Distances:

Approx Driving Distances/ Time . 12Hrs from Sydney (950Km) to Brisbane.  For maps and directions www.whereis.com will give excellent detail route information.

The best beaches and towns are off the highway, follow any brown tourist drive signs and you will see the best of this coastline.  The coastal route follows the Pacific Ocean and is the Number 1 National Highway, which stretches for approx 1000kms. It is partially converted to a motorway and dual carriageway, but some parts are just a single carriageway which is why it has become Australia's most dangerous road for accidents and fatalities. Fortunately, there have been great improvements in the conditions over the last few years.

Please keep to the speed limit as there are plenty of speed cameras along this highway and also Police patrol. Speed limit is mostly 100 or 80mph and through towns/villages 50 - 60mph. The best places to stop and have a break is at the local pubs, there are heaps in the towns mentioned. They offer excellent counter lunches and dinner at very reasonable prices, plus you get to meet the locals with all their personalities and warm characters.


Sydney to Newcastle – 2hrs
Newcastle to Port Macquarie – 3hrs 30 mins
Port Macquarie to Coffs Harbour – 2hours
Coffs Harbour to Yamba – 2hours
Yamba to the Gold Coast – 2 hours.
Gold Coast to Brisbane – 1 hour

Places of interest:

  • Newcastle :
  • Newcastle is only approx 2 hours from Sydney. It is located in the heart of the Hunter Region and bordered by a stunning coastline with beautiful beaches. This city is NSW second largest city and it has certainly come along way, and is now a vibrant and interesting city to visit with some absolutely gorgeous beaches. www.noahsonthebeach.com.au -for accommodation.
  • Port Stephens:
  • Situated only 2.5 hours drive north from Sydney; Port Stephens is an outstanding holiday destination. Covering over 126 square meters of water, two and half times the size of Sydney Harbour. Port Stephens, offers gorgeous and stunning unspoiled waters and over 26 golden beaches and eco-diverse Marine and National Parks this area is really a must do if visiting Australia.

Port Stephens offers a unique diversity of activities for travelers, from snorkeling, diving in marine parks to discovering koalas in their natural habitat, to cruising the waters to observe the resident bottlenose dolphins and humpback whales on their migratory journey up the coast(June to November).Stockton Beach and its sand dunes are truly one of nature’s masterpieces. Explore the sand dunes on a 4WD adventurer tour www.sandsafaris.com.au or camel, horse or sand buggy.
The most popular beaches are Birubi Point, Fingal Beach and One Mile Beach, for calmer waters Little Beach and the foreshores of Nelson Bay are good family spots. www.peppers.com.au www.shoalbayresort.com  - for accommodation. For campers www.onemilebeach.com/  has self contained cabins and campervan sites.


Drive Sydney to Port Stephens on F3 highway then Pacific Hwy. Approx 2.5 hours. Coaches depart from Sydney daily www.pscoaches.com.au.  Regular flights run daily from Sydney airport to Newcastle Williamtown airport and coaches connect from here to Port Stephens. Whale and Dolphin cruises operated from Nelson Bay daily at the Cruise Terminal d'Albora Marina  For more details on this area check out this thread http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g25...

  • Tea Gardens:
  • Tea Gardens is a small town, located 219 km north of Sydney via the Pacific Highway, and 10 km off the Pacific Highway. It is separated from the town of Hawks Nest by the mouth of the Myall River, which runs from the Myall Lakes down to Port Stephens, and joined to it by the 'Singing Bridge', named for its tendency to act like a wind harp in a strong south-westerly breeze. www.teagardenshawksnest.com .
  • Coast road to Port Macquarie:
  • If you have the time to spare, take a detour from the Pacific Highway at Bulahdelah and do the coast road. Visit the wonderful Myall lakes National Park and check out the super trendy Blueys and Boomerang beaches. Cross the bridge at Wallis Lake and discover the waterways of Forster. Stay close to the coast and drop into Diamond Beach and Old Bar. Do the hoop back onto the highway to Taree and then head for the coast again to Crowdy Head.
  • Port Macquarie: 
  • From Sydney follow the Pacific Highway north.  It is a 4.5 hour drive to Port Macquarie via the Oxley Highway turnoff.  Port Macquarie is a wonderful busy town with beautiful beaches and excellent accommodations and restaurants. You can take a cruise with the Hasting River Cruises or do a camel safari along the beach. The kids will love this town; don’t forget to visit the Koala Hospital and Wildlife Park. as Port Macquarie is known as the Koala Capital of Australia.
    For Greyhound Australia coach information and bookings: www.greyhound.com.au
     XPT train service between Sydney and Brisbane stops at Wauchope for passengers visiting Port Macquarie.
    For further information and bookings: www.countrylink.com.au  .  www.port-macquarie.net/   www.portmacquarieinfo.com.au there is plenty of accommadation here to suit all budgets.  The best budget accommodation available is www.flynnsbeachcaravanpark.com.au  they have fabulous self contained cabins just two minutes from the beach.
  •  Crescent Head:
  • Crescent Head is a seaside village located east of Kempsey. Its surfing beach is well known, but this is just one of the many fine attractions to satisfy the visitor to the village. Nearby is the Hat Head National Park, in itself a great attraction, as well as many other fine beaches, such as Back Beach, Goolawah, Delicate Nobby, Main Beach and Racecourse Beach. For campers/caravans www.4shores.macleaycbd.com.au
  • Hat Head, South West Rocks and Scott's Head:
  • Make sure you drive the coastal road from Crescent Head to Hat Head; if you have a 4WD then you can also drive the coastal road from Port Macquarie. Crescent Head has a fabulous caravan Park with cabins overlooking the beach Ph 1800 00 6600.The other accommodation available is www.wombatresort.com.au  and The Mediterranean Hotel. www.crescentheadaccommodation.com.au Make sure you also visit South West Rocks and Scott’s Head along the way. There is a fabulous caravan park overlooking the beach at South West Rocks with self contained cabins www.horseshoebaypark.com.au and www.trailbay.com.au   and for something different www.eidersswr.midcoast.com.au
  • Grassy Head: 
  • Is a gorgeous little gem hidden amongst beautiful beaches and bush land. www.midcoast.com.au/-hideaway/
  • Nambucca Heads:
  • South of Coffs Harbour and stretching from the coast to the New England National Park is the Nambucca Valley. www.nambucca-web.com  www.nambuccaresort.com.au
The area has over twenty kilometers of coastline, lovely waterways, rainforest and empty beaches; Nambucca also has a number of friendly historic towns.
Enjoy a drink at Slim Dusty’s “Pub With No Beer” in Taylor’s Arm, learn about the early settler history of Bowraville, walk along the river at Nambucca Heads and sample Macksville’s country hospitality.
  • Coffs Harbour:  
  • www.coffscoast.com.au Coffs Harbour is about a 6.5 hour drive from Sydney. Coffs has some excellent beaches, like Gallows, Park Beach, Diggers, Sapphire, Emerald, Sawtell, Sandy and more. Whale watching and professional fishing charters are also available at the Coffs Harbour Marina. It is one of the busiest and largest towns along the Pacific Highway. Now, if you have some spare time to explore, discover the wonderful towns of Belligen, known for its National Trust buildings and the Dorrigo National Park. Take the road from Macksville to Dorrigo and see some wonderful scenery, then take the road from Dorrigo back to Coffs Harbour.
  • Grafton:
  • This lovely town is known for its beautiful Jacanada trees which are in full bloom in October. The town is located on the Clarence River which houses cute villages like Lawernce, Brusgrove, Copmamhurst and Jackadery. Make sure you visit Susan Island, which has the largest fruit bat colony in the Australia. River cruises and houseboat hire are available on the river. For more details about this town visit www.nnsw.com.au/grafton . Don't forget to eat at the Grafton Hotel situated on the banks of the mighty Clarence River.

  • Yamba:
  • Yamba is a wonderful little village, with heaps of water based activities available for the river, beach and ocean; it makes a perfect holiday destination. www.yamba.nsw.gov.au www.clarencecoast.info .Whilst in Yamba, take the ferry across to Illuka and spend a day at the local pub and have the best seafood for lunch. For accommodation try www.freespiritresorts.com.au and for something gorgeous www.ontherocks.com.au . For dinner visit the local pub ,which sits proudly overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
  • Lennox Head:
  • If you are travelling by car the following times will give you an idea of how long the trip will take. Lennox Head is a fantastic surfing beach and is ideally situated next door to Byron Bay. Take the turn off after Ballina and drive along the coastal road to Byron. Lennox Head also has one of Australia's best right-hand surf breaks. There is heaps of activities to do in this town such as golf, surfing, windsurfing, canoeing, fishing and sailing. Most of the water sports can be done and hired at Lake Ainsworth, just north of Lennox Head. The lagoon is coloured by the tea-trees which is supposed to have healing qualites for rejuvenating the body. Whale can be seen off Pat Morton lookout at Lennox Headland from June to August and September to October.  For campers/caravans there is a fabulous park www.bscp.com.au/lakeains  on Lake Ainsworth.
  • Byron Bay: 
  • Byron Bay is one of Australia’s most famous icon destinations, and is the eastern-most point of the continent of Australia. The beautiful beaches and casual lifestyle makes this town a must to see if traveling up or down the coast.  Byron Bay is surrounded by National Parks such as The Boatharbour Nature Resevre, Nightcap National Park,  Mount Warning, and Broken Head Reserve.

There are some fantastic beaches for surfing such as The Wreck, The Pass, Wategos Beach and Cosy Corner. The main Streets of Byron are Jonson, Bay Lane and Lawson, where you will be able to find plenty of restaurants and cafes. For the best fish and chips in town try Fishmongers and for a seafood meal try Fishheads. The Buddha Bar Restaurant just outside of town is a great dining experience, not to mention the local Byron Bay Hotel.

There is also some wonderful accommodation available for all budgets.(it is always wise to book ,as this area can become extremely busy especially in summer.) The caravan park must have the best views in town www.byronbaytouristpark.com  www.thesummerhouse.com.au (b&b) www.planula.com.au (b&b)  www.byronatbyron.com.au  www.peppers.com.au  www.lordbyronresort.com.au Byron Bay has heaps of activities to suit everyone. Try the snorkelling with the huge turtles www.byronbaydivecentre.com.au or learn to surf with www.info@wavesurfschool.com.au  or horseriding on the beach with www.pegasuspark.com.au  for something different try a bush tour with www.bushnbeyond.com  and best of all try kayaking with the dolphins www.dolphinkayaking.com.au  .

 Dont forget to walk up to Cape Byron and see the awesome views of Mount Warning, Border Rangers and Tallow Beach. You may even be lucky to see some humpback whales through June to August and September and October. The Blues and Jazz Festival is held every year at Easter and attracts people from all over Australia.

  • Tweed Heeds is situated on the border between New South Wales and Queensland. It is famous for sharing a street with Coolangatta (QLD) so one can literally walk across the road to be in another state. Time is an interesting issue here, for example if you are late for the bank, you can just walk across the road to do business.
    Tweed Heads has a beautiful estuary, river , lovely beaches and is known as a fabulous fishing spot.
    There are plenty of places to stay from Houseboats,caravan parks, cottages to 5 star resorts.


From Tweed Heads head to Coolangatta. Take a break and explore this lovely seaside village. From Coolangatta surf club take the walking track to Rainbow Beach and have a lovely swim in this very sheltered beach. It is also well known for its amazing surf. A great lunch can be had a the surf club overlooking Coolangatta Beach.


There are numerous styles of accommodation in Coolangatta from 5 star to budget.

To see more of the Gold Coast drive along the beach road to Southport, and see some wonderful beaches like Palm Beach, Burleigh Heads, Mermaid Beach, Broadbeach and famous Surfers Paradise.

Some of the best tucker can be found at the surf clubs. The Marina Mirage at Southport has excellent restaurants and bars.

The Gold Coast runs from Coolangatta to Southport and is flooded with a variety of cheap to expensive accommodation.

www.peppers.com.au - Salt Village Kingscliff             www.soffitel.com.au  - Broadbeach   www.sheraton.com  surfers paradise.  www.goldcoastinformation.com.au  for all accommodation needs.