The drive from Brisbane to Sydney is 1,000 km along the Pacific Coast Motorway. We thought it would be right by the ocean and we would see miles and miles of beach but the motorway is actually inland 99% of the time.
During the drive we couldn't get over the number of sugar cane and banana tree farms, then cattle ranches and then miles and miles of woodland like you were driving through Northern Ontario. Then it would open up to the mountain range and ocean and you'd feel like you were on the west coast of Canada.
We stayed on the coast at night and we weren't disappointed:
Byron Bay- this is a favoured tourist area for Aussies and International travellers. The village motto is "cheer up, slow down, chill out" and there are many surf and tie-tied shops around with a lot of people in bare feet. Tiny in size (only 5,000 permanent residences), it has some beautiful beaches for surfers and whale watchers. Note the two surfboards (second pic) identifying where it is ok to swim and surf- the guards look out for stingers and sharks.
Coffs Harbour- nice beaches with one in particular for swimming. They have a pier that used to have a train running along the pier out to the ships 100 years ago full of cut trees as forestry was their prime industry.
Nelson Bay- my favourite by far! Quite a cute town with a lot of beaches (note hardly anyone in the water). This was the first village with a harbour for boats and it actually felt a bit like the Boulevard Club.
So far we've driven over 3,400 km and we're still together (that's almost the distance from Toronto to Vancouver) . One negative about the roads are that the signs make it hard to navigate. As you know, we're 2 MBAs with PMPs and Type A personalities 'suggesting' that one is right and the other is wrong. We're ditching the car tomorrow in Sydney for the sake of our journey and our marriage!
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