Two Weeks in OZ

[ImTripN2]

Starting to plan a two week trip to Australia next year. We love to drive, so we thought about flying into Melbourne, renting a car and heading up the east coast to Darwin. I guess my big question is this too ambitious for two weeks? Probably only stay a night in the big cities,we're more interested in getting off the beaten path, seeing  National Parks, etc..The only thing we want to do for sure is get in a couple of beach days and dive the Great Barrier reef.

Any suggestions with itinerary or must do things would be greatly appreciated!

[El Presidente]

You would need 6 weeks minimum to do that comfortably. 

Do  Syd-Brisbane via rental car (stopping in on the towns along the way + Hunter valley wineries ) and then fly to the barrier reef. That's 2 weeks locked in right there. 

 

[JohnS]

Australia is a big, big country! You can include driving trips if you factor in some additional flights to fit everything in 2 weeks.

[ImTripN2]

Ok thanks! Perhaps going all the way up to Darwin is unrealistic. I just looked at Mapquest, and Melbourne - Brisbane is around 18 hours via M31 to Sydney and A1 to Brisbane. I grew up in the Western US, so a 1500 km drive in two weeks doesn't seem excessive to me. Would it be best to fly up to the Barrier reef from Brisbane?

Again, any suggestions for must do / not to miss things would be much appreciated.

[Fuzz AI]

8 minutes ago, ImTripN2 said:

Starting to plan a two week trip to Australia next year. We love to drive, so we thought about flying into Melbourne, renting a car and heading up the east coast to Darwin. I guess my big question is this too ambitious for two weeks? Probably only stay a night in the big cities,we're more interested in getting off the beaten path, seeing  National Parks, etc..The only thing we want to do for sure is get in a couple of beach days and dive the Great Barrier reef.

Any suggestions with itinerary or must do things would be greatly appreciated!

2 weeks to drive up the east coast and across to Darwin? Only if you're a longhaul truckie and have taken a whole bottle of amphetamines.

If you were to drive the most direct path from Melbourne to Sydney, Brisbane and finally Darwin, with no sidetracking, then total time is about 55-60hrs (approx 5200km or 3200mi). If you were to drive 8hrs a day, that is one week of nothing but driving. Definitely not recommended.

Melbourne to Sydney will take you a day, with rest stops along the way. Longer if you want to sightsee. Same goes for Sydney to Brisbane. Before leaving Victoria, drive south down to Wilson's Promontory. It is the southern most tip of the Australian mainland. Melbourne has lots of small bars that are pretty good, and the Great Ocean Road is, well, great. Other than that, there's nothing to do in Victoria, they're pretty boring south of the NSW border... no, I'm not biased...

Heading to Sydney, you can either go inland towards Albury/Wodonga, or take the Great Ocean Rd and go along the coast. I'd personally take the coastal route, as it takes your further away from Canberra (nothing but useless politicians there and a big artificial lake), but it is a longer drive. And some plank decided knocking off the iconic Dog on a Tuckerbox statue was a good idea, so you can skip Gundagai.

Places to visit heading up to Sydney; Bega, Narooma, Batemans Bay, Jervis Bay, Kiama., Royal National Park.

On the way up to Brisbane; Central Coast (Avoca Beach, The Entrance), Hunter Valley, Port Macquarie, Crescent Head, Coffs Harbour, Byron Bay (especially if you're a hippie, but Nimbin is the place to go if you're 420 friendly), Gold Coast.

 

[ImTripN2]

Awesome Fuzz, thanks !

My amphetamine days are over.... ?

[Bill Hayes]

I'm from Melbourne but if you've only got 2 weeks I would fly into Sydney and skip Melbourne. I would also fly from Brisbane to Cairns and hire a car and drive the hour or so to Port Douglas and stay there. You can use your car to drive up to the Daintree Rainforest and Cape Tribulation. And you can also do all the Great Barrier reef diving from Port Douglas. All the best.

[ImTripN2]

Thanks for the advice Gentlemen, wish we had more time !