DRIVING HOLIDAY FROM SYDNEY TO BRISBANE VIA THE COASTAL ROUTE

Hiring a car from Apex Car Rentals near Sydney airport, we took a side trip holiday to Brisbane. The  1.8L automatic Hyundai Elantra was rented for the return trip. We started off from Sydney Airport after lunch.

  The .8L automatic Hyundai Elantra.

The Sydney city traffic was terrible. We only managed to get on the M1 (Pacific Motorway) after going through an hour and half in heavy traffic. 

It's a leisure drive once on the motorway, 

We put up a night at Port Macquarie motel. Port Macquarie is a beautiful coastal town north of Sydney. We did not go around the area as we check-in the motel after dark and we left early the next morning.  

It was a pleasant drive all the way from Port Macquarie to Brisbane except we were forced to slowdown in many parts of the highway due to upgrading road work. I was told that the Pacific Highway would be eventually upgraded into a four lanes highway.

   

 

 

 

Brisbane city in sight after about 6 hours + drive passing through Kempsey, Nambucca Head, Coffs Harbour, Grafton, Ballina and Golf coast area.

 

 

Just in time for a Thai dinner at Nundah

We put up with our daughter in Nundah for almost a week before returning to Sydney on the same coastal route back to Sydney.

 

On the way, we made a brief visit to Byron Bay.

 KFC lunch at Park Beach Plaza in Coffs Harbour.

 

We put up a night at Karuah, a small coastal town, 250 kms from Sydney, an ideal place for recreational activities such as swimming, fishing and boating. 

 We selected this Motor Inn through websites.

Our room was well-furnished with 2 queen beds plus all the amenities, like complementary coffee/tea, Wi-fi, extra pillows, towers, shower facilities and etc, etc.  I like this motel as it was in a quiet location and the perfect place to take a break from driving.  

 

A coffee break at the restaurant in one "rest area" along the Motorway before arriving Sydney in the afternoon.

It was an enjoyable drive from Sydney to Brisbane and back covering almost 2,000 kms. This was my fifth experience driving through the route. I must comment that the 1.8L automatic Hyundai Elantra rented from Apex Car Rentals was a good reliable car and value for money. The rental cost was AUD51 per day  inclusive of Free mileage, full insurance cover with zero excess, roadside assistance and GPS navigation. I must also say "thank you" to my son for arranging the car rental.