Hiya. Today you and I are going on a virtual road trip. Get your virtual snacks and put on your virtual seatbelts, cos we going from Sydney to Melbourne and then back. Yayyy? No? Hmm.

Okay so I know I’ve been posting these days about being in Port Macquarie last weekend but I’m actually doing this blog post about the road trip that we took with our soulmates Shehla and Faraz back in August. All four of us lethally love road trips and so when they were in Australia for two weeks, we just knew that we wanted to keep one entire week to be on the road. We decided to go from Sydney to Melbourne so we could get a decent amount of driving in while not have things being super exhausting. If you’re thinking about it, or would like to maybe some day do this, imma share some details, come along.

Duration of road trip:
6 days

The split of the days
Sydney to Melbourne (2 days), Time in Melbourne (2 days), Melbourne to Sydney (2 days)

The routes we took
Sydney to Melbourne: The coastal drive via the Princes Highway. Approximately 1000 kms, about 12 hours.
Melbourne to Sydney: The inland drive, via Hume Highway. Approximately 850 kms, about 8 hours.

Note: Even though most people do the inland drive via Hume Highway within one day, because there’s not as much to stop at along the way, we did it over two days for the simple reason that we wanted to do the trip at a relaxed pace and not have to drive 8 hours continuously in one day. And also all of us really enjoy being on the road, in general. 

FOR THIS POST: I’m going to write about the COASTAL DRIVE we did from Sydney to Melbourne. I’ll do a separate post on the inland drive later.

IMPORTANT: 1) Because cell reception can go on and off along the way, please download your route map/destination maps beforehand so if you get lost, you know how to get back on track. 2) Check ahead for any closures on the highway so you don’t end up wasting time in detours. 3) If you’re going to reach your hotel/motel etc after hours, make sure you call and remind them to leave your keys in an afterhours box so you can check in yourself.

Now let’s chat the stops we made, along with some average commentary.

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SYDNEY TO MELBOURNE (COASTAL DRIVE VIA PRINCES HIGHWAY)

DAY 1: For each day we had planned two main spots to stop at and chill for a bit. But in between we stopped a few times for snacks, coffee, stretching our legs as well; these were just random, whenever we felt like it.

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STOP 1:  BALD HILL LOOKOUT, STANWELL TOPS

Drive Time: Approx. 1 hour drive from West Sydney to Bald Hill (10:30 -11:30)
Time spent here: 1 hour (11:30 – 12:30)

The Bald Hill Lookout has stunning views over the ocean, is popular for hang gliding and is great for picnics. Also overlooks the Sea Cliff Bridge (It was super, super windy on the day we were there, so please be careful when shutting car doors etc, you can actually hurt yourself). The restrooms here were super nice.

Eat: We got some finger food from the Flying High Café there – the fries were ahmaze and the toasted banana bread was so good.

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STOP 2: JERVIS BAY

Drive Time: Approx. a 2 hour drive from Bald Hill Lookout to Hyams Beach (12:30 – 14:30)
Time spent here: 30 mins (14:30 – 15:00) We didn’t eat here but if you do you might want to spend an hour.

Jervis Bay is known for one of the whitest sand beaches in the world and it really is super stunning. Hyams Beach is the most popular beach in Jervis Bay (there are many others) and so is the most crowded.

But because we were traveling in Aussie winters, the beach was practically empty. If we had gone in summer, I would have probably checked out another less-crowded beach, like Blenheim Beach, Greenfields or Murray Beach.

Eat: The Hyams Beach Store & Cafe is right on Hyams Beach so you can lunch here if you’d like or just get some cake and coffee.

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STOP 3: PEBBLY BEACH

Drive Time: Approx. a 1.5 hour drive from Hyams Beach to Pebbly Beach (15:00 – 16:30)
Time spent here: 1 hour (16:30 – 17:30)

Pebbly Beach has wild kangaroos right on the beach so we really wanted to bring our friends here. You drive through Murramarang National Park to get to Pebbly Beach (and there’s another beach nearby, called Pretty Beach, that also has kangaroos in the wild. Both beaches have accommodation and/or camping grounds to stay at if you’d like).

The kangaroos are MANY and pretty used to humans so super chill and allow you to pet them etc. But please pet at your own discretion, after all it’s not a trained animal and can react to you as it wants in its own natural habitat.

Eat: There aren’t any facilities here, except for some basic toilets, so have some food on you if you think you’ll get hungry. Also, cell reception may completely get knocked off here/while coming here.

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FINISHING OFF DAY 1 WITH A NIGHT STAY

Drive Time: Approx. 2.5 hour drive from Pebbly Beach to Pambula (17:30 – 20:00)

In winters, the sunset was around 5:30 pm at the time, so we just called it a day and decided to get some dinner and get to our accommodation for the night. Our goal was to get to Pambula which would have clocked us at 6 hours drive time for the day, i.e. completing half the trip to Melbourne. A lot of people stay in a town called Eden for the night, but Pambula, which was right next to Eden was cheaper so we chose that (plus our cabin was amazing, read ahead).

DINNER: We got dinner at an Italian restaurant called Duci’s in a town called Merimbula, which was also just a few minutes from Pambula. The restaurant closes at 8:30 pm everyday (closed on Sundays) so we got in just time. The food was really good.

NIGHT STAY: We stayed at a cabin in Pambula (close to Eden) at Discovery Parks. We booked the Standard Cabin that sleeps 4 adults (two rooms with 1 queen bed + 1 bunk bed + 1 extra trundle bed that pulls out from under the bunk bed). The cabin was so good, clean, functional, great basic accessories. Full fitted with a kitchen and sitting area, we LOVED it. Also, there are kangaroos on site, which for our non-Aussie friends was a massive bonus. The kangaroos sit out at the front in the grounds (if you book a Deluxe Cabin, you’ll wake up with them right outside your window) but when we went to see them in the morning, they followed us back to our standard cabin (they are right behind the deluxe cabins) so we had tons of kangaroos outside our space for a solid one hour. Highly recommend this place.

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DAY 2: We only made one big stop on this day because 1) We spent extra time at our cabin because our friends were loving hanging out with the kangaroos + we had a lazy breakfast + we were just enjoying being slow.

2) We spent time exploring the countryside and wasted time (read: valuably invested) in taking pictures along the way, getting coffee, checking out cows, the important stuff.

STOP 1 & 2: Not really stops, but like I mentioned above, we spent time at Discovery Parks and went on tourist drives in the country side along the way.  

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STOP 3: THE LAKES

Drive time: Approx. 3 hours from Pambula to Lakes Entrance but we did it in about 4.5 hours because of the tourist drives, stops, etc. I mentioned right above (10:30 – 15:00)
Time spent here: 15:00 – 16:00

Lakes Entrance is a very popular coastal town in Victoria and is home to the Gippsland Lakes, which is a vast system of inland waterways. The place is stunning and the water looks beyond beautiful. It was insanely windy here when we got there and very chilly, so we couldn’t spend too much time outside but you can easily have a nice, relaxed lunch here.

Eat: We didn’t eat here but there are many options. BUT, we did stop at Pie Face at a fuel pump (United Petroleum) in Bairnsdale along the way (about one hour from Lakes Entrance) and their pies were SO good (and halal if you’d like).

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FINISHING OFF DAY 2 IN MELBOURNE

Drive Time: Approx. 3.5 hour drive from Lakes Entrance to South Yarra in Melbourne (16:00 – 19:30)

DINNER: We got lebanese (I think?) from a place in South Yarra and it was so good. Unfortunately, I’ve forgotten the name, will check with my friends and update here if I find out. However, South Yarra is buzzing with activity and there are loads of food places so you have many options.

NIGHT STAY: We had booked an Airbnb for two nights in South Yarra, Melbourne and so we checked in and called it a night.

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I’ll do a separate post later on what we did over two days in Melbourne but it’s not going to be an exhaustive itinerary because we weren’t really focused on being touristy too much. We just ate and chilled and met up with friends and hung out randomly. (plus Nabeel and I had gone once before so we were fine, lulz).

ALSO, like I mentioned above, I’ll do a separate post on the inland drive from Melbourne to Sydney.

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Before I end this, I would like to add that there are many, many things to see along the coastal drive and you should check out a few blogs, trip advisor type forums to see what fits best with your interest.

That’s about it. Happy road tripping.