Rough Draft: Two Week Itinerary Sydney to Melbourne Road Trip

June 2020

Rough Draft: Sydney to Melbourne Road Trip (or vice versa!)

Due to the COVID quarantine, I am creating rough draft, “off the shelf” travel itineraries for when travel resumes normal operations so we do not waste any time getting out and exploring!

My first impression for Post-COVID travel was leaning on National Parks. However, I grew more skeptical that US National Parks would be good for continued social distancing given that people will be running to nature after being inside for weeks. Since the US is not doing a country wide approach, even traveling within the country could be a risk for the rest of 2020.

New strategy – well there is not one. Ever since we did our planning to New Zealand where I foolishly thought we could also include Australia as well in two weeks, I knew a separate trip would be warranted. It is a 5-6 hour flight from New Zealand to Australia – not exactly next door! I thought it would be really neat to road trip from Sydney to Melbourne (or vice versa) all up thee eastern coastline.

I accounted for three days in each of the cities to bookend the trip. They are by no means comprehensive – especially on the food front! I pointed out the highlights and “must see attractions” for first time visitors. As for the stops along the way, I took a page out of my Rough Draft for South Africa and mixed it up to have lots of nature experiences both on land and on sea, hiking locations including summits and waterfalls, and even sneaking in some wine tasting.

Based on the stops for this type of road trip, two weeks felt like enough time without rushing in Sydney and Melbourne. I allocated three days to each Sydney and Melbourne so if you are only into the drive, it really is only a week long trip to see the destinations in between. I decided to reverse the route, starting in Melbourne and working our way back up to Sydney. Flights will help dictate the route for me personally – whether we can fly into one or out of another, if round trip out of one city is cheaper, etc. Here I am assuming we got a round trip flight to Sydney and would take another flight to Melbourne to start. Then at the end of the trip, there is less travel stress as we are already in the city in which we will be departing.

		Activity
Day 1	Morning	Travel
	Afternoon	Arrive in Melbourne
	Evening	Explore Downtown
Day 2	Morning	Botanical Gardens Eureka Skydeck
	Afternoon	State Library Queen Victoria Market
	Evening
Day 3	Morning	Bike ride to beaches – St Kilda
	Afternoon	Neighborhood exploration
	Evening
*option to extend to Great Ocean Road
Day 4	Morning	Drive 1 hour to Mornington Peninsula Wine Tasting
	Afternoon	Drive 1 hour to Mornington Peninsula Wine Tasting
	Evening
Day 5	Morning	Drive 1.5 hours to Phillip Island Cape Woolamai Visit Koala Conservation Centre Boat ride to Seal Rocks Try surfing
	Afternoon
	Evening	Summerland Beach for the penguin parade at dusk
Day 6	Morning	Drive 2 hours to Wilsons Promontory Marine Wilsons Promontory Marine Park Tidal River Mount Oberon Summit (6.8km, 2hrs) Squeaky Beach Whisky Bay Try snorkeling
	Afternoon	Drive 3 hours to 90 Mile Beach
	Evening	Sale
Day 7	Morning	Gippsland Lakes Try paddleboarding Drive 5 hours Stop Mallacoota: Betka Beach, Narrow Walks
	Afternoon	Ben Boyd National Park Tathra Beach
	Evening	Eden
Day 8	Morning	Drive 3 hours to Mt Kosciuszko (12.1 km, 5-6 hours, chair lift options)
	Afternoon
	Evening	Drive 3 hours to Eden
Day 9	Morning	Oyster Tour Drive 2 hours up Sapphire Coast Stop at Bermagui Blue pool
	Afternoon	Narooma Barunguba Swim with seals Surfing Glasshouse Rocks
	Evening	Drive 1 hour to Batemans Bay
Day 10	Morning	Batemans Bay Murramarang National Park Pebbly Beach
	Afternoon	Drive 1.5 hours to Jervis Bay
	Evening	Jervis Bay National Park
Day 11	Morning	Jervis Bay National Park White Sands Walk from Greenfield Beach to Hyams Beach (birdwatching) Booderee National Park Dolphin Cruise
	Afternoon	Blowhole Point
	Evening	Drive 4 hours to Katoomba (Stop at Sea Cliff Bridge)
Day 12	Morning	Blue Mountain (*can also take a train from Sydney) Three Sisters at Echo Point Lookout Katoomba Falls Three Sisters to Katoomba Falls (3.1km) Gordon Falls Empress Falls Elysian Rock Lookout Bridal Veil Lookout Wentworth Falls (1.4km , 1 hour) Jamison Lookout Jenolan Caves
	Afternoon
	Evening	Drive 1 hour to Sydney
Day 13	Morning	Royal Botanical Gardens
	Afternoon	Opera House Harbour Bridge Observation Deck
	Evening	Explore downtown
Day 14	Morning	Bondi Beach Trail to Coogee cliff top walk (6 km)
	Afternoon	Explore downtown
	Evening	Sunset at Mrs. Macquaries Point
Day 15	Morning	Depart Sydney