9 days for a road trip where would you go?

[Orbit]

I have a 9 days leave coming up. And thought about doing a road trip. But Haven' a clue where to go. Leaving from Sydney NSW.

Where youd you go?

[Peuty]

Well, I'd drive down the NSW Coast (from Brisbane) go inland to Bathurst, then go back to Brisbane inland.

[Kryton]

Originally Posted by Orbit

I have a 9 days leave coming up. And thought about doing a road trip. But Haven' a clue where to go. Leaving from Sydney NSW.

Where youd you go?

pick a direction and see where you end up.
planning takes the fun out of arriving.

[Orbit]

says the man near the great ocean road....anglesea pizza and pasta would be good though...

[68XTFairmont]

At this time of year I would shoot up the coast into queensland across to Mt Isa, Threeways and then up to darwin. Visit Howard Springs and swim with the huge Barramundi sink a few Cans and then head home lol

[ashmann]

head south... turn off at Marulen, down the kangaroo valley to Jervis Bay etc.. then follow the coast down to the Caan River, then back up through Cooma Bombala etc... not a bad run.. take your time..

cheers

[F6T]

Mate - get on the Spirit on head down to Tassie - some great roads down here and you could take your time - see some great sites. etc

[Orbit]

What would you recomend seeing?

[Vines5161]

You've only got 9 days! Not enough time to do Tassie.

How about heading up the coast and when you get to the border head inland and then head south again. Lots to see and some beautiful country side, apart from great photo opportunities. Visit some of the wineries (if that is your thing) and just spend some time relaxing.

Whatever you do, make sure you (hopefully meaning more than just you) enjoy yourself and take care on the roads.

[dave351cid]

from sydney you could head off in any direction and do a big loop without having to cover the same type of country twice. so many great cenic drive in nsw.

do you want to spend the 9 days driving or to stop off for a few days at someplace. ??
where have you been already ??

if i have a free day or two i will often get the map out and see what roads link up to make a circiut , preferably somewhere i havent see already, and just head off.
the way i see it , anywhere i havent been is worth going for a look at.
slowly marking off as many roads on the map as i can.

[Swordsman88]

It all depends on how much you want to drive and how much you want to stop in places to look around. I've driven up and down the queensland coast a few times and there are some great little places to see and all sorts of natural sights too. Particularly if you take some of the roads that are not the national highway (along the coast or inland etc.)

Being from the cairns area initially you will find some nice tropical areas up there too....the captain cook highway north of cairns is said to be the second best coast road in australia (after you know what)....

It is a fair way but the roads are not busy and in the right car you'll just eat up the miles....

[desGT]

Take the coast road down south right along to Melbourne.

From there, the Great Ocean Road with all the usual tourist stops.

Work your way through to Warnambool (whale watching this time of year), Portland and then to Mt.Gambier in South Aus (visit the crater bluw lake).

OR, visit the Grampians!

Drive up through the Coonawarra to Naracoorte (some great caves here).

Eventually work your way up to Milura (from Naracoorte or the Grampians). Visit the Perry Sand Hills and Wentworth.

Head up to Broken Hill. Amazing area. Head out to Sliverton (Max Max territory).

Then head back to Sydney.

That is an outline. There is quite a bit to do on the trip, just keep an eye open.

Your friend is maps.google.com.au

Start off in the top with "from: sydney to: melbourne" then use "add destination to force the route via the coast.

An example trip is attached. Use google to plan your trip.

Edit: The attachment is not good (due to limit on upload size). I can email the original/large size if you want

[Mont5.0]

Originally Posted by davway

pick a direction and see where you end up.
planning takes the fun out of arriving.

I agree here. Unplanned holidays always turn out good. But if you need a plan, the best road trip i have done (was about 15 years ago) was out to camerons corner and back. Awsome trip, much to see on the way.

[RG]

Originally Posted by desGT

Take the coast road down south right along to Melbourne.

From there, the Great Ocean Road with all the usual tourist stops.

Work your way through to Warnambool (whale watching this time of year), Portland and then to Mt.Gambier in South Aus (visit the crater bluw lake).

OR, visit the Grampians!

Drive up through the Coonawarra to Naracoorte (some great caves here).

Eventually work your way up to Milura (from Naracoorte or the Grampians). Visit the Perry Sand Hills and Wentworth.

Head up to Broken Hill. Amazing area. Head out to Sliverton (Max Max territory).

Then head back to Sydney.

That is an outline. There is quite a bit to do on the trip, just keep an eye open.

Your friend is maps.google.com.au

Start off in the top with "from: sydney to: melbourne" then use "add destination to force the route via the coast.

An example trip is attached. Use google to plan your trip.

Edit: The attachment is not good (due to limit on upload size). I can email the original/large size if you want

You've spent a bit of time looking at that, looks like a nice 9 day trip.

I'd go with this.

[Fev]

BALI!!! cheap as chips and lots of fun!

[Fev]

Oh, sorry road trip.. id take it up the east coast, skip the main cities and stay at caravan parks or lil cottages on the beaches. head up to Noosa and the daintreee rainforest/river. do some great fishing

[Pinch]

Ditto the South Coast of NSW drives mentioned above. By far my favourite. Grab some little plastic kangaroo whistles from Repco or something for a few dollars. Emits a high pitch noise we can't hear that freaks them out (and away from your car). Double sided tape on the air dam and can take off when you get back if don't want to leave them on. Especially needed south of Batemans Bay and in Western NSW.

Have fun.

[Dauphin]

Maybe go west and see Uluru? Would be great for kids to see the big rock.

[TC200six]

Yes I would go to see Uluru or head south down to Sydney and go to Bathurst to see the Mount Panorama circuit.

[outback_chick]

Hey orbit come visit us in Darwin

[flappist]

Gees some of you city guys have no idea of distance.

Sydney to Darwin return in 9 days? This is about 10,000km and there IS a speed limit. You can't travel at night unless you are driving a tank or truck. Don't even think about it.

Sydney to Cairns return is about 5500 km. In 9 days it is possible but all you will be doing is driving and will be rather sore at the end. Again, once you are north of about Gin Gin driving at night can be quite "interesting".

If you are just picking a random direction from Sydney I suspect east will not be as much fun as the others

[Fev]

Uluru's alright but i wouldnt drive there from sydney. You will spend 90% of the day driving without seeing a soul and after the first day (it will take more then 1) your kids will be chewing your ears off. its a long enough drive from alice springs to uluru, let alone from sydney :P

I went there when i was 7, and as a grumpy child i didnt wanna walk up the top :( wish i did now

But yeah. as i said, Noosa, which is about 2 hours north of brisbane, is beautoful. the daintree river and forests is a really nice area and great fishing too. my older brother caught a huge flathead which actually jumped out of the water like a barra. was quite a shock to the fishing operator when we got the thing on board :P

[outback_chick]

Originally Posted by flappist

Gees some of you city guys have no idea of distance.

Sydney to Darwin return in 9 days? This is about 10,000km and there IS a speed limit. You can't travel at night unless you are driving a tank or truck. Don't even think about it.

I never suggested he drive

And why cant you drive at night :

[outback_chick]

Originally Posted by Orbit

I have a 9 days leave coming up. And thought about doing a road trip. But Haven' a clue where to go. Leaving from Sydney NSW.

Where youd you go?

What dates are your leave orbit??

[Orbit]

Weren't the gin gin lights just someone tying flash lights to emu's heads.....

My problem is i've done most of the roads and trips suggested above.
But Uluru could be fun. Some of you guys have NFI when it comes to reasonable distance to cover!!!
No kids, just a minister that Loves to drive as much as me.
Thanks for the suggestions though guys, gives me a few ideas.

[Orbit]

Originally Posted by outback_chick

What dates are your leave orbit??

Yet to be decided....Get forced to take time in leiu once you accrew 96 hours...but whenever i want essentially.

[flappist]

Originally Posted by outback_chick

I never suggested he drive

And why cant you drive at night :

No but others did. Probably something to do with him saying he wanted to do a road trip in the initial post I suspect

Anyone, especially those who do not drive in remote areas often, who drives in the late afternoon through to about 8am in western QLD, the Barkly or the Stuart in a vehicle that is not very big and fitted with a bullbar is quite likely suffer animal damage. This is even more likely if you are tired because you are trying to travel 10,000km in 9 days....

The same is true for the remote stretches of the Bruce e.g. Gin Gin to Cairns excluding the few cities on the way.

Living in Darwin you may have noticed some of the bloody huge road signs out in woop woop saying "Don't drive at night".

[Swordsman88]

Originally Posted by flappist

Gees some of you city guys have no idea of distance.

Sydney to Darwin return in 9 days? This is about 10,000km and there IS a speed limit. You can't travel at night unless you are driving a tank or truck. Don't even think about it.

Sydney to Cairns return is about 5500 km. In 9 days it is possible but all you will be doing is driving and will be rather sore at the end. Again, once you are north of about Gin Gin driving at night can be quite "interesting".

If you are just picking a random direction from Sydney I suspect east will not be as much fun as the others

Speed limits, what speed limits

Yeah i think i'd rule out Sydney to Darwin orbit....even if you did make it you'd go insane on parts of that route.

If you just drive, you can do Brisbane-Cairns in two days with some stops with ease, so i guestimated you could go from Sydney quite easilly. But as flappist noted, you won't be able to stop in too many places for too long....and you could get very bored if you take the bruce highway too much (apart from trees you won't see a thing between Rockhampton-Mackay).

Kangaroos/wallabies do come out at dusk on parts of that route as well....i've never had a problem with the wallabies feeding at sunrise but the roos - well i wouldn't risk without an almight big roo bar.

Maybe the suggestions from guys on here within NSW would be more suitable...

[Orbit]

It's not often dark where I Drive. And i have the frontal protection issues sorted...But I try not to drive at night in NT and FNWQLD.

[CADSKY]

far north queensland! i'd love to head up that way one day.