Melbourne to Brisbane by car - in 7 days - real?

Hello, in the middle of August we (middle-aged couple) plan to visit Australia and to travel by car on the route along the coast from Melbourne to Brisbane. We have 6-7days. I would be grateful for any piece of advice like: what is worth visiting (besides the cities - we have extra time to visit Mel. Syd., Bris.), where should we stay overnight, or simply if the plan is real. Any tips on car rental, insurance, etc. welcome.
Thank you
Michal

Welcome to the forum.

While the drive from Melbourne to Brisbane via the coast is extremely attractive, August is winter, and for the most part quite cool to cold (certainly south of Sydney) - at least by Australian standards - max of about 16°C, and possibly wet.

But to answer your questions, we use www.rentalcars.com to rent cars overseas, and while I haven't actually used them here in Australia, I'm sure they're fine. Be sure to take into account the one-way drop-off fee.

I have would have three nights south of Sydney (around Lakes Entrance, say Narooma, Wollongong), and three nights north of Sydney (Port Stephens, Coffs Harbour, Byron Bay).

In terms of accommodation, we generally use cabins in caravan parks (also called holiday parks, or RV parks) - they are self-contained and you can save a great deal in self-catering, plus you tend to meet other Australians on holiday. Quite often the parks are just about on the beach.

Chains to look at include Big4, TopTourist, and HPA - all have decent websites. There are plenty of independent parks too. In August you will not have to pre-book, other than maybe from Byron Bay north.

Getting around / through Sydney is a challenge, there is no handy ring road or by-passing freeway - and a GPS unit could be very useful. To get through, put in Sutherland (in the south) to Cowan (in the north) and follow the major roads.

For the 150 km south of Sydney, the road north from Nowra through the Royal National Park is very scenic indeed. Stick right on the coast.

7 days is a bit of a rush. Have you considered doing just Melbourne to Sydney? or actually driving in 2 days from Melbourne to Sydney and spending the rest of the time between Sydney and Brisbane where it will be a little warmer than down south at this time of year.

Stops along the way between Brisbane and Sydney could be
- Hunter Valley
- Port Macquarie
- Coffs Harbour/Nambucca Heads (great little caravan park on the water with cabins)
- Byron Bay (or Lennox Head)
- Tweed Heads (I like Cabarita and Kingscliffe)

We have done the drive between Sydney and Brisbane and really enjoyed it. I think we did take 2 weeks though, but stayed 3-4 nights in each location.

We always found reasonably priced apartments and townhouses along the way. We used the website stayz.com.au with good success. Also as the previous posted mentioned, cabins In caravan parks are very good alternatives.

Have a great trip!

I don't think it's a rush really, in Australian terms ... more of a fairly steady and leisurely road-trip. And it will be cool - at least until well past Coffs Harbour - so it's not beach-lounging weather.

Rush if you want to deep dive into where you base yourself, leisurely if you aim is just driving between Melbourne and Brisbane! All relative! But hey I am all for slow travel ;-)

Fair enough ... I'm mostly into travel where each road or place is given the time it deserves, whether in Australia, North America, or Europe. So neither fast nor slow, just appropriate!

I think seven days Melbourne > Brisbane can be a nicely measured road-trip (having done it quite a few times indeed).

Love how everyone experiences travel differently! I have done Sydney to Brisbane in 2 weeks and craved more time!

I'm into cutting the cloth to fit.

If the OP advises seven days, then a Melbourne > Brisbane road-trip can be really rewarding. If I thought it could not (Melbourne > Cairns, say) - I would certainly say so. I'm not unrealistic ... in fact my advice is usually spot on.

I will agree with simplefamilytravel on this one Michali in that having just seven days for Melbourne to Brisbane ( aside from your times allowed in cities ) could be considered something of a rush if you take into account just how much there is to see or you want to see.

You are in fact looking at two very different drives in that Melbourne to Sydney is along single carriage way roads for the greater part wheres Sydney to Brisbane is becoming more and more motorway.
That difference does give the Melbourne to Sydney run far more smaller seaside villages to go through and it ought to be treated with much enjoyment, certainly deserving of much time.

There is quite a lot of online information available re doing the drive, http://www.timetravelturtle.com/2016/03/melbourne-sydney-road-trip-guide/ being one example and as you can see, six days is mentioned so you need to about halve that time and so your use of such a guide can start with identifying what is of more interest to you.
The total distance is about 1000 km. but by the time you do some detours etc., you are probably looking at more like 1200 km. if not more so planning on averaging 300 or 400 km. a day ought to be aimed for, it reasonably easily achieved because the road is pretty good even if a bit twisty in places.

Unless you want to drop into paces like Phillip Island for koalas and penguins ( meaning an overnight there ) or do a side trip into Walhalla ( an old gold mining town ), I would consider going as far as Eden for the first night as though it is about 550 km. and a bit over six hours ought to be allowed, it is a rather blander section of Melbvourne to Sydney unless you start doing quite a few detours.
Use http://www.travelmate.com.au/ for your distance/time planning.

The southern NSW coast has far more interesting countryside and is often referred to as one of Australia's hidden gems, it not having suffered too greatly through tourism development.
Quite a few of the seaside towns are established on esturaries, often with a lake involved and being much closer to the water, the already slightly milder climate is made even better.

You have the larger busier towns of Merimbula, Batemans Bay and Jervis Bay area before Nowra plus half a dozen or so smaller villages so stopping anywhere that suits your progress can be done. Being a cooler time of the year, I would not bother with park cabins as Motels will be much more comfortable and likely closer to other services for food/dining.
Being August, you will likely have no difficulty in finding vacancies in any town you have arrived in and feel like stopping for the evening, it getting dark at about 6 pm. which is about the time hotels and clubs have their evening meals.

About ten kilometres out of Eden, there is the Sea Horse Inn - http://www.seahorseinnhotel.com.au/ , a superb older building that is well worth the effort to get to.

Getting up to Jervis Bay and Nowra, it may be advisable for you to head inland at that point for Kangaroo Valley and take the road up the escarpment to the top of Fitzroy Falls for there is quite a bit of roadwork occurring between Nowra and through to near Kiama as the old road is upgraded to motorway status.

From Fitzroy Falls, you could head across to Robertson and back down to the coast just south of Wollongong.
http://www.visitnsw.com/things-to-do/drives-and-road-trips/sydney-melbourne-coastal-drive highlights some of the aspects of the south coast and as the motorway heads past Wollongong, you need to keep a good eye out for a turn off the motorway on the left to take you across and on to the Grand Pacific Drive - http://www.grandpacificdrive.com.au/ , that being the route through the Royal National Park.

Depending on how long you are staying in Sydney, you may want to ditch your rental for the few days or whatever, otherwise you just need somewhere to park it and you could find it easier to get around by public transport.

If you do keep your car and have not yet booked accommodation for Sydney, I would just keep following the signs for North Sydney ( rather than the North Coast bypass options ) and once you are over on to the northern side of the Harbour, look for signs to Manly as that could be a great place to stay and you could leave your vehicle there if you were getting a ferry across to the Sydney CBD, that being one of Sydney's best trips and then when leaving Sydney you will not have too bad a travel experience.

Doing Sydney to Brisbane has its highlights, even on the motorway such heading down to cross the Hawkesbury River but after that, you will need to be heading far off the motorway to see things and you could even consider going inland a bit to get away from traffic and more road works.
Not far past Newcasrle for instance, you could turn off for Gloucester taking Bucketts and Thunderbolts Ways which will take you through some great countryside to the New England Highway, Armidale being one place you could stay at before heading back down to the coast via Waterfall Way, waterfalls along that route.
Alternately, you could head a bit further along the New England Highway to Glen Innes or Tenterfield before heading back down towards the coast via places like Nimbin and Casino to head to Byron Bay.

There are just going to be so many places you will not be able to see but do your research and plot a route accordingly.

There re no end of rental car companies and so unless you already have a good deal you can get trough your flights ( some discounts available by use of boarding passes etc. ), just do a search via sites like drivenow or drivelater and they do the checking for you.

Everyone hass their own opinion and from that its really up to the OP which piece of advise they take and which piece they discard. Just because someone has a different opinion doesnt necessarily mean they are wrong. Forget the " my way or the highway".

ditto westwood -

I think the question was, can this be done in 7 days and the answer is yes.

Thank you all for your hints, I see I need to rethink my itinerary. Anyway we will do some driving along the coast, but maybe we can plan a bit shorter trip. We plan to end up in Whitsundays anyway, so we will consider flying from Sydney instead from Brisbane to Townsville.
Thank you once again for your suggestions and good pieces of advice.
Michal

Without disparaging Townsville, it would be my third choice to fly to in North Queensland, after Proserpine (for the Whitsundays), or Cairns (for the true tropics).

Also - in August especially - the warmer drive Sydney > Brisbane would be my preference over the southern portion drive via the coast Melbourne > Sydney.

Planning to fly from Sydney is a reasonable option Micali and in August you will find the weather not being too bad, especially if Spring comes a bit early and you always have a milder coastal effect on the NSW south coast and it does by far offer much more of interest rather than being on a motorway and then making detours to get somewhere or take an alternate route.

Certainly, if you want to get to the Whitsundays, fly into Proserpine or Hamilton Island as Townsville is about three hours further north of the Whitsundays and so you would be doing a backtrack.

Also be aware that a cyclone made a direct landfall at Airlie Beach/Whitsundays and there is still substantial tourism infrastructure to be repaired.

If you are heading north to see the Great Barrier Reef, there has also been coral bleaching, it being worse the further north you go and there are options you can consider further south, Lady Elliot Island, Lady Musgrave Island, the former accessible from anywhere between Brisbane and Hervey Bay ( Whale watching capital btw ), Lady Musgrave from Bundaberg or 1770 and Heron Island from Gladstone.

Yes ... let us now what your Barrier Reef - diving - snorkelling - aspirations are, and we might have a view about the best way to currently meet them.

Thank you. After reading all of your pieces of advice I am still unsure of one thing. Should we end our journey in Gold Coast and have couple of rest days there or try to go north. As we really want to experience the reef what would be the best choice. I am not sure of Whitsundays now.
Is there any option t do reef from GC? Any other better option?
Thank you
Mike

No option to do the reef from down on the Gold Coast from my knowledge.

The best point south is probably Lady Elliot Island - http://www.ladyelliot.com.au which is just above Bunderberg.

Heron Island is another option.

The possible downside of Lady Elliot Island in August is that it can be rather cool, particularly if there is wind from the south, and so can the water.

You do need to get to at least the Whitsundays before you're genuinely clear of the temperate zone and its winter. Having said that we've holidayed on the Gold Coast in July for decades, and the weather is usually very good - even allowing for swimming.

It really depends on what you actually want to do, stopping at the Gold Coast being one option or travelling further north for as Lady Elliot Island is reached by air, you can book to fly there from a number of places as they show for day trippers on their site - http://www.ladyelliot.com.au/ - it certainly the most expensive of the southern GBR options and have a look under packages on that site and you also see that there is a combination LEI/Fraser Island deal which though costly at first sight is an all inclusive trip - flying from Hervey Bay and it is likely if you fly from anywhere else for a day trip you will be shuttled from Hervey Bay ( small light aircraft for island landings ).

For the other options of Lady Musgrave Island, you need to go to either Bundaberg or Town of 1770 and for Heron Island it is Gladstone, Heron Island being a moderately priced island stay whereas only camping is available on Lady Musgrave or a day trip and it is the lowest priced of the three at about $200.

Weatherwise, there are colder southerly winds right now as per usual for this time of the year but by August we are getting back into warmer days (always about 20C anyway and often a bit higher ), water temperature about 20C, there being people in the water and out of it on beaches all year around from Brisbane north.
( And yes, I live north of Brisbane, in summery clothes all year around ).
The difference between north of Brisbane to the Whitsundays in August is quite marginal.

Compared to what you would sometimes experience in Poland, I expect you will find it lovely without being too warm.

My point is very well made OP ... in Townsville-Cairns you will have genuine tropical weather (and corresponding water temperatures). We have had very cool weather in the Whitsundays (especially in a breeze out on the Reef), but it is still much warmer than the Southeast Coast can be in June-August.

The difference between July and August is marginal .. both months are true winter.

So in summary, you can have very good August weather on the Gold Coast (my favourite Australian destination), in Brisbane, and on Lady Elliot Island, but it can be breezy and cool in a way that is cooler than the Whitsundays, and much cooler than Townsville-Cairns.

It seems that a summarisation is an attempt to say how weather can vary within seasons and from year to year and that is very true as one who lives in Queensland all year around can attest to.

Yes, you can have slightly warmer weather in Cairns or further north in August but August is still winter, even in northern Australia and Cairns might be considered to be in the sub tropics or tropics whichever way ones want to consider it so you get tropical winter weather.

Mike, I have lived in Queensland for about twenty years now and so I have a reasonable idea on weather, perhaps more so than someone taking holidays who tries to summarise to make another point.

Yes, you can have slightly warmer weather in Cairns or further north in August but August is still winter, even in northern Australia and Cairns might be considered to be in the sub tropics or tropics whichever way ones want to consider it so you get tropical winter weather.

Cairns is substantially warmer than the Gold Coast in the areas that really count:

• in the human comfort zone between 20°C - 28°C
• in the main winter months of July and August
• in nighttime temperatures (tropics much warmer)
• in the rarity of southerly winter storms and winds
• and obviously of course, in water temperature

Anyway OP - you probably know enough about the Queensland August weather to make some decisions on where you go. And presumably you didn't come to Australia to experience cool weather if you don't have to.

Mike, yep, if your comfort zone is between 20 -28 and no problems ( mine more about 22-30 ) with that not far north of Brisbane in August.

As I have already said, I live along the Queensland Coast where it is shorts and Tshirt during the day all year around, even sunbaking weather whilst walking on beach with top off in last few weeks and that is likely to continue as we have already had our little bit of winter coolness - maybe another few days to come if forecast is correct but by end of July we are usually into the warming up even further.

You can take it from a local that our weather up here is just great this time of the year and just keeps getting better.
It's a great time to be relaxing out in the sun and that is one reason why many holidaying visitors do come from southern parts including Victoria in winter, to experience some winter warmness, certainly not cooler weather.

I also lived on the Gold Coast for a number of years and yes, there are differences to what you can get there as to several hundred kilometres north of Brisbane, winter storms there not unknown of as are overnight frosts that we had a few of in various years so going north of Brisbane, you will find a little more of the summery warmth, even the Sunshine Coast being a much more relaxed environment seeing as it has not had anywhere near the same extent of highrise developments as the Gold Coast has had, I think of it as akin to a concrete jungle and traffic is something any holiday maker can do without.

The Gold Coast is beautiful - sure it has high-rise apartment buildings (much better than the low-rise sprawl of many other places) - and as a result, the population density (even in peak season) means that traffic is very light - most people do not need a car at all.

Plus it has amazing beaches, lovely parks, plenty of open space, good transport, a lovely mountainous hinterland, great dining and extensive shopping, and a vibrant night-life if you want it. And perfect weather, most days. Not a lot to dislike at all.

Visitors to anywhere can get a different perspective on what is beautiful I agree but to describe masses of highrise apartments as beautiful I could not agree with and as for urban sprawl, the Gold Coast also has plenty of that too, it even extending further and further into hinterland areas.

The traffic density can be described as awful, more akin to any city and not light at all, in fact the Gold Coast is just a stretched out city along a coast, in many places the highrises casting shadows over the beach by mid afternoon and as for amazing beaches, people do need to be very wary for most of the beaches are death traps and many people have died at Gold Coast beaches.

There is certainly an abundance of dining and that goes for the Sunshine Coast as well, shopping other than the basics hardly of much interest to most holidayers and also be wary of nightlife for there is regular violence and a drug culture.

If you do want to compare the Gold and Sunshine Coasts, pictures do tell a lot:
The Gold Coast
https://www.google.com.au/search?q=gold+coast+images&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiLmdKcmZTVAhUJnJQKHTZOC_4QsAQIIw&biw=1440&bih=809&dpr=1
and for the Sunshine Coast
https://www.google.com.au/search?q=Sunshine+Coast+Images&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiTj9vDmpTVAhVGJpQKHQANCvAQsAQIIw&biw=1440&bih=809&dpr=1

I can speak for most Queenslanders in that there would not be any that would disagree that the Sunshine Coast is a quieter more relaxed option.
Comparing the darker aspects of life, it can be said that the Gold Coast has a much greater population, especially so when visitors are taken into account, there is far more development, far greater traffic issues ( a large section of the coastal strip of the Gold Coast is via reclaimed swamp lands and as such there are limited thoroughfares ) and unfortunately there is more crime - there has been a television series produced - Gold Coast Cops to focus on policing issues.

Thank you. The temparature gap is less important for us, it is reef that is our main destination so probably we will split leasure time between GC and Whitsundays. But thank you all for the fantastic involvment and all the help. Thanks to your kindness I have plenty pieces of information to plan my final itinerary.
Thank you all once again
Mike

No problems Mike, hope you have a great trip and if you are after any more detailed info on areas of your travel, just ask.

I promise to ask the last question now but the more I read the more doubts I have. After reading all about the weather, and having in my mind that we do not care much for accomodation as far as it is clean and safe, I start to consider Cairns as a quite good base for leasure/visiting this part of Australia. So would it be a good idea to book like 5 day nights there and to rent a car to drive around, also enjoy the reef cruises or any other options recommened for this part of your beatiful country?
Sorry for bothering but as you probably understand - it is a kind of life journey so we really want to choose the best option.
Thank you!

If I had five days at that time of year, I think they are very much best spent in Cairns (or Port Douglas, in my view), with a rental car ... the region is diverse and wonderful. And it will definitely be warmer.

sounds like a good plan to me.

Also, don't be afraid to continue asking questions, this is why some of us hang around here for.

Yep, Cairns is a great place to base yourself and there are plenty of places you could look at doing day tours to though at lest one or two you may want to consider looking at doing two day at least loops out of Cairns.
1. Head south a bit for Babinda ( Rocks & Gum boot ) and then just a bit more before heading inland on the Palmerston Hwy to kind of circle Wooroodooran NP for Millaa Millaa for waterfalls and a great look out over the NP rainforest - http://www.millaamillaa.com/walk_mamu.htm , then head north for Malanda and Yungaburra ( one of the largest timber hotels about ) before checking out the Curtain Fig Tree - http://www.cairnsattractions.com.au/explore/getting-back-to-nature/curtain-fig-tree.414.html , that site also giving a good list of plenty more attractions.

I would consider to save yourself some driving out and back to Cairns, you head north on the tablelands to join the Captain Cook Hwy near Mossman and from there you can drive through to the Daintree area.
Again, there will be many places for accommodation so you can stop when you like.

Go right through to Cape Tribulation and plenty of accommodation options right in the rain forest, some of it more expensive but also reasonably priced places like https://www.capetribbeach.com.au/ right at the cape and you are kind of in the jungle where the rainforest meets the reef ( probably ought to book for there ).

A drive back to Cairns along the Captain Cook Highway is one of the better coastal drives in Australia with some lovely spots along the way if you were about there looking for somewhere to stay for the night.
Three days ought to see you covering most of that.
You could then do a reef trip and Fitzroy Island just off Cairns is a great place that has some accommodation too.

Yep, five days for Cairns area can still be a couple too few so if you can juggle your itinerary accordingly to get a couple more,I'd do it.

Hi there

7 days is viable but there is so much to see on route that I think you would regret not spending longer. It is hard to gage how vast Australia is, we spent 2 weeks doing this route and could still have had longer! I would be inclined to do either Melbourne to Sydney or Sydney to Brisbane. Both offer different experiences equally as beautiful. Otherwise you may feel That your experience is rushed and spent mainly driving, after all it is good to relax and Australia is the best place to do so!
We got a 10% discount on our motorhome with Culture Club Travel, they then offer 10% on main campsites and advice on driving routes and distances. Might be worth speaking to them or another specialist company before making a final decision as they offer unbiased advice based on your requirements? Hope this helps x

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Hello Michal,

For Brisbane and Gold Coast, there's an Event called the EKKA or The Royal Queensland Show. If you are not familiar it's Brisbane's largest cultural festival, and an annual event held at the Brisbane Showgrounds. There will be lots of events that sure you would love. I been there every year with my family and the show is amazing. You can search online for the tickets and list of events. What I love to see is the flower show where you will see different kinds of flowers and flower arrangement. I am from Brisbane and I would like to see what Christensen's Flower Auction has to present. Hope you'll have fun!

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