serena

My husband and I have been in Australia for 6 months and have barely left Sydney (because it's so wonderful). However, I have a feeling life outside of Sydney is very different and would like to see another side of Australia. We plan to rent a car for 4 days so would have to stay close to Sydney. We've been to the Blue Mountains (also, Melbourne and Byron Bay). We've thought of the Hunter Valley or down to Kiama or north towards Coffs Harbor. Any suggestions?

marg

Head north to Coffs Harbour and along the way visit places like Port Stephens, Port Macquarie, South West Rocks etc. Some beautiful coastal scenery and interesting places to visit.

Neil_Oz

Another option would be to head for Canberra, spend a night and look around; continue on via Cooma to Thredbo in the Snowy Mountains, cut back to Cooma then across to the South Coast, returning to Sydney via the Princes Highway. You'll get to see the national capital, inland country towns, the mountains and a chain of relatively unspoilt South Coast beach and fishing towns. This trip would be quite do-able in 4 days. You could stay a night in Thredbo - or better still, the idyllically peaceful Novotel Lake Crackenback resort, next door to the Ski Tube on the road to Thredbo - you'll want to go back. If you have 2 nights left you could stay at Merimbula, say, and either Batemans Bay or the town of Huskisson on Jervis Bay where you can veg out, go for a bushwalk and watch the dolphins.

If you have more of a yen to see the inland, you could head west through Bathurst then up to Dubbo, Coonabarabran and Tamworth; cut across to the mid-North Coast at Port Macquarie, returning to Sydney via the Pacific Highway (the Princes Highway by another name). Or you could head SE from Gunnedah to the Hunter Valley and the Newcastle area before heading home.

You're right, Serena - despite Sydney's undoubted charms, there's definitely another Australia out there - well, a lot of other Australias, actually.

Alan

Hi, serena!

Why not head south along the coast, have a look at Kiama, then inland to Robertson for a night at Ranelagh House, which is a grand hotel from the pre=depression era (at one stage it even had its own railway station!) which has since been a convent and a hospital, and is now back to being a grand hotel again. Then cut across to the Hume Highway and head south-west to Canberra for your second night. Then back along the Barton Highway to Yass, Cowra and Orange (third night). On the last day, after looking through Orange, you head back to Bathurst for lunch, and in the late afternoon travel through Lithgow and over the Blue Mountains back to Sydney. You will see quite a variety of cities, towns, and villages in this not-too-taxing four-day trip, and you will see that, great as Sydney is, there is lots more to Australia! Have a great time!

Neil_Oz

Serena, better make that 10 days. We haven't even started on the Far West or Riverina.

wayneconnor

Orange
Griffith
Dubbo (http://dubbo.org)

Neil_Oz

This thread was started 2-1/2 years ago - I'm sure serena's trip is well and truly past tense. It would have been interesting to know which option she chose and what she thought of it, though.

johbot

wayneconnor,

You might like to add
www.griffithgateway.com to your list about Griffith, Orange and Dubbo. Great places, as you know.