BARDI77

Just wonder if I can simply hit the road with my QLD registered car and travel to Sydney for holidaying? Is there any pre-requisites/measures I should take before entering NSW?

quoll

Nope, just fill 'er up and go. I would recommend roadside assist (and I suggest the top level cover as well) though through your Qld motoring organization - the NRMA will oblige when you are in NSW as a reciprocal arrangement. As long as your car is registered and you have a licence all should be well. Keep some change handy because there are occasional toll roads in Sydney although you can call up and pay later on some.

spartacus

Don't forget your passport, the border guards are polite but very rigorous.

BARDI77

I am a little bit confused... Passport?? Why a passport needed to travel interstate?

spartacus

Sorry I was just pulling your plonker.

kporte

A pleasant change from ones own I'd imagine.....

spartacus

To give is as to recieve . . .

BARDI77

I am not that familiar with slang language. So I don't know if you were serious talking abt passports?

moneypenny20

No, he was joking. You don't need your passports to travel around Australia. You don't need to do anything other than get in the car and drive. As has been said though, roadside assist is invaluable.

Sally Simpson

You do need to be careful about moving fruit & veg between states though, so no healthy food on the journey!

BARDI77

Thank you everyone


By the way, do you think it is possible to drive directly from Gold Coast to Sydney in one day? Or do we have to sleep somewhere between Gold Coast and Sydney in a motel etc. ?

The Bloke

It's up to you but the distance from GC to Sydney 950km - 11hrs 30 min approx.
Recommended safe driving stints - no more than 2 hours each driver (or at least have a decent rest in between).
It depends on whether you want to drive straight through or admire the scenery or do the tourist bit. Personally if I were new, I'd do the tourist bit.

A bloke I used to work with flew to Moorabbin in Melbourne to pick up a car he bought, and then drove straight back with in 24 hours.

MarkMC

Did it myself last week. took about 11 hours, with a few short stops for coffee/fuel.

DadAgain

haaa - "spare change"? Try remortgaging your house!!

If you dont have a eTag already in your car then you need to either get one fast, or register with a visitors 'ePass':

eToll: will deduct funds from your account every time you dirve throug a toll.

ePass: Will match your car rego with your account and send you an invoice at the end of the month.

Failure to have either of these options means in THEORY you have 24 hours to phone and pay each tim eyou go through a toll, but driving around Sydney and SPOTTING where all the toll points are is nigh on impossible and you're BOUND to miss at least one and end up with a hefty fine for not paying within 24 hours.

Even WITH an ePass account (we had last time we drove down) sometimes the rego matching software isnt quite up to scratch and we were sent 4 different fine notices (totalling ~$500) for our legitimate, covered driving. A few phone calls did get those dropped, but still we were stunned by the number of tolls we'd driven though - we spent around $80 on tolls in 5 days.

The BNE-SYD drive is easy but long - 12 hours is comfortable if you drive at the speedlimit (+GST) and dont stop any more than twice for 15 minutes (Grafton/Forster split the journey nicely) - Only really do-able if you have at least 2 drivers to swap.

NickyC

If you're not used to driving long distances, then yes, definitely stop over somewhere.

I'd recommend Port Macquarie. Just off the highway. Roughly half-way to Sydney. Loads of motels and plenty of eating options.