Sydney is crowded. Sydney is stressful. Sydney traffic is just too much. Plus, it really does get a little chilly through July and August. For some people it’s just not the life they want. They wonder ‘isn’t there a place that’s a little more lifestyle and a little less styled life?’ For a long time they’ve looked north for the answer.
In fact, from 1976 to 2016, the Sydney-Brisbane migration flow has been 2-to-1 in Queensland’s favour: 228,000 plays 114,000. In fact, overall, more Sydneysiders move to Brisbane than any other city – Melbourne included!
So, if you want to take things a bit easier, but move to a place that has urban convenience, the Pacific Highway beckons. Officially, it’s 921km between Sydney and Brisbane, yet with each city so sprawled out, the trip from, say, Campbelltown to Caboolture adds 100km.
Fair to say that if you choose to rent a drive-yourself moving van, you’re in for a bit of a haul. Let’s take a look at what you can see along the way to break up the trip.
Stockton Beach – (175km from Sydney) There isn’t much at Stockton Beach other than beach, but there is so much beach! At 32km long and a staggering 1km wide, the golden sand is usually hard-packed and so, if you have a 4WD and a permit, you can drive the whole length of it. Head into the dunes and you could swear you were in Lawrence of Arabia (sort of).
Port Macquarie Breakwall – (391km from Sydney) – First, Port Macquarie is one of those places that is about to go mega, but for the moment it is still a lovely compact city with a lot of cool history. If you follow your nose downhill to the sea you’ll also come across the breakwall, which hosts hundreds and hundreds of boulders covered with folk art charmingly painted by visitors and locals. Good cafes abound.
The Big Banana – (535km from Sydney) One of Australia’s first ‘big things’, the Big Banana is curiously distant from Australia’s main banana-growing areas. No matter, this 12m fruit just outside Coffs Harbour is a highway-side icon and will lure you into a rather nice mini theme park that includes, of all things, an ice-skating rink. A good place to tire the kids out.
Byron Bay Lighthouse – (771km from Sydney) Probably Australia’s most enticing regional town (or is it a city now?), Byron Bay is, to use the cliche, a melting pot. Within a few seconds you’ll see everything from Rolls-Royce owners to hippies who have renounced money – neither will be wearing proper shoes. It’s thongs or nothing in Byron. Visit the town, then go to the lighthouse: it’s Australia’s easternmost point.
Yatala Pies – (884km from Sydney) Just after the Gold Coast and just before Brisbane you’ll start seeing proper, official, government-installed road signs advertising, yep, a pie shop. Yatala Pies has been there for 104 years and still cooks things the old way. Okay, they probably aren’t Australia’s best pies, but how many other pie shops have dedicated parking for 60 cars, plus a drive-through? Not for nothing do a thousand vehicles a day stop by for a meat and pastry pitstop.
If you’ve not done this drive before, know that the Pacific Highway is seemingly always under major roadworks and within 150km you can go between some of Australia’s best designed motorways with 6 lanes going each way to bits of suburban road that meander through towns where a farm ute turning right can cause huge tailbacks. The easiest and fastest sections are just north of Sydney and just south of Brisbane.