classybird

Hi everyone,
my husband and I are doing a little touring around NSW from next week. My plan is to have a sort of itinery with places to be at on certain days enjoying the flora and fauna as we drive. From Sydney, 7th May, we plan on driving to Kiama and spending our first night at a motorhome park. From there (8th) we are heading down to Eden hoping to arrive there on the 10th and stay 1 night leaving 11th. We then hope to arrive in Griffith on 13th and depart 14th then drive up to Byron Bay arriving on the 18th and departing on 20th and driving down the coast back to Sydney for our return flight. Any ideas on places we could visit along our route? We are only there 17 days in total and obviously would like to see as much as possible. Our itinery is not wrritten in stone and any suggestions would be really really appreciated.
Thanks in advance for those of you who read this

harrip

I went on a bit of a jolly a year or so ago. Here are some of the NSW places that may give you some ideas. http://www.ivebeeneverywhere.com.au/category/nsw/

NickyC

I have a few suggestions for your drive south:
1. Stop at Berry for coffee and a look around the shops.
2. Take a look at Jervis Bay (very white sand at Hyams Beach).
3. Call in at Pretty Beach (or Depot Beach) just north of Batemans Bay to see kangaroos hanging around and parrots galore.
4. Stop at Central Tilba for a really cute, tiny town. It's heritage listed and in a lovely setting.
5. Turn off at Tilba and take the coastal route to Bermagui and then to Tathra. Lovely scenery on the way and a far nicer road than the Princes Highway.

You'll have to cover a lot of ground to get from Eden to Griffith in two days. The Bega to Cooma road gets pretty windy as you climb the range but theres an amazing lookout at the top back down the valley. I assume you'll take the road from Cooma to Tumut and then to Wagga? It's not the fastest road in the country but it's the most direct. It's semi-alpine on the way to Tumut - you're very close to the ski resort at Mount Selwyn. It will be cold in Cooma and Tumut!

The roads will all be single lane until you get to the other side of Tumut so you won't be travelling fast. Wagga to Naranderra/Griffith is flat, mostly sheep country so a big change from the first half of the trip.

Is there a reason why you're going to Griffith? It's not usually part of the average tourist's trail. To me it's just a large country town surrounded by vineyards and with a bit of an Italian flavour. Not sure I'd drive all the way there for no good reason.

I'm no expert on the route from Griffith to Byron. I've only ever been on the Newell Highway through Forbes/Dubbo etc. Someone else might know more about anything special to see and do on the way.

I'd suggest turning off the Newell at Coonabarabran and get across to Armidale. From there there's a fantastically scenic road to the coast at Coffs Harbour via Dorrigo. There's a lookout about 20k off the road (called Point Lookout) which has gob-smackingly amazing views. You can see for 100's of kilometres out to the Pacific on a clear day. Well worth checking out if you're nearby.

Have fun - sounds like a great trip..

classybird

Thanks for that link. Il have a good look at it

classybird

Thankyou so much for your detailed response Nicky. I dont know why i want to go to Griffith other than its remote and wanted to see some remotness! However, like I said it is not written in stone and so far we have looked at staying at Huskisson to do some whale spotting and then onto Wallaga lake. I would definately like to see Eden but Griffith isnt a must on our trip. We would like to be maybe 2 - 3 hours from the coast (inland) so that we can pull off at different places. Iv no idea really I just want to see as much as possible but have a relaxing time too. We only have 17 days but dont just want to drive through all country (remote places) but we still do want to get a feel of the place. My husband and I will defo look at your suggestions. i just want to try and plan my road trip to take in as much as I can.

mulben

I lived near Griffith and would recommend it ... but you have missed the Easter festival and its way beyond 3 -4 hrs from the coast.
Far better to do a Hunter Valley tour across to Mudgee with Nelson Bay for whale watching . Of your 17 days with the distance you are trying to encompass - too much time will be spent just sitting in a car (IMHO)

NickyC

Agree with Mulben - Griffith is rather a long way inland. I doubt you'd feel particularly remote there, though. It's quite green in the area due to the irrigation, and quite civilised due to the Italian influence. If you want remote, you'd need to go as far as Hay - which is in the middle of an almost treeless, flat landscape. I wouldn't recommend it on your trip though - it's around another three hours west of Griffith.

You'd be better to return north a bit closer to the coast. You could travel from Cooma north to Canberra and take a look there. Then maybe head towards the Blue Mountains or the Hunter Valley. You could take the New England Highway north from the Hunter up to Armidale and then cross over to the coast for your trip to Byron Bay. Come back to Sydney on the coast road and you wouldn't be retracing your route too much.

Don't under-estimate how far you will be travelling though. It's almost two days of solid driving from Sydney to reach both the Victorian border and the Queensland border. So you'll have a minimum of 7-8 days of driving - longer with all the slow mountain roads - without taking into account any diversions or long stops. Might be wise to trim it a bit - you want the odd day to stop and smell the gum trees.

Beoz

I will echo that suggestion ....... stunning part of the world

classybird

Sorry I havn't replied sooner. Thanks so much for all your suggestions. I don't think we will be going to Griffith now, probably stay closer to the coast. We have so far booked jervis bay and Wallaga. We will then drive into Eden and based on what we have found out we will take it from there.

Many thanks to you all for helping us make the most of our holiday/reccie

spuddyo

Eh ? You can drive from Sydney to Melbourne easily in 10hrs, and Brisbane about the same. I do it regularly.

NickyC

Yes - maybe in a car, bombing down the Hume Highway to Melbourne. It's quite a bit slower driving on the Princes Highway in a camper van when you want to see a bit of scenery.

Same with the Pacific Highway to Brisbane you can do it in 10 hours if you're in a hurry but for most people the traditional overnight stop is Coffs Harbour which is just over halfway.

classybird

A BIG THANK YOU to everyone who posted their thoughts. We are now back in the UK after having a fantastic time touring NSW. We started Sydney and headed to Huskisson where we spent 2 nights then onto Lake Wallaga for another 2 nights. On the way I spotted a diversion for Depot beach and I remembered that on EXPATS I was told to head there to watch kangaroos hanging around on the beach You were so right, it was a fantastic feeling and the beach was amazing. We then headed towards Eden as planned and stayed a night in Pambula before heading towards the Snowy Mountain highway (Jeez it was cold in these parts). We found a cheap little stop off at the Scout Camp ground near Wagga Wagga and then headed towards Griffith. So glad we did as the scenery was perfect and I liked Griffith too with its diverse range of restaurants and shops. Leaving there we headed to Dubbo, had a look around Forbes, think we stopped in Gilgandra and then headed into Tamworth, Armidale and stopped overnight in Glen Innes. We continued up to Tweed Heads and stopped in Byron Bay overnight. Finally heading to South West Rocks for a well earned 2 night stay and onto Port Macquarie, towards The Entrance and finally back to Sydney. I really cannot remember all the stop offs we had only that the whole trip was fantastic. I remember the Highways: Pacific, Snowy Mountain, Newell, New England, Think at some point we used the Oxley and then back onto the Pacific. We had a great time and drove just over 3600km
Thank you for making suggestions that helped make our trip perfect

ozzieeagle

Sounds great... and a damn site more broad than any trip I've done to NSW. Well done, inspiriing actually.

paddyo

That is EXACTLY the sort of trip I like and would happily do if I didn't have a 7yr old 'are we there yet' with us!!! I love driving and can do so for ours.