Melb - Fraser Is

Sounds right to me!

I'd go newell hwy and when you get to Goondiwindi keep going north and bypass Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast and come in near Gympie

Dunno what the travelling time from Melbourne to bleep tney is at the moment but,
bleep tney to Maryborough is a good 16- 18 hrs (allowing for pee stops etc). I have done a couple times in one leg..but boy I was stuffed (and I reckon almost dangerous).
If I go up the Pacific, I make Grafton for an overnite, or the New England, Tenterfield is good. After Tenterfield- go via the Mt Lindesay Rd, via Bald Rock- a bit of Bushranger history around there.(and a bit of dirt road)

Howdy Truckster.

Did that last Sept Hols. Not sure about 2 days crusey. You could be getting to Rainbow Beach very late on the second day and if the tides aren't ideal you might end up staying on the mainland that night anyhow. Went Melb-Dubbo day 1 up the Newell, Dubbo-Bris day 2 but that was cruisey. Had several days at Noosa prior to Fraser so I can't judge how long Bris to Fraser, but Waddy Point back to Bris at the end was a pretty long day, partly because the tides meant we couldn't get down the beach until after lunch. Fantastic spot though. Waddy wasn't crowded at all even though tit was QLD school hols as well.

Assuming you are camping might be better to cross over to the island on third day as you have to get passes etc from nat parks ,i think they close around 4.30pm but check,line up for barge and cross on barge and then driveup the beach say another 1-2hrsfind and set up camp before dark... Doubt you would get from melb to the barge by lunchtime the second day...but you would know better than me.The tide will influence travelling time ,occaisonally you will not cross eli creek close to high tide this could add another 2 hours to the trip,others on the forum will have up to date knowledge of eli creek at the moment.
Have a great time and a safe trip.

Truckster , more like 3 days cruise if your young fella is with you ,, takes round 3 hrs from nth side of Brisvegas depending on traffic ,, best to hit the barges in the mornings depending on tides ,,Fraser can be a bitch to drive in the dark if you dont know exactly where you are.

Hi Truckster

As you know, about 2.300k to Hervey, about 100k less to Inskip Pt.
2 days, 11hrs ea will nearly get you there within speed limits (hols) Hume and Pacific hwy. Plus a few pi'stops. (Driver bladder releiver, stop,releive, survive aahhh)

New England is the way I go north from Sydney to avoid the coastle holiday hwy horrors. It's around the same time/disatnce with less stress/lights/towns/cameras etc and the people will say gidday on more occassions (passing wave) I love that.

2bobsworth
Andy

5 hours from brisbane if you go up the sunshine motorway to noosa , and then up the beach to the cherry venture and around to rainbow beach driving on the beach all the way . Much better drive than driving on bitumen all the way to gympie . Check out google earth map .

Hi Truckster,

Give Adam or Kir a call, I am sure they have completed the trip many times.

Cheers

Glenn

We went from Melb to Fraser after Easter last year, went up slowly and came home in 2 days.

Left Fraser about 7:30am in the morning, off via Inskip Point, down the beach to Noosa, then to Brisbane, and down the New England Highway. Brisbane was a pain, and the New England had heaps of road works in QLD, so it was slow going. Pulled into Tamworth about 7pm that night.

Left 7:30am the next morning (not early risers) from Tamworth to Dubbo, then down the Newell. Stopped for about 45 mins only throughout the entire day and arrived home around 8pm in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. 1200kms in one day, but totally different than the previous day, 110kmh + most of the time, very easy driving. The Newell is a boring road though.

2 big days driving. I would bypass Brisbane next time, for sure, but I wanted to do the run down the beach to Noosa, and from Noosa it looked like the easiest way was via Brisbane. I would do more research about a better path next time.

For me, I hadn't driven to QLD before, I would rather take the time and see stuff along the way, the Armadale and Tamworth areas looked really nice, but work was calling.....

Andrew

Do it easy in 2 days. We do this drive every couple of years with 2 kids now aged 14 and 9.
We usually leave around 4.30 or 5.00am from Melbourne eastern suburbs and head up the Newell. McDonalds is strategically placed along this route and helps keep little kids happy and not fighting too much. We usually stop in Moree or if we have a good run Goondawindi. Next day we head up to Kingaroy and come out just below Maryborough at Kilkivan. Get into Hervey Bay about 2 or 3pm.

Truckie,
Done the trip part way up a heap of times, newell would be the way to go, make sure just out of dubbo you go to mendooran then coonabarabran, 45 minutes quicker than going through gilgandra.
Should be an easy 2 days, maybe 1 1/2 unless you have the little bloke with you, you'd have to get some new games for the DS if you wanted to do it in 2 days then!!!
12 hours should get you to Armidale or goondiwindi from melbourne
NickR

Ps. I believe you wanted a cd off the old bloke about a nissan, I will be down on the weekend, you west or east suburbs?
I'll be in point cook.....

Get to Coonabarabran on the firt day. Stay at the Clock Tower motel because it's off the main drag and you get a good nights sleep. Get up early and you will be on fraser the same night. Big haul but that's what i did last Nov. My little one travels well so that may also be a deciding factor for you also.

Leory

Truckie,

19 hrs seat time (1700km) to Brisbane via the Newell, turning towards Warwick at Goondawindi. Would be worth doing your shopping in Brisbane to save a bit on food/fuel/other supplies. Count on another 2.5-3 hrs to Fraser ferries, but check what time the ferries go (IIRC Am out Pm in). No point rolling up in the late morning/arvo if you have to wait until the following morning to catch the ferry out to the island.

i did a cruisy first day and stopped in wagga wagga, then drove straight through to brisbane on the second day. did it by myself, but wouldnt recomend it, it took 16 hrs and i was stuffed when i got there. should have driven further on the first day!!!!!

Melbourne to Dubbo is 10 hrs. Dubbo to Bris is 10 hrs (legal speeds). Bris to Rainbow beach is about 3 hrs. If you bypass Bris and go straight to Gympie via Toowoomba then Dubbo to Rainbow will take about 12.5 hrs. Don't really save much time bypassing Bris as the good roads make up for the extra distance.

G'day Truckie,

Trust the advice of the locals mate. Bris to Fraser is a comfy 4 hours and that will depend on the tides if you plan to jump on the beach at Tewantin (and why wouldn't ya - that's what its all about). You'll have the ferry at Tewantin and the barge at Inskip a whole lot of beach driving in between. At this point you are at the bottom end of Fraser and another LOT of beach driving to get you to the middle of the Island. Crappy tides can make this a real chore so make sure you plan your arrival around the tides. About halfway to low tide to hit the Tewantin ferry would be good and if this was to happen just after breakfast time that would be perfect.

Now I know you already know this but let your tyres down.

Kind regards