The drive from Brisbane to Sydney (or vice versa) is one of the most famous and popular Australian road trips. And for good reason, with some amazing beaches and destinations along the Pacific Coast! At the end of 2020, I packed up my car and drove from Brisbane to Sydney to start my dream job as a zookeeper. Since then, I have driven up and back to visit my family and friends back home. Over my three trips, I have found some pretty amazing places to stop and stay, including destinations that are a bit more off-the-beaten-track. In this post, I will be sharing all the best destinations you should include on your Brisbane to Sydney Road Trip.
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Currumbin, Gold Coast, QLD
Located 1 hour and 15 minutes (or up to two hours, depending on traffic) from Brisbane, Currumbin Beach is a great first (or last) destination on your Brisbane to Sydney road trip. I like to fill up the car here, as it means I have a full tank of fuel that’ll last me for most of the drive. There’s also some beautiful beaches, an amazing wildlife sanctuary, and lots of cute cafes and restaurants if you have more time. For more information on Currumbin and other destinations in the Southern Gold Coast region, click here.
Wardell, NSW
Wardell is a small town just south of Ballina and is located on the Richmond River. Whilst it is located a fair way off the Pacific Motorway, it is a nice place to stop for lunch on your drive. There are a couple of undercover picnic tables overlooking the river (good for wet weather!), and a boardwalk along the shore to admire the view. From the picnic area, you’ll need to walk around 5 minutes up the river and a local road to get to a toilet block. There are also some small shops in the area, including a pub and a bakery.
Coffs Harbour, NSW
Coffs Harbour is one of the biggest and most famous destinations you will pass through on your road trip from Brisbane to Sydney. It is also the only town that the Pacific Motorway still goes directly through. If you are heading north and wanting to make good time, I recommend staying here on the way up. If you’re heading south, you could push on to Taree or Port Macquarie, or stay here if you have more time to spare. Coffs Harbour is located two hours south of Wardell and two hours north of Port Macquarie.
If you are looking to stay in Coffs Harbour, there is a large range of accommodation options to suit every budget and travel style. I have stayed at Aussietel Backpackers twice, paying $70 for a private room with shared bathroom and kitchen facilities. The management here is very friendly and the rooms are nice if basic. I find this hostel is particularly noisy so make sure to bring earplugs if you want an early night!
Not only does Coffs Harbour have lots of places to stay, there are also loads of cool things to do! Everyone absolutely must visit The Big Banana at least once, just to say they’ve seen it! Plus you can see kangaroos on the beach and explore one of the local islands.
The Big Banana
On the way in to town, stop in at the Big Banana, located just off the Pacific Highway. If you are doing a return trip, I recommend visiting on the way north, simply for ease of access. For those of you who don’t know, Australia is famous for its “Big Things”. The Big Banana is probably the most famous! We also have the Big Pineapple on the Sunshine Coast, the Big Watermelon in Chinchilla (the newest big thing!) and the Big Penguin in Penguin, Tasmania (yes, really). This Wikipedia page lists all of Australia’s big things, if you’re interested. There’s a lot of them!
The Big Banana is also home to a themepark with slides, ice skating, and more. So if you have kids, you could easily spend a few hours here. I merely took the obligatory awkward selfie and bought one of their famous banana smoothies. The smoothies have good reviews online and let me tell you, they don’t disappoint.
Coffs Jetty Foreshore & Muttonbird Island Nature Reserve
Looking for the perfect place to stretch your legs after a long day of driving? Head to the Coffs Jetty Foreshore and Muttonbird Island! Located a couple of minutes drive from the backpacker hostel, there’s lots to see and do here. There is plenty of parking available at the jetty, but it is also easy to park in one of the streets in town and walk.
Muttonbird Island is a nature reserve and is connected to the mainland by the jetty. I highly recommend walking up to the top of the island for an amazing view over Coffs Harbour! Make sure you come prepared for the weather, because it can be quite windy. Muttonbird Island and the surrounding waters are home to lots of different wildlife, including the muttonbirds the island is named for. Make sure you stick to the path to avoid trampling the birds’ nests! You’ll see heaps of them beside the path as you hike up to the top. I was also lucky enough to see a black-shouldered kite enjoying the wind and a dolphin in the waters below so make sure you keep your eyes peeled.
The Coffs Jetty Foreshore is also a great place to spend a couple of hours. Home to picnic areas and a few restaurants, you could easily have dinner here if the weather is nice. There’s also a beach with flags if you’re keen for a swim!
Emerald Beach & Look At Me Now Headland
Every great Australian road trip has that one beach with resident kangaroos. In WA, it’s Lucky Bay. In Queensland, it’s Cape Hillsborough. Between Brisbane and Sydney, it’s Look At Me Now Headland in Emerald Beach. I’ve always wanted to see kangaroos on the beach and whilst they weren’t technically on the sand here, I’m still so glad I found it! This is one of those off-the-beaten-track destinations that very few tourists seem to know about. I visited twice on my most recent trip to and from Sydney, and both times I only saw locals.
Emerald Beach is within the Coffs Harbour council and is located 20 minutes north from the main city. To get here, simply take the Emerald Beach exit from the highway and follow the main road straight down to the end. The kangaroos can be anywhere along the headland and as far as I’m aware you’re guaranteed to see them somewhere! At 9am in the morning, they were sitting at the top of both headlands in the area, and in the afternoon (around 3pm) they were right next to the stairs leading up to the trail from the beach.
Port Macquarie, NSW
Port Macquarie is located just shy of two hours from Coffs Harbour and is definitely a must-visit place on your Brisbane to Sydney road trip. If the weather is nice, Port Macquarie is home to some great beaches! If it’s raining you can still visit the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital! This hospital provides a wonderful service to the community, rescuing, treating and rehabilitating koalas in the central coast area of New South Wales. The hospital relies predominantly on volunteers, with only four paid staff members.
Visiting the hospital is free, but due to COVID at this time you have to book in advance online. If you visit, I highly suggest you leave a donation in one of their many donation boxes, or purchase something at the gift shop. This will help them to continue providing this amazing service to the community.
If you have more time, the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital is located within Macquarie Nature Reserve. This appears to be a really nice area, and is also home to historic Roto House and a small cafe. If the weather is wet, I highly recommend grabbing a hot chocolate and sitting on the deck of Roto House to warm up a bit before continuing your drive. If it’s clear, there are plenty of beaches in Port Macquarie where you can go for a swim!
Taree, NSW
If you are driving south and taking two days, I recommend staying the night in Taree. I actually only drove this far because there was very wet weather with flash flooding forecast for the East Coast the next day. However, I thought the accommodation was really nice and I would definitely stay here again. I stayed at the Taree Country Motel, which cost $92 per night for a budget double room. This is more than I would usually like to pay, but it was well worth it to have my own bathroom, kitchenette and TV, being able to park right outside my room, and being provided with linen, towels and toiletries. The motel is 5-10 minutes off the highway and around 5 minutes drive from the town.
Karuah, NSW
If you are driving south and taking three days, Karuah is a great place to stay. Located just over two hours from Sydney, you could easily explore the Central Coast region from here. I booked in to stay here because I wanted to be fresh driving the final two hours into Sydney. If you would like to stop in Karuah, I recommend the Karuah Gardens Motel.
I didn’t actually stay here in the end, but I would still recommend it for the amazing management. When I first drove from Brisbane to Sydney, I booked my accommodation in advance because it was the Christmas holiday period. However, just before I arrived in Sydney I found out I would be rostered to work on the day I planned to arrive. Initially I decided to just stick with what I had booked and leave at 4:00 in the morning to get to my shift on time! Once I got to Karuah, however, it was only 2:30pm and the management recommended I continue south to Sydney. They cancelled my booking free of charge and even looked up some accommodation options nearby to my workplace. For this reason, I also recommend you book direct if you choose to book your accommodation at all.
Places I want to visit in the future
There are so many beautiful locations between Brisbane and Sydney that I want to visit on a future road trip! Unfortunately to date I haven’t had much luck with the weather and have been a bit short on time. However, below I will list a few more places I want to visit in the future. No doubt I’ll be doing this drive again, so I’ll update this post with more information next time I travel!
- Central Coast – especially Australian Reptile Park
- Port Stephens
- Karuah
- Seal Rocks and surrounding beaches
- Waterfall Way (Bellingen)
- South West Rocks & Nambucca Heads
- Yamba
- Ballina – big prawn
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