cairns to brisbane or brisbane to sydney....
 

for those of you who know the East coast better than I do (which isn't
difficult), here is 2 options for you:

1) from cairns, travel overland to brisbane, then fly the remainder of
the coast to sydney.

2) from ciarns, fly to brisbane, then travel overland to sydney

which would you pick?!

I've got about 6weeks to kill and because I don't want to spend the
whole time driving down the entire coast, I'd planned on breaking it up
a little. Which has the most interesting towns and scenery to pass
through? north from brisbane or south from brisbane?

thanks very much...


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in article , mwebber_82 at
wrote on 1/30/05 4:12 PM:


for those of you who know the East coast better than I do (which isn't
difficult), here is 2 options for you:

1) from cairns, travel overland to brisbane, then fly the remainder of
the coast to sydney.

2) from ciarns, fly to brisbane, then travel overland to sydney

which would you pick?!

I've got about 6weeks to kill and because I don't want to spend the
whole time driving down the entire coast, I'd planned on breaking it up
a little. Which has the most interesting towns and scenery to pass
through? north from brisbane or south from brisbane?

thanks very much...


Depends on when, at least in part. Cairns south can get mighty damp in
summer, with road closures et al. The BNE-SYD route along the coast is
heavily traveled and not all that interesting with the exception of a couple
spots like Byron and Port MacQuarrie (IMHO). If you go inland it can be
more interesting - again from my POV - but that doesn't sound like what you
plan to do.

Remember, the "tyranny of distance" really isn't THAT dramatic on these
routes. SYD-BNE can be done, in a rush, in a long day, and CNS-BNE around
two. They're not as long as they look! Six weeks will give you lots of
time to stop, start, stop, start for the whole route.

Cairns to Bribane is 2000 kms. Brisbane to Sydney is only 1000 kms, so one
alternative is twice as much driving as the other.

Basically the trip Cairns - Brisbane is pretty dull, at least until you get
to within a few hundred kms of Brisbane. The towns are widely separated, and
survive on mixtures of sugar processing, heavy industry, and providing
tourist access to the reef. Few of them are worth spending any time at. The
offshore islands are fantastic, but you will probably get your fill of this
in in Cairns. Having said that, its still only 2 days drive straight through
(1000 kms a day which is pushing it but do-able), so you are only "blowing"
2 extra days of your vacation by driving - indeed, flying will take 0.5 days
with stuffing about, so really only a day and a half extra travelling time.

Unlike the other poster, I think Brisbane - Sydney on the coast has lots of
attractions. The Gold Coast (1.5 hours south of Brisbane) is an interesting
experience, as is Byron Bay and the hinterland (Nimbin etc). There are lots
of coastal communities which are worth visistting - Coffs Harbour, South
West Rocks, Hawkes Nest, Hat Head, places like that, and lost of inland
places that are very accessible - Warrumbungles, Hunter Valley, etc etc.
Basically NSW has a far higher popultaion density that North Queensland, and
so has more towns that are closer together and a little more variety.

Like the other poster said, a lot of this is weather related. In June or
July I would lean far more towards QLD; in summer the other way round. With
6 weeks you can do both - 3,000 kms in 42 days is only driving an average of
70 kms a day - really not so bad.




"mwebber_82" wrote in message
...

for those of you who know the East coast better than I do (which isn't
difficult), here is 2 options for you:

1) from cairns, travel overland to brisbane, then fly the remainder of
the coast to sydney.

2) from ciarns, fly to brisbane, then travel overland to sydney

which would you pick?!

I've got about 6weeks to kill and because I don't want to spend the
whole time driving down the entire coast, I'd planned on breaking it up
a little. Which has the most interesting towns and scenery to pass
through? north from brisbane or south from brisbane?

thanks very much...


--
mwebber_82
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I wouldnt travel the Brissie to Sydney trip by car unless you have a death
wish. Thats Australias WORST road.

Car, Cairns to Brissie then train to Sydney would be my pick. Even if it was
for safety reasons alone.


"mwebber_82" wrote in message
...

for those of you who know the East coast better than I do (which isn't
difficult), here is 2 options for you:

1) from cairns, travel overland to brisbane, then fly the remainder of
the coast to sydney.

2) from ciarns, fly to brisbane, then travel overland to sydney

which would you pick?!

I've got about 6weeks to kill and because I don't want to spend the
whole time driving down the entire coast, I'd planned on breaking it up
a little. Which has the most interesting towns and scenery to pass
through? north from brisbane or south from brisbane?

thanks very much...


--
mwebber_82
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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View this thread: http://travelforums.org/forums/showthread.php?t=64348
This post was submitted via http://www.TravelForums.org

in article , Scotty at
wrote on 2/1/05 3:20 AM:

I was generalising, I suspect that there are much worse roads but the
Pacific hiway is umung the top few.



Heaps. The Pac. Hwy. does have a comparatively high fatality rate, given
the amount of traffic (especially heavy vehicle traffic.) I didn't fully
appreciate why until I tackled it in a nighttime rainstorm a few years ago.

Warrumbungles?!?! Bit off the coast?

"Raffi Balmanoukian" a
wrote in message
news:BE24FBF2.299DF%walkabout@TAKEOUTTHETRASHTOREP LY.ns.sympatico.ca...
in article , Scotty at
wrote on 2/1/05 3:20 AM:

I was generalising, I suspect that there are much worse roads but the
Pacific hiway is umung the top few.



Heaps. The Pac. Hwy. does have a comparatively high fatality rate, given
the amount of traffic (especially heavy vehicle traffic.) I didn't fully
appreciate why until I tackled it in a nighttime rainstorm a few years
ago.


Yes, but its hardly the Bagdhad to Basra highway in terms of its fatality
rate. I really wouldn't consider risk of death as one of the reasons for
selecting or not selecting the Pacific Highway.

in article , Peter Webb at
wrote on 2/2/05 2:07 AM:


"Raffi Balmanoukian" a
wrote in message
news:BE24FBF2.299DF%walkabout@TAKEOUTTHETRASHTOREP LY.ns.sympatico.ca...
in article , Scotty at
wrote on 2/1/05 3:20 AM:

I was generalising, I suspect that there are much worse roads but the
Pacific hiway is umung the top few.



Heaps. The Pac. Hwy. does have a comparatively high fatality rate, given
the amount of traffic (especially heavy vehicle traffic.) I didn't fully
appreciate why until I tackled it in a nighttime rainstorm a few years
ago.


Yes, but its hardly the Bagdhad to Basra highway in terms of its fatality
rate. I really wouldn't consider risk of death as one of the reasons for
selecting or not selecting the Pacific Highway.



Yeah, I haven't seen too many rocket launchers on the Pacific Highway.
Hence, "comparatively" high fatality rate.....