I'd stop at Narooma. There is a fantastic bush walk at Tilba Tilba (just inland) which passes an Aboriginal women's sacred site with amazing anthropomorphic rocks. You often see lyre birds in the area.

In addition, there is Montague Island off the coast where you can see fairy penguins and seals. There aren't very many places in NSW where you can see fairy penguins and it's a real treat.

There are also great oysters in the region and there are a couple of interesting cafes in Narooma. There are lots of nice beaches in the area, however not in Narooma itself.

My back yard!

Depending on what time in December you are travelling it can be very busy. School Holidays officially start on the 20th, but some parents will leave early. Christmas to New Year's is hectic. Most of January is busy. I have a friend in Lake's Entrance they don't go into town aftre about 10am - but they are hermits at the best of time. Accommodation will be at a premium at that time of year.

If you are travelling prior to Christmas things will be nice and the weather usually not too hot.

"We enjoy light hiking, boating, beaches, forests, bird-watching, etc."

This is the place for you!

TIMES FROM GOOGLE
Syd to Moruya 4hrs
Syd to Eden 4hrs 50min (5hrs)

Moruya to Lake's Entrance 4.50
Eden to Lake's Entrance 2.40

Lake's Entrance to Melbourne 3.40 most on dual carriageway and fairly boring.
There are some nice towns and parks to visit on the way but nothing worth travelling half way around the world to see.

1st stop sth of Sydney - Kiama for the blowhole if it is cooperating. Good stop for morning tea.

2nd stop Central Tilba - Heritage Village lunch or afternoon tea?
http://www.eurobodalla.com.au/central-tilba

Bega has a Cheese Factory.

Eden has a whaling museum - 2 hours and you will have read every word. Look for the story of the man swallowed by a whale. http://www.killerwhalemuseum.com.au/

Eden and other towns will possiblly still have whale watching cruises running. They generally finish in late November. But there are other cruises and you might be lucky.

I would stay at Eden as it will spread out your days better and you can do an early cruise easier.

From Eden you will drive through the forests of east Gippsland. These are generally lush and green. There is no town of size until you get to Orbost. Cann River and Mallacoota have food and fuel but not much else - both will be expensive.

Gipsland is the Region of Victoria roughly from Melbourne to the NSW border and south of the Dividing Range.

Watch out between Cann river for the rainforest walk and the Cabbage Tree Flora Reserve. Both have short and pretty walks and a nice spot for a break.

Also if you are driving as dusk and dawn the kangaroos have no road sense.

Marlo has a paddle steamer that does cruises on an irregular basis. Here is the website - they only have cruises listed til April. The winter here is cool with few tourists but they should be running again by December.
http://www.paddlesteamercurlip.com.au/

Lakes Entrance is the place for fishing and boating. It is as its name suggests at the entrance to the sea. This was artificially created in the 1890s a bit further west from the natural intermittent entrance. It is a lovely loop stroll to the entrance onway through the dunes and on the lakse side them back along the surf beach.

From Lakes to Bairnsdale there are wineries and Nyerimilang heritage park. It is a homestead with lovely walks and views of the lakes. The homestead itself is not always open but you can walk around in some of the outbuildings.
http://www.nyerimilang.org.au/Nyerimilang/Welcome.html

Bairnsdale is the main service town for the region. But does have some good features.
Stop at the Catholic Cathedral in the main street next to McDonald's although you will see the church spire before the golden arches. The ceiling of the church has been painted with murals much like the sistine chapel, but not by anyone as famous. Apprently the image of the devil looks very similar to the priest's housekeeper.

The Hamburger shop across the road is on of the best.

Bairndale and Sale are surrounded by world class wetlands (RAMSAR).

Between Bairnsdale and Sale look up! you will see lots of birds of prey and if lucky the RAAF display team that is based in Sale may be practising.

Look down as well. Echidnas have no road sense either. Do not even thing of running over one dead or alive. You will get about 50km if you are lucky before there is no air in your tyre. (speaking from experience here) Those spines are not just for show.

Just out of Bairnsdale there is a road on the left to Bengworden (a hall and an overgrown tennis court). Take this road for two reasons. One the highway from Bairndale to Sale is one of the more lethal roads in the State due to its distance from Melbourne drivers are tired. Secondly, the Bengworden road is much prettier and it will be easier to stop to look at the birds of prey. Some of which have good road sense and will sit on fences and trees for you.

About 50km along the Bengworden Rd you will come to a sign pointing to Lake Wellington and Sale. Take this road. You will cross a wetland - last week with a hundred or so pelicans on it and usually lots of swans et al. If you miss the turn don't worry going straight ahead will get you back on the highway near Stratford

Lake Wellington is the largest and roundest of the lakes and Marlay Point has a nice look out onto it.

Sale is another service town and my home. There are some lovely walks in the wetlands to break your drive. The Sale Common walk to the Swing Bridge is our favourite. The swing bridge was designed to swing open on its central pillar so that two boats could pass under it.

There are two choices to Melbourne. The boring yet faster way 3hrs with a coffe stop or 2 and half without of the Prince's Highway - pretty much dual carriage all the way and 110km/h most of the way. NB Prince's NOT Princess as many pronounce it.

The slower way is the South Gippsland Highway which adds about an hour or so but is not dual and is very pretty.

Hope this all helps. Let me know what else you need. 4-5 Days will be a good trip not too rushed but you won't be dragging the chain either.

Cheers.

For the second stop think about going inland to the Victorian Alps and the National Park around Mount Buller; the landscape is quite beautiful. Mount Beauty is a good place to be based or any of the Gold Rush towns: Beechworth for example is a lovely town. There are also lots of wineries in the area

I wouldn't base yourself in Eden. It was a whaling town, but you could make a day trip there from Narooma.

Wow peterSale!!! Thank you so much for such a detailed response. I need to have my husband read through all your notes & advice. I can't wait for all those tea stops. Everything sounds wonderful and I know this is going to be a highlight of our trip.

I'll keep you posted on our plans.

I would vote for Narooma as well. My DH fell in love with that place.

Also vote for a visit to Central Tilba - a must see. The Bega cheese factory is far better than the Bodalla cheese factory (well it used to be)

I seem to recall that we had a nice time when we based ourselves at Orbost for a couple of days and visited the Buchan Caves.

Also loved Walhalla, an old, charismatic gold mining town. There was no power to the town when we visited in 1997 - actually we went back for a second look a couple of days later to have a ride on the restored railway.

Update: We successfully booked the Pub Hill Farm B&B in Narooma for two nights: December 26 & 27. The Garden Room was already booked by the people who stayed in it last Christmas. So we got the Dromedary View Room.

We also have the "Goose's Nest" Room at the Goat & Goose B&B in Lakes Entrance for three nights.

Then, on to Melbourne.

Thank you for all your advice and comments!! We have saved this thread as a favorite so we can refer to it as we plan the details of our road trip.

Question: in the US when we take a road trip we pack snacks such as crackers, cookes, Crunch & Munch toffee popcorn, drinks, etc. Is this the custom in Australia? If so, what local items are good? (please don't say Vegemite

>Question: in the US when we take a road trip we pack snacks such as crackers, cookes, Crunch >& Munch toffee popcorn, drinks, etc. Is this the custom in Australia? If so, what local items are >good? (please don't say Vegemite

You can get much the same sorts of snacks in supermarkets here, but we found in the US that snack flavours run much more to peanut butter than here (peanut butter flavoured crackers, chocolates, etc). We don't do that. What you can get quite a bit is rice crackers (either the snacking kind, or flat round ones you might use for dip), and one flavouring for these is seaweed. You can also get potato chips and rice cakes (near the crackers in the biscuit (cookie) aisle) in salt and vinegar flavour or sour cream and chives flavour. Of course there are plain ones if those flavours don't grab you. Cookies - lately the Arnotts Tim-Tams brand has expanded. Tim-Tams in their plain chocolate version were already a cult item but now there are many different flavours available. I haven't tried them out yet so can't recommend any except the old sort! Mint Slice biscuits are also very good. I also understand Australian beef jerky is, or used to be, popular amongst Japanese tourists. It's available near the nuts in the supermarket, but again I am not really a beef jerky eater so can't recommend.

Lavandula

Twisties, Cheezels and BBQ Shapes are among the local favourites.

Supermarkets have whole aisles we never go down filled with packets of multicoloured fat,salt and MSG. Enjoy!

Muesli Bars are a popular snack item I would say, though I personally don't like them. But the best news is that all our summer fruit will be available and you can snack on beautiful peaches, plums, apricots, cherries etc.

bmk