Sydney to Melbourne advice
 

Hi
I am planning a trip around Australia for a couple of months.
I am seeking advice for the options to get from Sydney to Melbourne. I will be on a DR650, so happy to do on or off road or a mixture of both.
This wlll be the firt part of my jorney so will have a lot of opportunties for outback etc. later in the trip.
What I am really after is the best Sydney to Melbourne experience . Unique roads, unique sights.
Thanks,
Ivan

Number 1 tip-avoid the Hume Highway at all costs.
You could just do the coastal trip all the way. Lots of great little beach towns.
Or come down the coast then cut into the snowy mountains in either NSW or victoria then go through the old gold field areas and wine country of the North east.
Can give you some must see places depending on your route.

If you take the coastal route all the way in Victoria at the very least don't miss Mallacoota, wilsons promontory national park (for wildlife,awesome beaches, great walks) and maybe Phillip island.

Let me know your preferences for scenery.

Cheers,

James

I agree 100% with James, the Hume is only for if you are in a hurry. It's BORING.

The coast road through Eden and Orbost etc is my favourite route and Mallacoota is one of my favourite spots to camp. It's far enough off the main roads to deter large-scale development, so it's a relatively untouched and sleepy little place.

Another alternative is to go west through the Blue Mountains and head down any number of routes south via Cowra way. It depends how much time you have really.

Cheers,
Brett.

If you come down the coast road, we have a place inland from Bega. Can offer you a bedroom and own bathroom plus food for a night or 2. Have hosted British and Aussie bikers and last week a couple of French guys. The latter were thrilled to see their first wombats.

From Bega you can then head inland and do a loop through the Snowy Mountains and Victorian Alps back down to the coast again or you can head straight down the coast via Merimbula etc. Hard choice between those two but personally I would do the mountain route.

Send me a personal message if you want to stay.

Have a look at the 1st few days of our Oz ride report from 09, we went via the hilly bits & had a great time:

5 Weeks in Oz: Rosie & Clint go International - ADVrider

Cheers
Clint

Hi,

I have as much time as I need. Was thinking this part of the trip would probably take between 2-6 days.

Would be keen to see the Snowy Mountains, so that would be good.

Will definitely check out Mallacoota. It looks incredible.

Thanks for ideas to date.
Ivan

It's a good idea for me too that I can use main road for this trip and enjoy the journey with my bike. and may be this is most adventurous trip.

You might want to avoid the Snowy Mountains at this time of the year (winter) - they're not called the Snowies for nothing! You might find some roads closed, many campsites will be closed and it will be pretty darn cold!
Plus there's the hazards of city-dwellers in their huge 4x4s actually getting into conditions where they really need a 4x4 - and having NO idea how to drive in snow.
At this time of year, the coast road is much better!

I agree with Precis above. Several mates headed off on short breaks over the long weekend and had major detours due to closed roads in the alpine region.

Sydney to Melbourne
 

This is the route I planned to get from the HU meeting to Melbourne last week.
Central Coast - Weismans Ferry - Bells Line of Road - Oberon - Crookwell - Yass - Wee Jasper - Adelong (good pub) - Batlow - Tumbarumba - Jingellic - Hume Dam - Yackandanda - Beechworth - Oxley - Whitfield - Mansfield - Jameison - Eildon - Healesville - Melbourne.
Wee Jasper Road has about 30kms of dirt which has been damaged by storms and trucks so I was recommended to give it a miss. Also the weather will determine if you go via Batlow as it gets very cold up there in winter. Lots of nice quiet roads with plenty of twisties.

I love the twisty roads around that area.

On that route you are not far away from Yarrangobilly Caves and the the thermal pool. Well worth a visit.

Yarrangobilly Caves Kosciuszko National Park Snowy Mountains NSW

Blowering Reserviour in that area is also a great place to camp when you want to get away from civilisation. But it would be very chilly right now.

Cheers,
Brett.

Adding to the previous two posts if you're going inland...

There are caves at Wee Jasper too and a good campsite by the river. The pub is OK but the nearby roads and scenery as you come into the town are amazing.

If you want more of an offroad challenge and have some time up your sleeve you could divert south and cut across the fire trails to Tumut, maybe for the awesome views at the top of Mt Coree on the border of NSW/ACT (not the town of Coree). The Mt Coree diversion is steepish, rocky and rutted in places but not too hard. But only if it's not been recently wet as it gets very slippery. The rest of it is easy on a DR650.

http://www.bushranging.com.au/images/coree_tower2.jpg

On the coast, the others are right in that the area around Orbost is fantastic to ride on. The miles just disappear because you're enjoying yourself so much!

How long?
 

Hi,
I know this thread is from a long long time ago but just in case you are still connected to the site. Could you tell me if this could be done in 3 days?
Thanks.