Road trip - Vic/SA/NSW

[Smurf1976]

Planning to do a road trip starting and ending in Melbourne (coming from Tas on the ferry).

Looking for some thoughts on where to go and what to do and see along the way. All suggestions welcome.

Starting and ending in Melbourne is a must.

No interest in spending time in Sydney or Melbourne other than to get on and off the boat in Melbourne (been to both many times). Might travel via Adelaide but won't spend any real time there unless it's just a convenient place to stop overnight (been there many times).

So literally anywhere other than those three cities basically.

Prefer to stay overnight in hotels (room at the local pub is fine, doesn't need to be fancy) but camping out overnight is an option if that's the best thing to do and there's no hotel nearby.

Planning to travel in a normal car not a motor home etc.

Currently thinking of a clockwise route (or should we go in the opposite direction?) that goes via (listing only a few places here to show the basic route) Melbourne > Great Ocean Rd > Adelaide > Port Augusta > Broken Hill (have a reason for going via there) > wherever in NSW / ACT / Vic and ultimately ending back in Melbourne.

That's a lot of traveling obviously. This trip is going to take quite a while – thinking of at least a month.

Might change that basic plan if there's something better to see or do elsewhere but that's the thought at this stage.

So where to go, what to do and what to see along the way?

Interested in natural scenery, historic sites and ruins etc, anything natural or man-made of significance, landmarks, towns worth seeing, things to do rather than just looking at, etc.

Not at all interested in wine / food in the context of travel so won't be visiting any wineries etc. Not into taking photos of churches etc either.

Basic aim is to get out and have a look around, there being no specific destination or "point" of it as such.

So I'm basically looking for a list of things worth seeing in Vic / SA / NSW (and possibly ACT if we come back via there) that isn't in Melbourne, Adelaide or Sydney.

Any suggestions on what to do or what to avoid?

 

[SirRumpole]

Great Ocean Road, 12 apostles , Port Campbell, Lorne, Anglesea, Torquay. Mornington Peninsula, Sorrento.

Hunter region NSW.

Port MacQuarie, Coffs Harbour.

 

[qldfrog]

being in Brisbane having left the Melbourne nearly 20y ago, not the best advice on the southern area but:
near Adelaide: I believe a stop/travel to the fleurieu peninsula is a must with a stop at the Kangaroo island ferry jetty in winter quite memorable;
, I have a specific liking of the Mc Laren vale area (wines i know) but very nice indeed and a trip from there to the eden vale area around the E/NE of adelaide is very interesting, with old stones thrown here and there remains of a previous past.
If you drive into northern NSw I would recommend the Waterfall Way scenic drive which links Coffs harbour and Armidale,
and drive up to Northern nsw Nimbin, Byron and around;
it is a special part of Australia and the border range is magnificent;
something different from Tasmania and the usual mainland desert/bush/forest;
but that may be too far away from your planned area: you are basically in Brissie at this stage.
Feel free to pop in if you go that far (just PM me)

 

[Logique]

Cheers Smurf. In NSW, check these out.

Snowy Hydro Discovery Centre, Cooma - surely you will want to check out the Snowy Scheme!
http://www.snowyhydro.com.au/discover/snowy-hydro-discovery-centre-cooma/

Eurobodalla tourism - NSW south coast - you mightn't want to leave..
http://www.visitnsw.com/destination...gclid=CIvZnvLY084CFULGGwod9ZMK9A&gclsrc=aw.ds

Shoalhaven tourism - NSW south coast - you mightn't want to leave..
http://www.visitnsw.com/visitor-information-centres/shoalhaven-visitor-information-centre-nowra

 

[Bill M]

Had 2 Brits out on holiday one year and they wanted to see Kangaroos in the wild. I researched and found a place called Pebbly Beach. We were sitting on the beach and then I heard this, thump thump thump, looked up and there were 2 roos behind the Brits. I said don't be alarmed, turn around slowly and they were blown away with seeing kangaroos in the wild. Nice beach and area in southern NSW. Link: http://www.visitnsw.com/destinations/south-coast/jervis-bay-and-shoalhaven/bawley-point/attractions/pebbly-beach

Then we went onto Bega, the home of The Bega Cheese Factory. Sampled cheeses at the visitors center and bought some to take with us on our journey.

First photo is Pebbly Beach
Second photo is in Bega

 

[McLovin]

I don't know when you're going, but if it's in the warmer months, I really like the Snowy Mountains in summer. Get up on the Kosciuosko main range, do a bit of hiking to the glacial lakes up there. If the wild flowers are in bloom it's very beautiful.

Aside from there, Barrington Tops is one the most under appreciated national parks I think. The Antarctic beech trees are ancient trees that go all the way back to Gondwanna. Their nearest relative is a tree in South America.

 

[Knobby22]

Shoot through the back through Broken Hill once you leave SA to go to NSW.
Good spot, worth looking at aboriginal caves at nearby lake. Mutawintji national park.

 

[sptrawler]

Hi Smurph, here's my thoughts, we have done the East coast a few times and being from W.A had to be selective where we visited, time was always limited by kids.

Melbourne out to Ballarat ( Sovereign Hill, Eureka Stockade), then South to Torquay (Great ocean road) to Warnambool.
From there North to Dunkeld and through the Grampians to Horsham, at that point it is a choice of straight towards Adelaide, or South to Mt Gambier, if blue lake is on your bucket list. I personally would go straight on to Victor Harbour area.

After the Fleurieu peninsula area, I would head North through Hahndorf (German style town) to Birdwood (national motor museum), then to Gawler. From Gawler it would be a toss up, whether to go North through Clare or Burra, both are interesting ways to Peterborough.

Peterborough is an interesting rail head town and home of the pitchi richi railway, which runs a steam train on an old section of the Ghan track.

From Peterborough it is only about 150k's north to Hawker and the Flinders Ranges ( Wilpena Pound) and probably worth the trip IMO. Also to get back to Peterborough could use the alternative route through Port Augusta ( Horrocks Pass, Willmington).

Then from Peterborough straight out East to Broken Hill, great spot, lots to see. I would definitely go to Silverton and just 5 k's further the sunset over the Mundi Mundi plains can be amazing.
The Mundi Mundi plains is an amazing sight anyway, you arrive on a plateau a couple of hundred metres above the plains and it is one of the only places on land, where you can see the curvature of the Earth. Very surreal when you first see it.IMO

From Broken Hill the next place of interest is IMO Dubbo ( Western Plains Zoo) Magic.

After that it becomes really confusing too many options.

Anyway those are my thoughts, have a great trip where ever it takes you smurph. Cheers

 

[Boggo]

If you go anywhere near Broken Hill take a diversion (about 25 mins, all bitumen) to Mad Max territory at Silverton. Visit the pub there too, great burgers and you could spend hours looking at all the stuff on the walls.

 

[Tisme]

I don't know when you're going, but if it's in the warmer months, I really like the Snowy Mountains in summer. Get up on the Kosciuosko main range, do a bit of hiking to the glacial lakes up there. If the wild flowers are in bloom it's very beautiful.

Aside from there, Barrington Tops is one the most under appreciated national parks I think. The Antarctic beech trees are ancient trees that go all the way back to Gondwanna. Their nearest relative is a tree in South America.

There's about 100 -200 of the buggers that hang around my loved one's grave ... they hold onto their territory 12 klicks from city central.

Victoria = Torquay through to the 12 Apostle, NSW = Dorrigo through to Tweed, QLD pretty much anywhere along the coastal areas Lamington/Springboork Nationals up and past the Daintree, NT = Katherine through to the Fanny Bay and the Arnhem swamps, WA = Ningaloo down through the wild flowers to Maggie River and Denmark, SA = nothing happening there,....

 

[basilio]

Did a similar trip some years ago. One of the highlights was visiting Burra in SA. Fascinating history . Very sweet town. Certainly enjoyed it.

Have you considered using AirBnB as a way to meet people/arrange accommodation ? Been good for me. It's even fun checking out the opportunities.

 

[lindsayf]

Planning to do a road trip starting and ending in Melbourne (coming from Tas on the ferry).

Looking for some thoughts on where to go and what to do and see along the way. All suggestions welcome.

Starting and ending in Melbourne is a must.

No interest in spending time in Sydney or Melbourne other than to get on and off the boat in Melbourne (been to both many times). Might travel via Adelaide but won't spend any real time there unless it's just a convenient place to stop overnight (been there many times).

So literally anywhere other than those three cities basically.

Prefer to stay overnight in hotels (room at the local pub is fine, doesn't need to be fancy) but camping out overnight is an option if that's the best thing to do and there's no hotel nearby.

Planning to travel in a normal car not a motor home etc.

Currently thinking of a clockwise route (or should we go in the opposite direction?) that goes via (listing only a few places here to show the basic route) Melbourne > Great Ocean Rd > Adelaide > Port Augusta > Broken Hill (have a reason for going via there) > wherever in NSW / ACT / Vic and ultimately ending back in Melbourne.

That's a lot of traveling obviously. This trip is going to take quite a while – thinking of at least a month.

Might change that basic plan if there's something better to see or do elsewhere but that's the thought at this stage.

So where to go, what to do and what to see along the way?

Interested in natural scenery, historic sites and ruins etc, anything natural or man-made of significance, landmarks, towns worth seeing, things to do rather than just looking at, etc.

Not at all interested in wine / food in the context of travel so won't be visiting any wineries etc. Not into taking photos of churches etc either.

Basic aim is to get out and have a look around, there being no specific destination or "point" of it as such.

So I'm basically looking for a list of things worth seeing in Vic / SA / NSW (and possibly ACT if we come back via there) that isn't in Melbourne, Adelaide or Sydney.

Any suggestions on what to do or what to avoid?

What are you driving?
If 4wd then many other possibilities.

 

[Smurf1976]

Thanks everyone for the comments. I'll have to have a good look at some maps and see where all these places are!

Time isn't fixed but 4 - 5 weeks most likely.

Vehicle = normal car. Depending on how many of us end up on the trip (still working that bit out) that will be more than one car but they'll be normal cars not 4WD. Something else might be better but we've consciously decided that we're going in cars as such not serious 4WD's, motor homes or camper vans.

Having watched a few too many episodes of Top Gear, one in the group is thinking of buying a car just for this trip. Something like, not sure really, an old Beetle or maybe a Rolls Royce or anything else unusual they can find.... That said, we don't plan on deliberately crashing into each other or tampering with the cars and there will be no producer following behind in some obscure car from Russia (fans of TG will get it but that comment won't make sense to anyone else).

Doesn't matter if we end up with a few stone chips on unsealed roads but won't be going anywhere that actually needs 4WD to get there. Will be traveling in daylight hours only unless something goes terribly wrong.

Now I'm off to study some maps....

 

[SirRumpole]

Having watched a few too many episodes of Top Gear, one in the group is thinking of buying a car just for this trip. Something like, not sure really, an old Beetle or maybe a Rolls Royce or anything else unusual they can find.... That said, we don't plan on deliberately crashing into each other or tampering with the cars and there will be no producer following behind in some obscure car from Russia (fans of TG will get it but that comment won't make sense to anyone else).

I hope you don't end up punching each other out.

 

[Smurf1976]

I hope you don't end up punching each other out.

That would be in the "something has gone wrong" category....

At this stage I'm thinking that Whyalla will be the furthest west we'll go, then come back east after that.

Keep the suggestions coming everyone. Getting a bit tired now so will be back looking at maps tomorrow night.

 

[sptrawler]

That would be in the "something has gone wrong" category....

At this stage I'm thinking that Whyalla will be the furthest west we'll go, then come back east after that.

Keep the suggestions coming everyone. Getting a bit tired now so will be back looking at maps tomorrow night.

Whyalla, great spot, art deco buildings, steel works in the town, real Australiana. If you drive there return via Iron Knob and drop in at the golf club, great people.
Plus some really terrific photos, IMO, Iron Knob always reminds me of those old American mid west towns in the middle of nowhere.
The highway out of town stretches into the distance, with the power line right alongside, hey it's a generation thing.lol

Another way to get to Whyalla, is catch the car ferry from Wallaroo to Cowel, if it is still running. It is a bit expensive, but who cares , it's a holiday.
Also on the Eyre peninsular, there are some great photos to be made of old stone ruins in fields, they really are great colours in the right light.

By the way smurph, all the roads I've mentioned are bitumen.
The distance you are going to cover will be impressive, Melbourne to Whyalla, then back across to the East coast and back around to Melbourne, is a lot of k's, when you come from Tassie.lol

 

[Craton]

Currently thinking of a clockwise route (or should we go in the opposite direction?) that goes via (listing only a few places here to show the basic route) Melbourne > Great Ocean Rd > Adelaide > Port Augusta > Broken Hill (have a reason for going via there) > wherever in NSW / ACT / Vic and ultimately ending back in Melbourne.

Hmm, 1 + 1 = ?
From memory you're in the electricity supply game + a wind farm being proposed out Silverton way = reason?

If not, out past Silverton there's the Mundi Mundi plains lookout for briliant sunsets and broad sweeping vistas: http://www.visitnsw.com/destination...area/silverton/attractions/mundi-mundi-plains

Lots to see in and around my home town, Australia's first heritage city! With the regular rain we've been having of late, the landscape is oh so, so green too. Such a stark contrast to the drought induced, patched dust bowl of a few years ago.

Have fun and happy travels mate.

Edit:
Oh, nearly forgot. If you do head out to Silverton, the road is sign posted 90kph for a reason, due to lots and lots of dips and the width. Ha, I wouldn't call it a road but a goat track even though it is tarred. Not too bad after Silverton to the lookout and the reservoir beyond though.

 

[Smurf1976]

a wind farm being proposed out Silverton way = reason?

Hadn't even thought about that one actually!

Reason is far simpler - someone on the trip spent some time there so can show us a few things in the area. Plus they'll catch up with a few people they know while we're there. Etc.

So we're right for that part of the trip, still sorting out the rest. Should have the basics worked out pretty soon....

Thanks everyone for the info thus far.

 

[Logique]

Another one for you Smurf.

Mildura is doing some really interesting things in tourism: http://www.visitmildura.com.au/ Especially if you're a foodie!

Visit Stefano's Brewery Pub: http://www.mildurabrewery.com.au/the-beers/main-range/desert-larger

On the Murray River, well worth the visit.

 

[Gringotts Bank]

Johanna beach. Complete wilderness only 30 min from Apollo Bay.
Point Addis near Bells Beach - great walks/lookout.
Ferry from Queenscliff to Sorrento - take car on, watch the dolphins.
Port Stephens, Nelson Bay in NSW.