I manages to post the links the OP's thread on TA.

Thanks Toucan.

Thanks for the links, Toucan & Bokhara. I also saw them on the TA thread & glad your iphone was saved!

I think sartoric's plan may be the one we go with. I havent looked at rates, but hoping that there isnt a signficant diffference in Tasmania.

Appreciate all the ideas!

Forgot to ask about Canberra -- any opinions of seeing that? Wedo like museums & galleries. On TA some suggestions to drive from Sydney there.

It's years since I've been to Canberra, however, as the national capital it has some world class museums and galleries. The Australian War Memorial is worth seeing if you have any interest in history. There's lovely countryside around too, also wineries.

To incorporate Canberra, you could drive from Brisbane to there, and then to Sydney. It means a few extra days of hire car expense, but it is worthwhile to have a car in Canberra. My brother lives there, if you have any specific questions, he'll likely know the answers.

Thanks, sartoric. I think we might enjoy Canberra. Started looking a little at car rental prices. For some reason renting in Brisbane and dropping in Sydeny is really expensive. as compared to the same number of days and picking up in Adelaide and dropping in Melbourne. Havent figured out the logistics of all this.

Have a look at www.airport rentals.com

I plugged in random dates for 17 days, Feb to Mar, pick up Bris, drop off Sydney downtown. Cost was about AUD $50 per day. That was for a Hyundai I120, small car but adequate I think.

Thanks! I've been using zoom zoom zoom. Looking at airfares vs. driving. I'm toying with picking up a car leaving Adelaide and going all the way to Brisbane area and then flying back to Sydney for our last week. Is that crazy or make any sense? We do love driving & dont mind a long boring day once in awhile. We're getting ready to leave to drive cross country in the US.

Not very crazy, but you won't want a car in Melbourne, traffic is complicated (they have weird turns and trams) and parking is expensive. I guess you could drop a rental car at the airport, take the bus into the city for however long you want to stay, then pick up another rental and head to Canberra, then Brisbane.

If you drive from Adelaide on the coast road to Melbourne plan on a stop at Robe. It's a quaint and quite historic town, and southern rock lobster capital of the world.

The rental car site I linked above is cheaper because they have slightly older cars which may have a scratch or two. All the usual breakdown services are available though, I've used them many times with no issues (unlike several well known firms).

There is a site www.transfercar.com.au which offers relocation hires at almost no cost, sometimes they even pay for petrol. You have to be a bit flexible, but on a well trodden route there may be possibilities. Worth a look anyway.