a few weeks ago should be quicker but every body keeps or goes below the speed limit, aveage speed was about 65
coffs harbour is a good stop off watch out for the roaches in the cheap motels though.

birdynumnum

alot of driving that'd be for a holiday...alot of it is quite boring too IMO, well the Sydney - Brisbane leg is

AndyR1976

I think it gets worse north of sunshine coast!!

Just miles of nothing either side of Mackay!

Last time I was there I was caught by a police car doing 180 km/h!!

the only bloody car I had seen for 300 kms and it was a police car with a radar in it!!

The copper was nice though - showed me my speed on his radar equipment, fined me for doing 110 (more than 30km over hte limit is automatic loss of licence). He told me that he gets bored shitless driving that stretch over and over and over!!

birdynumnum

I agree. I've done the Sydney to Brisbane leg more than the other leg but just wont again. Once was with a car with no radio & on my own...imagine

AndyR1976

Thats just silly!!!

birdynumnum

No its stupid. I did have a personal cd player but couldnt hear it over the engine.

obogk

hi there thanks for this and the other replies -

Any names of places to stop over in Coffs Harbour - would rather book something having a baby. Thanks

AndyR1976

In many towns along the coast (ie coffs harbour, taree, grafton and so on) there are often dozens of hotels where you can literally wander in and grab a room at a reasnable rate (ie around $80-90 for a couple).

Because of the distances between towns many aussies frind themselves on the raod late afternoon, getting tired and still hundreds of kms from their destination - so you can just pull up and grab a cheap room for the night etc. The good thing about this is, if you think you can make another 200-300kms before you fall asleep you can look on the map and say 'well, where in Taree, but I think we can get to Coffs Harbour before nightfall'.

thats what I've always done - never booked! The only problem with booking is if it was the peak holiday season/school holidays!

Katherined0

Lovely campsite (with cabins to rent) at Emerald Beach if you're planning to stay at Coffs Harbour. Great place for toddlers with lovely pool and bouncing pillow. Great kitchen and other facilities. Clean and friendly!
http://www.ebhp.com.au/