Melbourne - Recommendations? And what about car hire...?
Discussion
OK, off to Melbourne in December. Spending a few days there, then need to hire a car for +/- 4 weeks that we'll be leaving at the airport in Sydney.
Any recommendations on Melbourne - see, do, drink, eat?
Any recommendations on a route from Melbourne to Sydney, and places to stop en route? Looking at about a week to ten days to do the drive.
Any recommendations on cheap car hire?
Sorry this is a straight cut and paste from the Pie and Piston, but I thought I might get some more "local" advice in here.
Any recommendations on Melbourne - see, do, drink, eat?
Any recommendations on a route from Melbourne to Sydney, and places to stop en route? Looking at about a week to ten days to do the drive.
Any recommendations on cheap car hire?
Sorry this is a straight cut and paste from the Pie and Piston, but I thought I might get some more "local" advice in here.
Car hire in Oz can be a bit expensive. You usually can get a much better deal using someone like www.holidayautos.co.uk than you can from any of the car hire places in Oz. I used them last year and paid about £400 for 4 weeks hire with unlimited mileage and reduced excess for a Hyundai Getz 4 door with Aircon. Make sure you get a car with aircon for December, it can get a bit hot! Cruise control is also useful as well if you want to keep your license, the cops there hide behind bushes.
Route wise, a week will give you plenty of time from Melb to Syd. Go to Philip Island to see the penguin and the GP track, if you're lucky you might be able to drive around it. A bit out of the way is the 'Great Ocean Rd', a must do but south west of Melb. From there you can head back to Melb and go to the Rutherglen winery for some wine tasting, worth spending a couple of days there if you like wine! From there just head east to the coast around the lakes entrance area and then just drive north from there up the NSW south coast, some of the best beaches in the world are found along there. Just stop when you feel like it for the day and go for a swim on deserted beaches. There's lots of motels dotted along this route. Recommend you stop at Merimbula, Narooma, Bega, Ulladalla and Kiamma. But the options are endless.
You could drive from Melb to Syd in about 9 hours through Victory and NSW via the main highway but there's not a lot to see that route.
Hope that helps
Route wise, a week will give you plenty of time from Melb to Syd. Go to Philip Island to see the penguin and the GP track, if you're lucky you might be able to drive around it. A bit out of the way is the 'Great Ocean Rd', a must do but south west of Melb. From there you can head back to Melb and go to the Rutherglen winery for some wine tasting, worth spending a couple of days there if you like wine! From there just head east to the coast around the lakes entrance area and then just drive north from there up the NSW south coast, some of the best beaches in the world are found along there. Just stop when you feel like it for the day and go for a swim on deserted beaches. There's lots of motels dotted along this route. Recommend you stop at Merimbula, Narooma, Bega, Ulladalla and Kiamma. But the options are endless.
You could drive from Melb to Syd in about 9 hours through Victory and NSW via the main highway but there's not a lot to see that route.
Hope that helps
Cheers onny
We did Gladstone to Sydney last time round, so this trip we've decided to go from the other end.
We're a lot more relaxed about this trip, and plan to pretty much just follow our noses - we only booked on hotel last time round, and just stopped when we felt like it after that.
We did struggle with the time difference, so there were plenty of 6am swims on the beaches!
The best place we found was Byron Bay - do you know if there's anywhere even remotely like that between Mel and Syd?
And we will be doing some wine "tasting"... visited the Hunter Valley last time, and had a really good time, so we'll be doing the wineries around Melbourne on this trip.
We did Gladstone to Sydney last time round, so this trip we've decided to go from the other end.
We're a lot more relaxed about this trip, and plan to pretty much just follow our noses - we only booked on hotel last time round, and just stopped when we felt like it after that.
We did struggle with the time difference, so there were plenty of 6am swims on the beaches!
The best place we found was Byron Bay - do you know if there's anywhere even remotely like that between Mel and Syd?
And we will be doing some wine "tasting"... visited the Hunter Valley last time, and had a really good time, so we'll be doing the wineries around Melbourne on this trip.
Definitely head up the coast route. Remember to book accommodation a day in advance if you can - mid-December get busy and school hols in Vic and NSW both start on Dec 21.
And I'll second the comment about the beaches being superb.
A good part of the Great Ocean Road, inc the 12 (or is it now 11) Apostles can be seen in about 1-2days, too.
And I'll second the comment about the beaches being superb.
A good part of the Great Ocean Road, inc the 12 (or is it now 11) Apostles can be seen in about 1-2days, too.
If you can time it before Xmas, Mallacoota is an awesome place to spend 2-3 days if you take the coatal route (12 hours if driven non-stop) as it is exactly half way; right on the SE corner of Oz if yr looking at the map.
I've been there many times & accomodation pre Xmas should be bookable now and if you have a carthere are many unspoilt beaches nearby. Better still, hire a boat for one day & cruise around the 2 massive inlets that are sheltered, have an amazing array of natural wildlife (esp 6ft lizards, roos, eagles, etc etc). Grab some fishing rods too cos if you like to catch your dinner for the night it's dead easy to do. The whole area is part of one of Victorias largest National Parks and if that's yr thing then you wont be dissapointed - cert worth a google search.
Although 6 hours from Syd or Melb, it's a very popular Xmas holiday destination so forget about it after Dec 23rd (although "aussie busy" is nothing like "pom busy" when it comes to holiday spots!)
Of course - if you have taken the coast road then enroute to M'coota, the Gippsland lakes region and long, long, looooooooooong beaches are poss worth a night. On the NSW side of M'coota as you head Nth to Sydney, the whole SE coastline is full of great places both on the coast & slightly inland too. Great big game fishing in Merimbula & Bermagui - cheese factories & wines - damn I wanna go home!
I've been there many times & accomodation pre Xmas should be bookable now and if you have a carthere are many unspoilt beaches nearby. Better still, hire a boat for one day & cruise around the 2 massive inlets that are sheltered, have an amazing array of natural wildlife (esp 6ft lizards, roos, eagles, etc etc). Grab some fishing rods too cos if you like to catch your dinner for the night it's dead easy to do. The whole area is part of one of Victorias largest National Parks and if that's yr thing then you wont be dissapointed - cert worth a google search.
Although 6 hours from Syd or Melb, it's a very popular Xmas holiday destination so forget about it after Dec 23rd (although "aussie busy" is nothing like "pom busy" when it comes to holiday spots!)
Of course - if you have taken the coast road then enroute to M'coota, the Gippsland lakes region and long, long, looooooooooong beaches are poss worth a night. On the NSW side of M'coota as you head Nth to Sydney, the whole SE coastline is full of great places both on the coast & slightly inland too. Great big game fishing in Merimbula & Bermagui - cheese factories & wines - damn I wanna go home!
Used to work for an Aussie Bank and I lived and worked in Melbourne for 9wks in 2005 and the people here http://www.ilnostroposto.com/ looked after me very well - will PM/Email you with more details as they do tend to look after my recommended visitors 
Oh and buy your GP ticket here and take advantage of exchange rate
I hired a car Nissan 3.0l Maxima with sat nav for a weekend and drove to Echucha (messed up place) was relative inexpensive
Oh and buy your GP ticket here and take advantage of exchange rate
I hired a car Nissan 3.0l Maxima with sat nav for a weekend and drove to Echucha (messed up place) was relative inexpensive
Were doing the ocean road in November and not sure what time to allocate to it? A few people have said it only takes a couple of days but is that taking time to stop along the way? We have lots of other places to go so I don't want to spend ages on the road just want to give ourselves enough time to enjoy it? Anyone have any comments about it?
Lensey said:
Were doing the ocean road in November and not sure what time to allocate to it? A few people have said it only takes a couple of days but is that taking time to stop along the way? We have lots of other places to go so I don't want to spend ages on the road just want to give ourselves enough time to enjoy it? Anyone have any comments about it?
One overnight stop somwhere like Port Fairy is ideal. Are you doing it as an out and back from Melb or driving right through to Sleepy Hollow, sorry, I meant Adelaide 
If the round trip go out along the coast & then go back via some of the "B roads" through the Otway ranges (more inland) - Oz's sthn most temperate rain forest - stunning! Makes a good loop and would be comfortable tourist drive out one day & back the next (going back inland will take less time due less places to stop)
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