On Tue, 11 Nov 2008 09:13:32 -0800 (PST),
wrote:

Hi,

The car's definitely my favorite means of transport. It's expensive,
but gives you the most freedom, by far.
Does anybody know whether it's any reasonable, given the distances, to
consider traveling all the way from Sydney to Cairns, along the coast,
by car in 2 weeks time ? (Cairns - Sydney by plane)
(ie. will I basically just spend all my holidays driving..? Or maybe
the landscapes are worth it, eventhough yes I'm going to spend quite a
long time on the road..?)

Thank you very much in advance.

It's certainly possible, but I'm not sure about reasonable.
That's about 2,700km or 1700 miles. Presuming you may not be
driving the first and last day that is an average of 225 km
or 140 miles daily. The roads are mainly one lane each way,
although you get more dual carriageway as you get further
south, but you will be lucky to average 80km/h or 50mph on
them. So you would spend a lot of time in the car.

I'm not saying don't do it - I enjoy driving and I did
something similar wandering in the USA and Europe. Just be
aware of the time it will take.

I would consider a mix of air (or rail) and car.

You could do this in either direction.

Use a car for a few days in the Cairns district - there is
lots to see up there, including the Daintree, Atherton etc:
http://loraltraveloz.blogspot.com/ (I must finish that
report some day:-)

Then fly or rail (the tilt train)
http://www.railaustralia.com.au/tiltTrain.php
to Brisbane. Possibly break the long train trip somewhere
like Gladstone or Rockhampton en-route for a night. Then get
a car to wander from there to Sydney via my place:-)
http://loraltraveloz.blogspot.com/20...ottsville.html

A relaxed week or a little more driving will let you see
places like the Gold Coast, the NSW coastal cities and
beaches, or a diversion to the New England plateau or the
Hunter Wineries or the Blue Mountains before ending in
Sydney.

Or reverse the above.

Cheers, Alan, Australia
--
http://loraltravel.blogspot.com
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