Roadtrip Australia

Roadtrip Australia

Campervan Trip Ideas

Want to hear all about Sydney? It's Australia's oldest city, the economic powerhouse of the nation and the country's capital in everything but name. It's blessed with sun-drenched natural attractions, dizzy skyscrapers, delicious and daring restaurants, superb shopping and friendly folk. And want to know what to see in Sydney? Although it's come a long way from its convict beginnings, Sydney still has a rough and ready energy, an invigorating blend of the old and the new, the raw and the refined. While high culture attracts some to the Opera House, bohemian history and gaudy nightlife attract others to Kings Cross.

Sydney has so many attractions to explore: Bondi Beach, Taronga Zoo, Darling Harbour Aquarium and much more.Delight yourself with this exciting and very scenic tour which takes in the best features of this fantastic city, the history, the harbour, the gardens, and the beautiful National Parks.

Beginning amongst the historical Rocks area of old Sydney you will learn of the early settlers & convicts of over 200 years ago. We will take you around the city, taking in the history of the Opera House & other famous buildings, drive through magnificent Royal Botanic Gardens and around the harbour foreshore of the Eastern Suburbs and Bondi Beach to see some of the best real estate in the area, owned by the rich and famous.

Head over to the world famous Sydney Harbour Bridge, through the leafy Northern Suburbs and into the Kuring-gai Chase National Park. You will enjoy a delicious café styled lunch down at the picturesque Akuna Bay, on the very large Hawkesbury River before heading to some of the outstanding lookouts in the park.

The fantastic views of the Hawkesbury River mouth in Broken Bay, Palm Beach, Pittwater, Woy Woy, & Lion Island, are simply breath taking. Get the opportunity to take a short bushwalk, tracing the history of the Garingai Aboriginal people whom once inhabited this area. You will also get to examine their incredible rock art. Heading out of the park we come back to the city via the Northern Beaches, from Palm Beach to Manly. This offers contrasts between the National Park, city life and the pristine beaches that encompass the Northern side of Sydney.

Camper vans is the best option to hit the Australian road.

From Sydney to Melbourne, Adelaide to Brisbane or anywhere in Australia, campervan provide one of the cheapest all in one accommodation for you. Sleep anywhere, eat anywhere and go anywhere you want in a camper. With camper vans, Australia is like a playground.

Around Australia on Highway 1

Sydney to Melbourne

The best way to take in the beauty of the coastline between Melbourne and Sydney is to drive. See national parks, wildlife, beautiful surf beaches and pristine lakes, and enjoy fine food and wine along the way. The route takes in the popular resort towns of Merimbula, Batemans Bay and Lakes Entrance as well as smaller, quieter communities.

If you have the time to take a leisurely trip around Australia, one way is to take, and follow, Highway 1. When driving from Sydney to Melbourne you can visit most of Australia's southeastern coastal attractions by following Highway 1 which goes all around the continent.

Highway 1, which may come under different names in various regions of Australia, takes you on a circular route, mostly along the coast, through New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia, the Northern Territory, and Queensland. It's the scenic coastal route from Sydney to Melbourne by road.

Spectacular country

From Sydney to Melbourne and on through its circumferential route, Highway 1 passes through much spectacular country and, if you include side trips from the main highway, touches most of Australia's major attractions.

You can take the whole circular route, or take only sections of it as your time allows, or as you wish.

The coastal Sydney to Melbourne route

If you start in Sydney, south-bound Highway 1 is the Princes Highway. From the outskirts of the city the Princes Highway takes you past the Royal National Park and down the New South Wales South Coast.

Just south of Nowra, you may want to take a detour to Jervis Bay, its whitest-of-white beaches, and laid-back seaside communities. Scenic fishing region Drive through the scenic fishing region of the Eurobodalla and Sapphire Coasts, touching base if you wish with Narooma and Bermagui, before continuing on to the Victorian border. Entering Victoria Coming down the eastern rim of Victoria, you then start veering west towards Melbourne.

If you wish, make a detour to Phillip Island for the penguin parade or east-northeast of Melbourne to the Yarra Valley wine region.

Melbourne to Adelaide

Travel west, then southwwest, on Highway 1 from Melbourne to Geelong. Just outside Geelong, you may decide to leave the Princes Highway and instead take the scenic Great Ocean Road from Torquay to Apollo Bay and on to the Twelve Apostles.

Rejoin the Princess Highway just before Warrnambool. Side trip A side trip is to take the route north from the intersection between Warrnambool and Port Fairy and head to Grampians National Park. West into South Australia Back on the Princes Highway, travel west past Lower Glenelg National Park and cross the border to South Australia.

From Mt Gambier just across the Victorian border, head northwest into Adelaide.

Side trips

Interesting side trips on this section of Highway 1 include visits to the Fleurieu Peninsula and Kangaroo Island south of Adelaide.

Adelaide to Perth

From Adelaide, the Princes Highway continues roughly north-northwest to Port Augusta where you then turn in a westerly direction on the Eyre Highway. The Princes and Eyre Highways are part of Highway 1.

Follow the Eyre Highway along the Great Australian Bight coast as it crosses the arid, treeless expanse of the Nullarbor into Western Australia. It turns south at Norseman, then west at Esperance where it becomes the South Coast Highway, still part of Highway 1, heading southwest to Albany. From Albany the South Coast Highway continues west, becoming the South-Western Highway after the town of Walpole, heading all the way northwest to Bunbury.

Side trip

Along the western coast west of the South Western Highway lies the Western Australia wine region of Margaret River, as well regarded for its surf as for its wines. One way to take a side trip into the Margaret River region is to turn west into Brockman Highway from Bridgetown.

From the southern end of the region, you can then drive north along Russell Highway to Bunbury to rejoin Highway 1. North from Bunbury From Bunbury, simply follow the Atlantic coast all the way north to Fremantle and Perth. An alternative route to Perth is through the Kwinana Freeway.

Heritage tour

At Fremantle you may want to stop for some sightseeing. And if you're interested in the local Aboriginal past, there's a Fremantle Aboriginal Heritage Walking Tour you may want to join.

Perth to Darwin

From Perth, Highway 1 — now Brand Highway — heads north just away from the Atlantic coast towards Geraldton. It hugs the coast between the town of Dongara and Geraldton. From Geraldton, it becomes the North-West Coastal Highway as it heads to Carnarvon.

Side trips

Between Gerladton and Carnarvon you may want to take a detour to Monkey Mia and have a close encoutner with the friendly dolphins. Just after Carnarvon, there's a turnoff at Minilya to Coral Bay and Exmouth, your jump-off points to Ningaloo Reef where you can swim with the world's largest fish, the whale shark.

Through the Kimberley You'd need to return south to rejoin the North-West Coastal Highway heading northeast to Port Hedland — and on the Great Northern Highway — to Broome, gateway to the Kimberley.

From Broome, the Great Northern Highway traverses the Kimberley past Purnululu National Park to Kununurra close to the Northern Territory border. The highway, now the Victoria Highway, heads east and northeast across the Northern Territory border towards Katherine where Highway 1 branches north and south — north on the Stuart Highway to Darwin and south on the same highway through Mataranka before it turns east again at Daly Waters into Carpentaria Highway.

Side trips

On the way north to Darwin, you may want to visit Katherine Gorge and, farther north, Kakadu National Park before taking a well-deserved rest at Australia's Top End.

Darwin to Brisbane

In Darwin, you may want to be sure you visit Kakadu National Park and, if you have the time and the inclination, the Aboriginal homeland that is Arnhem Land. On your way south from Darwin, take a detour through Katherine Gorge if you haven't yet done so.

Stuart Highway

Highway 1, now the Stuart Highway, runs south past Katherine and Mataranka before it turns east at Daly Waters into Carpentaria Highway.

Carpentaria Highway

Highway 1 (Carpentaria Highway) continues on to the town of Borroloola in northern Queensland. There's a turnoff just before Borroloola into an unsealed road which is the continuation of Highway 1 through Burketown and into the town of Normanton, where you join the sealed highway again.

Savannah Way

To bypass the unsealed road section, take Tablelands Highway south at Cape Crawford on the Carpentaria Highway. A route from Broome to Cairns is the Savannah Way, which was launched in June 2004.

The Savannah Way does not follow Highway 1 all the way through northern Queensland and offers alternative routes to bypass unsealed roads.

Bruce Highway

Southwards from Cairns, Highway 1 becomes the Bruce Highway and it's all the way down through Townsville, Mackay, Rockhampton, Gladstone and the Sunshine Coast to Brisbane.

Brisbane to Sydney

Highway 1 is not only the most direct route from Brisbane to Sydney (and vice versa) but it is as well one of the most scenic drives in the country alternating between hill and valley and shore. From Brisbane, Highway 1 is the Bruce Highway until the New South Wales border.

The Gold Coast

It is only an hour's drive from Brisbane to the Gold Coast with its surfing beaches, apartment towers, casino, theme parks and all manner of other attractions for the visiting holiday-maker. You may want to branch off from Bruce Highway into the coastal Gold Coast Highway passing through several Gold Coast towns before rejoining Highway 1.

Pacific Highway

South of Coolangatta, Highway 1 becomes the Pacific Highway as it snakes south through the Tweed Valley and the resort areas of Coffs Harbour, Port Macquarie and Port Stephens along the New South Wales coast.

Side trips

Between Murwillumbah in the Tweed Valley and Ballina, you may want to take a side trip to Byron Bay, whose Cape Byron is the easternmost part of the Australian continent. Further south, and just north of Newcastle, you can branch off Highway 1 into Nelson Bay and Port Stephens' other towns.

South from Newcastle

After Newcastle, join the Newcastle Freeway for whizz-through travel all the way to Sydney's northern suburbs. Or remain on the old Pacific Highway for a more leisurely drive through country and coastal towns, with a detour, if desired, through the Central Coast resort towns of The Entrance and Terrigal.