Sydney to Brisbane by car

Hey, awesome little trip you have planned there! :-) I am currently in Brisbane and done the Sydney to Brisbane a few weeks back. Even though I did it with a flexible hop on hop off tour bus, I still have a few places to recommend! Definitely pass by the Hunter Valley and have a wine tasting, there are some cute places to stay too, Byron Bay is amazing and Gold Coast (especially Burleigh Heads!, Surfers Paradise is a bit overrated in my view) and if you are into surfing, I had a great time at Spot X. I have actually written about my road trip on my blog, there are a few places inbetween I recommend too, check it out if you like: http://www.breathingtravel.com/sydney-to-brisbane-with-loka/

As your coming back yes I'd leave Blue Mts until then - your trip would be hectic but doable esp seems you are mainly driving and taking in the scenery as you go. Re your plan for 14th, not sure where you are staying 13th but a good trip on 14th would be ferry from Circular Quay to Watsons Bay then bus it to Bondi Beach - spend time there - bus it to Coogee Beach - time there - then bus it back into the City

I would suggest the following:

Night 13th - Sydney
Night 14th - Sydney
Night 15th - Port Macquarie
Night 16th - Byron Bay
Night 17th - Gold Coast (Broadbeach)
Night 18th - Gold Coast (Broadbeach) or Brisbane
Night 19th - In transit

I don't think you have the time for the Putty Road and the Hunter Valley and then getting to Nelson's Bay. How did you decide on the Putty Road to the Hunter Valley wineries ... it would be an extremely long and rushed day. Even clearing Sydney during morning peak hour would take a long time, and the Putty Road is slow.

I would go straight to Port Macquarie via the Newcastle expressway (itself very scenic), and head for warmer weather. There are a lot of very attractive beach towns to visit along the road to the Gold Coast, but be aware that the Pacific Highway runs mostly a bit inland.

Re the Putty Road etc - yes depends where and when you are picking up car in Sydney, you plan is to drive out on Sydney on a Monday so not a bad traffic day. The Putty Road is beautiful countryside (I've driven / ridden it many times)and a lot more interesting than driving up Expressway. So not knowing where you are picking up car in Sydney hard to work out an exact time; but saying you are picking up in Mascot (near airport) driving up Putty Road and then heading out to the coast you'd be looking at about 5 hrs driving; going direct from say Mascot to Tomaree Head via the Expressway would be about 3hrs driving. An alternate route that would still let you see some of the Hunter wineries would be to head up the Expressway to a place called Calga (1hr north of Sydney) then head inland and go via Wollombi and the Hunter out to Tomaree area this would take about 4 hrs drive. And this way you get to stop at Wollombi pub and have a glass of Dr Jurd's jungle juice.

Thunderbolt's Way (Capt Thunderbolt - old Bushranger/Holdup man) has some nice scenery and you can pick up the New England Highway. I might add none of these roads are near the coast, but are faster, less trafficked and have less speed camera's

And this way you get to stop at Wollombi pub and have a glass of Dr Jurd's jungle juice.

Yes I'll second that ... and in fact I'm a Jurd (there are about 10,000 of us, descended from the same First Fleet convicts who married in Sydney on 1 June 1788). This could explain my behaviour - robust criminal genes and a penchant for moonshine.

something o be very proud of I'd reckon :-)

Our first 2 nights in Sydney is downtown, near The Rocks/Circular Quay. We're renting from Hertz, closest location is either Darling Harbour or Williams St. I booked it from Williams St (can be easily changed). I also figured a later start (11am) would avoid the morning rush hour traffic too.
I chose Putty because I thought it's a more scenic way and since Hunter Valley is slightly inland anyways. This Calga-Wollombi route sounds like an interesting possibility too.
My interest is basically taking in the scenery, very short hikes (like the Tomaree Head, coastal walk @ Port Macquarie), viewpoints (like the light houses). Will take a look at beaches, but not planning on sun bathing :D (I assume weather would be too cold anyways).

I'm also getting conflicting recommendations on Gold Coast.. Some said it's tired, etc etc.. some said it's must go. I need to research more to see which camp I'm on :)

There are so many great things to see between Sydney and Brisbane, it will be hard to pick them out in a short trip. For example, we haven't even talked about the near-coast hinterland mountains, which are lovely.

If you're leaving from William Street Kings Cross, I would think it will take you maybe 90 minutes to clear the city (when you cross the Hawkesbury River north of Windsor). Darling Harbour is a bit closer to Circular Quay than William Street, but not a lot in it.

I think if you leave by 10:00 am it will be no worse than 11:00 am, and the Expressway plus Wollombi then Pokolbin wine district might be a reasonable compromise.

The lighthouse at Byron Bay is probably the stand-out along the coast, but there are many others (Port Macquarie, Crowdy Head, etc). I am a huge fan of Broadbeach on the Gold Coast ... but you will get different opinions on here regarding its qualities.

A lot of people think just of Surfers Paradise, which is the centre of the most tacky tourist strip, but places like Broadbeach, Main Beach, and Burleigh Heads, have wonderful parks, walks, inland waters, and beach landscapes.

If your flight isn't until 6:00 pm, you can easily stay around Broadbeach your last night ... it's only an hour or so to Brisbane City or Brisbane Airport.