Sydney to Ballarat - driving and accomodation

[iceman (Mike)]

Hey guys.

Planning the end of October trip to the 2005 Star Camp at Ballarat.. the family and I will be driving down from Sydney.

From the NRMA driving directions map thingo, it looks like it's about an 11 hour drive. A couple of questions for those that have done this before..

1) Is 11 hours accurate? We'll have 3 young kids in the car, and will be forced to stop more frequently than someone would if they didn't have to have more breaks for the kiddies.

2) What are some good tourist places/attractions to see on the way down? The map looks like it goes through Goulburn, Wagga Wagga, Albury, Wangaratta, Shepparton, Bendigo, etc. Just wanting to find some touristy things we can do on the way down that will double as a kiddie break.

3) Where is a good place to stay overnight on the way down? We'll most likely be wanting to break up the trip by staying overnight, to give the kids (and us) a break from driving. Where's a nice place to stay? We'd want to have driven at least 6-8 hours on day 1, so I'm thinknig somewhere around albury/wodonga would be 6-8 hours?

4) Is it worth going the long way down the coast and then across to melbourne then ballarat? How much would it add to the journey? I imagine there'd be more sights to see..

Thanks for your advice!

[Starkler (Geoff)]

Originally Posted by iceman

4) Is it worth going the long way down the coast and then across to melbourne then ballarat? How much would it add to the journey? I imagine there'd be more sights to see.

I made the mistake once of driving from the Gold Coast to Sydney via the coast. It added hours to the trip with the twisting winding roads.
Thats fine if you are not on a schedule, but when you have a destination to reach, its best to go the most direct route.

Multilane highway vs twisting minor roads complete with caravans and logging trucks to slow you down.

If you do happen to go the coastal route , Lakes Entrance/90 mile beach is nice. My guess is you will add at least 5 hours to your trip time.

[ving (David)]

I have done it in about 10 hours mike. imade a couple of stops too as I had the family on board... you might want to leave extra time tho as you have longer to travel. add a couple of hours on there just to be safe and to allow time for breaks. take the most direct route as the coast will add considerable time i think.

and get your wife to do some of the driving if she can. its a long way

STOP - REVIVE - SURVIVE!

[seeker372011 (Narayan)]

Ice:

take the direct route is my advice

Albury is a good place to stop over, with plenty of caravan parks and motels

the kids may enjoy a clamber over the submarine at Holbrook

also the dog on the tuckerbox after Yass for a quick leg stretch

Narayan

[ving (David)]

yup narayan... all the regular stops.
I have a picture of my daughter and i riding the torpedo at holbrook!

[iceman (Mike)]

Thanks for responses so far..

Where can I find a list of these "touristy" things on the way, like holbrook etc?

[toetoe (Peter)]

Mike, i`ll try to gather some things together for you for this region in case Alb/Wod will be a stop over point for you.
http://www.albury-wodonga-region.com.au/
http://www.csu.edu.au/australia/nsw/.../index3_1.html

[cahullian]

Good post Mike. I'm going to be driving down for the camp also. I have kids in their late teen so touristy things wont be an issue for me but a nice place to streatch ones legs would be nice as I will be the only one driving.All I need is one of my kids to be diagnosed as ADHD and I could pop a few of their Respiratol or Ritalin to keep me awake : )

Irish

[iceman (Mike)]

Thanks Peter, that'll be great.

I'll take the direct route for sure now, not via the coast.

Gazz, are your kids coming down to the camp also? Should be great fun. How many days are you going for? umm, don't reply to that bit here. reply in the other 2005 star camp thread

[seeker372011 (Narayan)]

Oh and I forgot , once you are over the border you are in some serious Ned Kelly country..always interesting for kids

[ballaratdragons (Ken)]

For those wanting the quickest route, don't go across to Wagga. That's miles out of the way.

Just stick on the Hume Hwy! it's direct. I will soon place some maps in the Star Camp thread.

[rumples riot]

Many years ago when I was younger and I lived in Sydney I had a Girlfriend in Ballarat. Every second weekend I drove from Sydney to Ballarat. The fastest time I ever did it was 9 hours. You should allow 12-13 hours, bearing in mind that kids get very restless after about 4 hours. On top of this, which will add to your fatigue, is that if you are not used to long distance driving and I mean over 5 hours you will get very tired very quickly. This will mean that you will require more breaks more often the further you go.
I would expect 13 hours will get you there alive. Best of luck.