Australia, New Zealand & the South Pacific - Brisbane - Sydney Drive (Rental Car, Must do and don't)

Hi,

We are going to Australia early next year and want to drive down the East coast from Brisbane to Sydney in 8 days.

1) What site offers best rental car deals (looking to maybe rent a jeep or cabrio)?

2) What are some of the places to see and maybe stay overnight?

3) Any other tips?

your suggestions are highly appreciated;-)

In my completely unbiased view, you should definitely see the Hunter Valley - home of the world's finest aged semillon.

The big local renters are:

www.avis.com.au

www.thrifty.com.au

www.hertz.com.au


Key places along the route are the Gold Coast, Byron Bay, Coffs Harbour, Port Macquarie, Newcastle/ Hunter Valley. Lots of small places of interest around them, but they are the major regional centres that aren't overrun with untermenschen (with the possible exception of Byron Bay).

Try:

http://www.visitnsw.com.au/

http://www.winecountry.com.au/


A driving tip for you. Both legislation and civilisation demand that on roads where the speed limit exceeds 80km/h, you keep in the leftmost lane unless overtaking. This is Australia-wide and applies on 2, 3, 4, etc lane roads. Don't worry if 99% of drivers ignore this rule, they will get theirs when the great purge comes.

Any recomendations to stay in Byron Bay?

Any recomendations to stay in Byron Bay?


Can't go past this shop:

www.wickedweasel.com.au

True outback Jeep-style rentals in Oz are expensive and best done only if really needed. We did where we were going and rented from Britz http://www.britz.com.au/ . But the drive from Brisbane to Sydney definitely doesn't warrant or require this kind of vehicle!

An alternative is to take the coach or the train. The train journey takes around 12 hours but i think you can stop along the way, www.countrylink.com.au. Car rentals in Australia are comparatively more expensive than US car rentals and are namely restrictly to the big established 4 brands of avis,thrifty,hertz and budget. There's redspot and europcar rental but most people do the ocean drive from melbourne-sydney not brisbane-sydney.

What do you hope to achieve from doing a drive like this? You might as well take a train or a discounted qantas flight and get QF miles.

I drive from Brisbane to Sydney on a regular basis, and with the improved highway upgrades and fuel/refreshment stops etc the trip can easily be done in 12 hours so if you plan to do it in 8 days you will have plenty of time. I agree with Shillard about the stops along the way, and would definitely allow a couple of days at the Hunter Valley prior to arriving in Sydney. The Hunter Valley is only a couple of hours drive north of Sydney, but very relaxing and with lots of great vineyards and places to visit. A lot of the major car rental firms such as avis, hertz, thrifty have weekly specials so I would monitor those sites. I don't know if they charge a drop off fee between BNE and SYD, but I doubt it with capital cities. Most drivers stop off at Coffs Harbour if they are doing to the trip in two days, and a lovely place as well, but there are so many nice places along the coast to stay.

An alternative is to take the coach or the train. The train journey takes around 12 hours but i think you can stop along the way, www.countrylink.com.au. Car rentals in Australia are comparatively more expensive than US car rentals and are namely restrictly to the big established 4 brands of avis,thrifty,hertz and budget. There's redspot and europcar rental but most people do the ocean drive from melbourne-sydney not brisbane-sydney.

What do you hope to achieve from doing a drive like this? You might as well take a train or a discounted qantas flight and get QF miles.

That's a pretty optimistic estimate of the train time - trains in NSW are notoriously unreliable, with a normal 2hr commuter trip often taking up to 4 hours.

I reckon I'd rather walk it than take the train....

By driving you get to experience and see a hell of a lot more than you do on the train (and avoid encounters with trainspotter types like thadocta). :p

That's a pretty optimistic estimate of the train time - trains in NSW are notoriously unreliable, with a normal 2hr commuter trip often taking up to 4 hours.

I reckon I'd rather walk it than take the train....

By driving you get to experience and see a hell of a lot more than you do on the train (and avoid encounters with trainspotter types like thadocta). :p

I concur, avoid the railways like the plague.

By driving you get to experience and see a hell of a lot more than you do on the train (and avoid encounters with trainspotter types like thadocta). :p OI! I resemble that remark!

Dave

I am contemplating this drive as well during the week after new years day. Is it going to be difficult to get reservations on the Gold Coast? What about the rest of the route?

Appreciate any advise - we have been way too slow to plan our itinerary due to some uncertainty on the flights, and now we are paying for it.