June 7th, 2011
Angela De Lyon grabs a rental car in Sydney and heads down a notorious road offering not only spectacular views but also some dark and spooky history.
THE steep descent from the upper Blue Mountains at Mount Victoria into the Lithgow basin has always been a notoriously hazardous one, with more than its fair share of accidents, particularly among truck drivers. But could the high fatality rate on Mount Victoria Pass be due to more than just dodgy road conditions and speed?
According to legend, this strip of highway is haunted by a rather nasty spectre – the Lady [...]
March 31st, 2011
IF you ever happen to be staying in the north-central coastline of New South Wales and you’re looking for a quick road trip adventure to an off-the-beaten path destination, look no further than grabbing a hire car in Coffs Harbour and heading south along the Pacific Highway and Scott’s Head road towards a beaut little place called Rainbow Beach.
The drive is a ripper with a lot of enticing attractions along the way including bigger coastal townships like Nambucca Heads, great national parks, Scott’s Head lookout and some beaut fishing spots. The closer you get to Rainbow Beach, it gets [...]
March 21st, 2011
MERIMBULA, a South-Eastern NSW hotspot known as the “gem of the Sapphire coast”, is a coastal midway point for Melbourne and Sydney, a one-hour flight from either direction but a seven-hour coastal road trip (minus the stops) along the Hume Highway that lures campers, caravanners and cabin hunters from far and wide.
For those wanting to kick out the trip a few days and stop off at some great spots along the way, there’s plenty to see and do. For road-trippers who grab a Melbourne campervan rental, some key moments for us included Paynesville, Lakes Entrance, Cann River, Eden and [...]
January 12th, 2011
ONE can’t indulge in a picturesque road trip after picking up a rental car in Sydney and heading to the Southern Highlands without popping in to say hello to “the Don”, the greatest cricketer the world has ever seen.
Of course, to the uninitiated, we’re talking about the great Don Bradman, “the boy from Bowral”, who blasted world bowling attacks for thousands of runs around cricket grounds worldwide. No-one has come close to conquering his unsurpassable Test cricket batting average of 99. Unfortunately, the cricket legend left us almost a decade ago but his memory lives on [...]
December 31st, 2010
THE last time my husband and I were in the Newcastle/Hunter Valley region we were heading southbound and on a watertight timeframe so we didn’t have the opportunity to take a detour via Pokolbin and check out one of Australia’s best kept secrets – the Hunter Valley Gardens.
So on a recent trip to New South Wales we decided to grab a hire car in Sydney and head north on the M1 for an one-day road trip and then scoot inland after Cooranbong, taking in some off-the-beaten-track townships like Killingworth, Seahampton and Greta before arriving at spectacular Hunter Valley Gardens.
April 25th, 2010
THE Grand Pacific Drive departing from Sydney doesn’t take long to lose yourself in the chill factor as you leave the city behind and enter its southern fringe and into the sub-tropical lushness of the Royal National Park. It pays to stop off for a walk here and explore one of the oldest national parks in the world.
From here, it’s a leisurely drive offering spectacular scenery, dramatic coastal cliffside views and sandstone heaths inland. Stop off at the Hindu Temple in Helensburgh or enjoy a spot of horseriding at beautiful Otford to really fire up the romance-o-meter before jumping [...]
August 5th, 2009
The great thing about cruising in a campervan to Coffs Harbour is that you can either do it from Brisbane or Sydney, therefore offering two very different journeys to enjoy. For us, we chose the Sydney option and while it would take about seven hours maximum with no stops, we spent five days negotiating the route along the Pacific Highway, a great option for some diverse stop-overs along the way.
Newcastle
First port of call was Newcastle after a leisurely two hour cruise. This city is one of extremes – a rougher element stemming from its early days as a [...]