haggis supper

We're planning to drive from Melbourne to Mackay QLD in April. The RACV website says it about 2200km and 25 hours worth of driving.

I'd appreciate hearing from anyone who has done this, or similar drives - how tough is it, where did you stay, and any advice ?!

We're looking at trying to complete it in 3 days.

Cheers,
Colin

Ozzidoc

Not done it. Know people who have driven Geelong - Gold Coast. I wouldnt want to do it in any less than 3 days....and it could take u another two (each way) to recover.

Have fun

haggis supper

Cheers !

HiddenPaw

Yes, I've done it. I would say 25hrs minimum, possibly 28-30hrs. You have to factor in that it'll take you an hour to get out of Melbourne for starters, the fact that the main highways run thru the middle of towns so in the SE corner of Oz especially, you will be flitting between 110/100/80/60 limits quite regularly, and you need fuel stops and rest stops (presuming your're doing this with your kids?)

Driving after dusk is quite hazardous/tiring because of the roos. Also driving into low sun can be hard (depending on your direction of travel. )

When I did it (coming north to south) I think we stopped in Rockhampton, from there, about 800km to Brisbane, inland down the Newell Highway through NSW Moree, Dubbo, Narandera, then into Vic.

There are fruit fly free zones on the way thru Vic/NSW so you will have to discard any fruit and veg you have packed (so don't pack too much to begin with!)

We stopped in motels when we felt tired - didn't pre-book - no need as plenty of motels on the main highways at every town. IMO, better not to commit to a particular motel as it just adds pressure to get to a certain place, when external factors may severly delay your journey (e.g. we drove 800km Rockhampton-Bris in torrential rain for the whole day - took us about 11 hrs cos of the weather and slower speeds).

It is tough to do in 3 days but not impossible - I guess it's more draining thru concentration - landscape can be repetitive, novelty of the big driving adventure can wear off (especially for kids, I imagine). How many drivers? There is plenty to stop and see on way but if your mission is just to get to Mackay then I guess you just want to drive and get there in the shortest time poss?

The second time I went to Mackay, we also looked at driving up from Melbourne but decided 6 days of our time sat in a car wasn't for us - much better to have more holiday time. We still would have had to pay for 5 nights accomodation and food en route, so thought it better to actually spend the 5 nights somewhere nice rather than a roadside motel. Instead we flew to Brisbane, hired a car, drove slowly up to Mackay, left the hire car in Mackay and flew back to Melbourne.

Hope this helps.

Hels

Nice post HP

I have done the trip from Melbourne to Brissy(and vice versa) a few times. In fact, I have done Melbourne to Brissy in 16 hrs straight!! Although its a lot less stressful if you do it over 2 days. I always aimed for Dubbo for the night and would get to Brissy the next afternoon if I got on the road early.

I will say though I dont travel with kids and I am the sort of person that just wants to get where I am going and dont stop as much as I probably should.

If you do have kids, something my sister does with them is give them a treasure hunt to do along the way. Things they have to see, find, gather or make and at the end of the trip the one with the most gets a small prize or something along those lines. It does hold their interest for a while but its also something they can come back to over the whole trip.

We are driving up to Brissy in May and I cant wait!!!! Enjoy your trip.

Hels

Bix

Colin,
Play around with this one.
You can select fastest or shortest route and select what you may want to see en route.

http://www.nowwhereroute.com/travelm...uest&SessionId=

IrishInOz

G'day Colin,

You must have your own reasons for driving, because there are very good internet rates for flying.

However, driving will give you a good chance to see the country.

Some top advice has already been given, however I would just like to stress the point to keep off the roads at night.

You will probably be travelling the Newell or the Hume and maybe New England Hwys. At night, these roads belong to the truckies and the wildlife. :scared:

Enjoy the experience, take you time, rest often and don't drive through the night.

haggis supper

Cheers all - some excellent advice and very much appreciated.

Plenty to consider so I'll give it some thought. The air fares were working out in excess of $1600 so driving seemed like a possible alternative !

If we decide to go for it I'll let you know how we get on.

Cheers,
Col

dshole

We did Melbourne-Brisbane. We took about 4 days. Lot's of good sites on the way.

Bix da Boss

What an interesting post

Knew BIX would have to get his two pennies worth in Him and his bloomin web sites - I dont know Good one though eh?

ozzieeagle

Yehp I'm a get there in the shortest amount of time as well. We did Melbourne/Goldcoast and back, two days each way, We kept a record of our fuel expenditure for the whole trip, just to see how much it was, It came in at around 450 bucks, (or about 7-8 tanks of fuel) in a ford Falcon station wagon, including 10 days of driving around up in Qland. Plus the motel stop, at 90 bucks per night, and thats a hell of a lot more spending power, or in our case accommodation costs supplement, (we actually stayed 3 days longer, than we expected because of the cost saving), compared to flying. We did this about 2.1/2 years ago, when our kids were 5 and 8. We got up so early on the first day, that we were well into NSW, before they woke up properly, which was great.

Whilst staying up in Qland, we met a couple with 3 kids from Townsville, that regularly travelled 'non stop' to the Gold and Sunshine coasts in their fully fitted out Nissan patrol, with leather seats, air con, and in car dvd's being a necessity in their opinion for long distance driving with kids.

biggy

we just did the Rockhampton to Mackay part and that was bad enough....again torrential rain made driving very hazardous, and the route is soooooooooooooo boring...nowt to see and the eateries are a bit dire. How many of u would be travelling?

ClareW

Make sure you have cruise control. All too easy to exceed the speed limit on the long long roads and the Qld police don't have much else to do except set speed traps.

haggis supper

4 of us - my wife and I and 2 kids - 4 and 6 years. We recently drove to/from Wagga Wagga (6/7 hour drive) and the kids loved it. We set off early, stopped every 3 hours and they watched dvd's, played games (we put together some adventure books/I spy/things to do etc etc. We put the car on cruise control, put the Ipod on via the radio and talked etc - seems the only time my wife and I talk at length is in the car on long journeys !

Our car is on a lease scheme so all fuel is paid for. I also need to get km's on the clock for FBT reasons so that helps. We've both always wanted to drive across Oz (sadistic pleasure perhaps) but obviously concerned that this may be too much in a short period and is 3-4 days in the car with the kids asking too much of them - just to save $1800.

Cheers,
Col

ozzieeagle

If your talking about Perth, and were going for at least 3 weeks, then I would consider it. I would probably Travel over via car, and put the car on the train on the way back. Assuming that is possible.

I've been told by plenty of people you only want to Cross the Nullabour once.