Australia, New Zealand & the South Pacific - Some questions: Driving from Sydney-Brisbane-Sydney

I am planning a driving trip from Sydney-Brisbane-Sydney starting from Sydney airport after landing around end of Nov:

1) Is it better to rent the car over the Internet now or rent at the airport?

2) I plan to drive from Sydney-Brisbane and back in 6 days with stopover whenever possible, is this too rush or just okay?

3) Is Nov-Dec peak for motels? Is it better to book now or just drive around and look for the best price?

4) Finally is it safe to drive at night and do I need to pay for road tolls?

Cheers!
Ted

Car rental rates are almost always substantially lower in advance than when you arrive. Most people fly to BNE rather than drive; it is an easy drive, but not really that nice and not the most scenic part of Australia to visit. I'd view it as wasting 2 days out of your 6 day trip. Roads are fine, and the warnings about driving at night mostly apply to the outback (where you run into kangaroos on the road at night, which does a nice job of wrecking your radiator and vacation schedule). But driving at night is a poor way to sightsee. As for hotels, some will be sold out in Dec and even in Nov, it depends on location and price range. You can do the trip without advance reservations but need to be flexible in where you stay (and how few stars it has).

Be warned, mid to late November is schoolies (Australian equivalent of Spring Break) so alot of towns up and down the coast especially Coffs, Byron, and the schoolies Mecca the Gold Coast will be filled with drunken 17 year olds.
You might also find accomodation tough during those periods.

Queensland Schoolies starts 17th Nov and ends 24th

NSW Schoolies will start about 24th but is nowhere near as busy so accom should be no problem at end of Nov or early December. Things are generally slow in first 2 weeks of December

I have to respectfully disagree with original member Number 6. The road is not the best and is different to a typical US hwy. Lanes are narrow, you will be on the "wrong side" and this road is known for fatalities at that time. I would not push it, especially after a transpac with no time adjustment and during school holidays. For Australian standards maybe it is a good road (not even convinced on that point though but know a family who did suffer fatalities on it and see them on almost every school holiday tv news), for US standards you will be shocked. This is not something you would even consider as interstate road at home in the US.

You will be tired, you will be jet lagged to the max, you will use kmph instead of mph be ready to convert instantly for speed and distance, you will be on a different side of the road travelling at the highest risk time - even if you ae the best most adaptable driver in the world what about the all drunk / drug affected 17 year olds on the same route? You should really consider flying. It is pretty cheap to fly here and you could maybe do it for less than it would cost to rent a car. Accommodation options are not as abundant enroute as you may think either. You may be lucky if when you get tired and want to pull over, if you can find a small town with a room at the pub. I would nix the entire thing honestly. When you do arrive in Brisbane - think - spring break Ft Lauderdale - but high school kids instead of college aged and of course you need alot more police presence to regulate them and their behaviors. All in all a poor choice on many fronts.

Well if OP arrives late November he should miss schoolies in Surfers and not nearly as bad as Spring Break and bound to be even better policed this year(New Premier and recent events about South/North Stradbroke).

Summer school holidays will not have started for other than possibly year 11s.

I have to respectfully disagree with original member Number 6. The road is not the best and is different to a typical US hwy. Lanes are narrow, you will be on the "wrong side" and this road is known for fatalities at that time. I would not push it, especially after a transpac with no time adjustment and during school holidays. For Australian standards maybe it is a good road (not even convinced on that point though but know a family who did suffer fatalities on it and see them on almost every school holiday tv news), for US standards you will be shocked. This is not something you would even consider as interstate road at home in the US.

You will be tired, you will be jet lagged to the max, you will use kmph instead of mph be ready to convert instantly for speed and distance, you will be on a different side of the road travelling at the highest risk time - even if you ae the best most adaptable driver in the world what about the all drunk / drug affected 17 year olds on the same route? You should really consider flying. It is pretty cheap to fly here and you could maybe do it for less than it would cost to rent a car. Accommodation options are not as abundant enroute as you may think either. You may be lucky if when you get tired and want to pull over, if you can find a small town with a room at the pub. I would nix the entire thing honestly. When you do arrive in Brisbane - think - spring break Ft Lauderdale - but high school kids instead of college aged and of course you need alot more police presence to regulate them and their behaviors. All in all a poor choice on many fronts.

Yes the roads are not upto what you would expect in the US, but then US roads are not upto what a European would expect, and for large stretches the Pacific Highway is single carriage-way with no divide (although that is changing). But the time when the OP wants to travel is not a peak period and the road is not really known for fatalities until the post Christmas rush, I would say that at the time of year the roads will be fairly quiet. If the OP is that worried there is always the New England Highway which is quieter but abit more out of the way, although there are some nice towns along the way.

FYI, I don't think I know anyone who has ever gone to Brisbane for schoolies...so once the OP arrives they should be pretty much well away from the drama.

FYI, I don't think I know anyone who has ever gone to Brisbane for schoolies...so once the OP arrives they should be pretty much well away from the drama.

You are right. I meant Gold Coast. My mistake - too caught up in getting past how somebody could forward plan to drive that far immediately after a transpac :confused: rather than just jumping on another flight.

Reading back I have also presumed that the OP is arriving from the US and is American which may also be false. He could just be jumping from Melbourne, in which case......I better just go back to bed ha ha.

[QUOTE=ctk;8420058]I am planning a driving trip from Sydney-Brisbane-Sydney starting from Sydney airport after landing around end of Nov:

1) Is it better to rent the car over the Internet now or rent at the airport?

It is often better to arrange the rental over the internet.

2) I plan to drive from Sydney-Brisbane and back in 6 days with stopover whenever possible, is this too rush or just okay?

Without stopping its still a 10.5hr drive. Most people drive from Sydney to say Coffs Harbour, stay overnight and then continue the next day. I don't know you reason for wanting to drive both ways, but you might be better driving one way and then getting a cheap flight from Brisbane to Sydney. www.virginblue.com.au have cheap flights during their "happy hour" between 12MD and 1pm, but not knowing where you live you would have to adapt the time. Its not uncommon to get flights under $50 (all incl) from BNE to SYD

3) Is Nov-Dec peak for motels? Is it better to book now or just drive around and look for the best price?

November might be okay, but December is definitely busier as it is summer school holidays in AUS from the second week in December to the end of January. If you do find accommodation, the prices tend to rise sharply due to demand.

4) Finally is it safe to drive at night and do I need to pay for road tolls?

A lot of heavy vehicles use the Pacific Highway (and New England Highway) at night for obvious reasons (less traffic), but if you have experience driving at night (and on the left side of the road) you should have no problems, especially if you have two drivers.. If you plan it properly you will only have one toll to pay from Sydney airport (Eastern Distributor) which is the tunnel that goes under the Sydney CBD and saves a lot of traffic/time etc. To the best of my recollection there are no road tolls from Sydney to Brisbane.