Cambridge runner

Hi
Just wondering if anyone has driven the coastal route from Sydney to Melbourne (or vice versa) and how long it took. We are thinking of doing this on our reccie trip later in the year. We would want to do it comfortably (ie not as fast as possible!) but also don't want it eating too much into our time in Victoria (this is where we are going to be living). Does anyone have any useful tips and advice?
Many thanks
Jo

richard-elly

Didn't do the coastal route but took the Hume Highway route as it was quicker. We had 2 small kids in the back and it took 12 hours each way with regular stops. Would I do it again....nope! The scenery was boring. I've been told the coastal route takes longer but the scenery must be fantastic. Felt very vunerable without emergency cover as we had only just arrived in oz. Would definately take out break down cover next time. Except there won't be one..... Don't suppose this really answers your question. Sorry.

OzTennis

Have been the coastal route a number of times. It is clearly a lot further but much more scenic and interesting than the inland route. I'd suggest breaking it up into at least 3 days to get the best out of it - Sydney to a southern NSW coastal town the first day (eg Merimbula is a wonderful place); to a western Victorian coastal town the second day (eg Lakes Entrance) and then Melbourne the third day. It could be done in 2 days or obviously you could take longer.

OzTennis

Cambridge runner

OK - thanks. We figured the Hume Highway would be a bit of a blast. We are flying into Sydney (have to use Virgin to use airmiles!) and then thought we would fly SYD-MEL one way and drive back the other way but we only have 3 weeks in total. 3 days sounds ideal for a road trip.
Are there any lesser known 'must see's' along the route?
Another question - anyone reccomend a decent car hire company that wouldn't charge the earth for a one way trip?
Many thanks for your help.
Jo

scottyboy

We drove that stretch a couple of times and I can whole heartedly recomend it. there are sights and places along there that would pop your socks off.
We took out time as we were not in a rush and stopped at every other tree.
There are some fantastic places to camp. Buy a rough guide and stop at the tourist information places to see what the locality has to offer.
Most of all enjoy.

Scotty.

Blinky

Hi,
We looked into doing the coastal route the first time we drove from Sydney to Melbourne (with 2 small children) but at that time there were fires blazing down the coast and even going the Hume Highway we drove through a lot of blacken scenery. However we really enjoyed the Hume Highway and stopped midway overnight. It was fascinating to see life outside the big cities.

The second time we drove from Melbourne to Sydney and back again with 3 small children (the youngest only 6 weeks old). Again we had a great time stopping off in some of the bizarre places along the way and enjoyed seeing where Ned Kelly was shot which was refreshingly uncommercial. On the way up we came off early and went through some incredibly beautiful scenery and drove down a spectacularly steep and wooded escapment on our way to Austinmer.

Although there were some long dull stretches where you sit with the cruise control on for hours, for us it was a great opportunity to reflect on what we were all thinking about moving to Australia, have a chance to talk about it at length, away from the friends and relatives we'd been staying with in Sydney and Melbourne. It certainly wasn't the drive that made us decide not to move

Blinky

Ialibu

The Hume Highway is a lot quicker than the Coast route. A lot more boring too. Maybe it wont be the blast you imagine. We don't have the Freeway cruising that you may be accustomed to. Speed limits here are great revenue raisers.

For a different trip Syd2Melb head south to Woollongong.

Just south of the last of Sydney's southern suburbs, turn off the Freeway at a sign for Lawrence Hargrave Drive and wind down to the actual coast. Turn right towards Stanwell Park and partake of a piece of incredible coastal driving see attached pix "wow sea.jpg"

then turn off at Albion Park on Highway 48 and head inland to Robertson via the Illawarra Highway to the Hume Highway. Going up the Macquarie Pass is a blast.

Turn off to Canberra and spend a day or two having a look around,. Then head directly south towards Cooma, attached pix "monaro.jpg" gives you an idea of that area. From Cooma head east and turn off to Bombala and from Bombala head towards Cann River, once there its a right turn and about a 5 hour run into Melbourne. Unless you stop for fish and chips in Bairnsdale.

You see a lot of what the east Coast has to offer. And you can do this in one day or three.

For Melb2Syd start from this end

Princess Leia

We've done it and really enjoyed it. The beaches along the coastline are superb. But I think the must visit was Wilsons Prom. There was so much wildlife there and fanstatic coastal views.

The Hume Highway drive (which we most often do since it is shorter) just doesn't compare.

PL

Mr Pants

Why not carry on past Melbourne and do the Great Ocean Road, up to the Grampian Nat park (which must be recovering from the earlier fires) and loop back to Melbourne to fly back to Sydney. We actually drove from Sydney to Adelaide following the coast all the way (ish) and it was great. Even got stopped for speeding, doing 110 when we should have been doing 100, and after a light hearted bit of leg pulling from the police man, he gave us a few must see places along the way.

We hired a car from Heartz, a little Corolla, and it was fine. Don't forget to take out the additional excess waiver, reduces your excess down from about Aus Dollars 3k to a few hundred and only costs a few dollors more per day.

OzTennis

Good route suggestion - to do this in one day I reckon you'd need to be a truckie on artificial stimulants. :scared: I've tended to stick to the coast as much as possible all the way. Places like Merimbula I mentioned, Bega, Eden, Narooma, Bateman's Bay, Bermagui etc are great and all potential 'first nighters'. I've also tended to do the inland route one way and the coastal route the other way. There are some things worth seeing the inland route as mentioned but if you have the time there's only one way to go I reckon - the scenic route.

http://www.bbbook.com.au/new_south_wales/nsw-south.html

An excellent place to stop in Gippsland (i.e. mid-way between NSW/Vic border and Melbourne is Yarragon. Great shops, eating places, souvenir shops etc. Photos at:

http://www.travelvictoria.com.au/yarragon/photos/ (see also list of nearly 146 towns incl Melbourne, Lakes Entrance, Bairnsdale etc on this site).

OzTennis

Cambridge runner

Wowee - lot's of options!
Many thanks for all the replies, links and photos. I want to go NOW!!!!!
I think a sit down with a glass of wine, an atlas and a guide book is now called for. Glad the coastal route gets the thumbs up.
Thanks again.
Jo

Grayling

You were lucky.

when we did the trip a few years ago, in two separate cars , my son and his partner got caught speeding and was given big fine and an 'on the spot' month's driving Ban. :scared:

Be warned

G

Ialibu

And another thing. If you already have a GPS for the UK, get the application for Australia as well. Considering you're coming for only 3 weeks, what with airfares, hire car and accommodation, the cost of GPS software for Australia isn't even on the radar.

Furthermore its much better to have instructions as you drive as to how to get places etc.