VIC Anyone driven the east coast between Melb & Syd?

[Ryan_R]

I'm thinking of driving up to Sydney later this year to visit a friend, and am contemplating driving back to Melb via the much longer east coast route.

Has anyone done this before? If so, is the scenery and roads worth it? Any detours I should be investigating? Recommended places to stay overnight? Any precautions? That sort-of thing basically.

Thanks

[Ideo]

I'm thinking of driving up to Sydney later this year to visit a friend, and am contemplating driving back to Melb via the much longer east coast route.

Has anyone done this before? If so, is the scenery and roads worth it? Any detours I should be investigating? Recommended places to stay overnight? Any precautions? That sort-of thing basically.

Thanks

I drove back from Melbourne after I picked up the R.

I went the coast to Lakes Entrance, then headed up to Cann River and turned left, taking the Monaro Highway to Cooma, on to Canberra then Sydney.

Great road, especially the climb out of Cann River.

Just a third option to consider.

[Tim]

Nice cruising road but a bit boring. A few nice coastal towns along the way though if you plan on doing a few stops.
The main problem is the amount of kangaroos at night. Its very dark and tree lined in some areas near the border. You are best following a truck through as they tend to clear the way nicely

[dylan8]

some nice roads, some good sights. but can be a bit boring/dodgy with trucks, thick bush, caravans and lack of over taking locations.
there is sort of two roads over east, one inland that does hit the coast, then a very coastal road that will take you forever to drive.
I suggest not for slammed cars, but something with a turbo or V6 or AWD would be nice!

[Ryan_R]

The Supercharged + Turbocharged engine is usually pretty fun in the twisties, as long as it's not a hot day. Got roughly 203BHP and 320nm of torque to play with. The car is also called a Comfortline so it shouldn't be too bad.

Longest trip I've done in the car was 9.5 hours going around the Great Alpine Rd and back home. Only stopped for fuel/snack.

[dylan8]

should be right then! as above, left at Cann is a shorter trip, and straight ahead is a long way.
when i did the trip to GAF10 we did from bairnsdale to ACT inland on the way up, and ACT coast way on the way back, I know the whole return trip I was wishing I had a turbo and a bit more clearance, but other then that, was good.

[frozze]

I just did this over the new year's holiday. Took a 7 days 6 nights trip from Melbourne to Sydney to Melbourne. We broke the drive to about 4-5hrs each day and stayed over 6 different hotels! 2660kms in total over 7 days!

We took the inland route from Melbourne to Albury to Canberra to Sydney and from Sydney we took the costal way stopping at Illawarra (had a walk on the Fly Treetop - not too bad!) for a couple of hours then drove to Ulladulla for the night (avoid staying at the Sandpiper Motel - worse motel EVER!). There's a famous hotel/restaurant around the corner called Rick Stein's The Bannister, very fancy which overlooks the sea. We wanted to have dinner and stay over there but both was fully booked out!

Next day we took a 6hrs+ drive to Lakes Entrance. Along the way, we stopped at Bega for a quick bite/tour of the cheese factory (more like a shop front, if you ask me). Overnight at Lakes entrance and had a fancy dinner at the 1 hat The Boathouse (it's okay if you're into that sorta thing) because the other place (the name escapes me ATM) we wanted to go was fully booked as well. We stayed at Econolodge Absolute Lakes Entrance, which was alright but I would avoid it if I can.

Next day was a straight 4 hours drive from Lakes Entrance (passing Bairnsdale) back to Melbourne CBD. We could have taken a longer route by going past Wilsons Prom but we've already been there and decided to just hit the M1 for home.

Overall, the drive along the coastal was better but still it was pretty boring most of the time plus we were quite tired from travelling so much on the road and towards the end, we just wanted to get home!

With regards to accommodation, if you've got a decent budget and want a good night's rest, I say stick to the big hotel/serviced apartments chain like Quest or Mantra. Trust me, you'll wake up with a smile and all charged up.

Make sure you pack plenty of water and munch on some fruits along the way. You might wanna think about stocking up some food from woolies/coles before the trip. Most of our meals consisted of maccas, kfc, pizzas etc etc. The best meal we had was getting some baked chicken, lettuce, bread, youghurt, fruits and juices from woolies.

I wouldn't do it again though.. But it was a good experience nonetheless.

[peterparker]

Long time back I went with my family to North along the Hume Highway from Melbourne to Sydney & onwards to Brisbane via the Princes Hwy. The highways then were certainly not as developed and maintained as they are now.It was great.

[Bain]

I drove back from Melbourne after I picked up the R.

I went the coast to Lakes Entrance, then headed up to Cann River and turned left, taking the Monaro Highway to Cooma, on to Canberra then Sydney.

Great road, especially the climb out of Cann River.

Just a third option to consider.

Same way we went for something different. It also adds about 2 hours to the trip.

Going all the way along the coast adds about 4 hours in total to your trip making it a 12 hour haul.

[Ryan_R]

Well I was actually going to head up via Healesville, Alexandra, Mansfield, Whitfield, Wangaratta, which adds next not nothing to the trip time depending on how quickly you can get through the mountains (and how slow the motorways would've been). Mansfield - Whitfield is quite the epic road. Since mountains were covered (and I have pretty good access to twisties whenever the urge takes me), I figured the coastal route might be just as good scenery-wise (didn't Holden used to film a few commercials somewhere along there decades ago?).


Thanks all for the suggestions - I check out those other routes on GM (Google Maps) in the meantime