how long would it take to drive the coast of australia?

Question

in january am going to austrslis and m hoping to drive around the coast. i have a year working visa and was wondering if it would be possible to drive the coast and still have some time to stop off in a few places and do a little work and site seeing

Answer 1

actual driving time down the Queensland Coast for starters is:-
starting in the North at Port Douglas
Port Douglas - Cairns 1.5 hours
Cairns - Townsville 4 hours
Townsville - Mackay 4.5 hours
Mackay - Rockhampton 3.5 hours
Rockhampton- Bundaberg area 4hours
Bundaberg - Brisbane 3.5hours
Brisbane - Gold Coast 1 hour

- then heading into New South Wales
Gold Coast - Newcastle 8hours
these times are approxomite when travelling at the set speed limit

if you log onto www.racq.com.au
that site can give you a better idea of distances & travel times
racq--- is the automobile club for Queensland
nrma--- " " " " " " New South Wales
racv -- for Victoria
mynrma for Western Australia
depending on the time of year you are in different locations you should not have too much trouble getting work

these should give you a good starting point
BEST of LUCK on your travels

Answer 2

If you stick to Highway 1, it is about 20,000km. Highway 1, however, cuts off lots of the coast. If you were to stick to the coast as much as possible you would need a 4WD as a lot of it would be on very rough roads, particularly in the north and many of those roads are impassable in the wet season. It would be possible at 100km/h to travel round Highway 1 in 200 driving hours which is a little less than 10 days but you would need to stop for food, fuel and rest and you wouldn't see much. By the way, ignore the Wolf Creek nutters, hitchhiking is still safe in Australia both for hitchers and drivers.

Answer 3

You could do it in a year, as long as you check the car you buy thoroughly or you could find you end up hitchhiking in the middle of nowhere.
Australia is a lot bigger than it looks and in some areas impossible to stick to the coast due to no sealed roads, so you have to drive slightly inland. Make sure you do the east coast between brisbane and cairns, the great ocean road between adelaide and melbourne and western oz between broome and perth (this area is beautiful but missed out by so many travellers in favour of the east coast full of gap year students.
Don't drive at night unless you have a bull bar as roos and emus can write cars off. Some road trips are incredibly long and tedious with nothing to be seen apart from outback desert and scrub.
On popular backpacker routes you could advertise in backpacker hostels for someone to split the cost of petrol or the driving with you to save you money and time.

Answer 4

It is possible but it would be tight. Some of the roads may be just dirt roads which will slow you down (they won't always follow the coastline either). You will inevitably stop off at various locations for work, sightseeing, and just to have a day off to relax. Take a tent with you as well. If you follow the seasons properly, you will be able to find work on farms (mainly fruit picking) as you travel and you will be able to camp on the farms. You will also be able to avoid the mosoon season in the north (the roads in the north will be flooded after the wet season).

Answer 5

You'll be able to do that easily within a year. Don't forget though that a lot of the roads, especially in Western Australia, don't follow the coastline - they're long, straight, boring roads with very little to see except red dust and emus! That said, when you do get alternative scenery, it is absolutely stunning and well worth heading off the beaten track for. Enjoy your travels - it's been many years since I was in Australia and I'm envious of you!

Answer 6

A year is heaps of time. Be sure to spend some time on the Sunshine Coast, the Gold Coast and Melbourne. The whole coast is beautiful

Answer 7

Depends if you are going clockwise or anto clockwise. Anticlockwise is the shorter distance.

Taake your time mate. You'll need a great deal of patience and a good deal of luck. Hope your experience increases before your luck runs out.

Answer 8

there's 25,760 km of coastline there, you'd have to drive 72 km a day, that is on a virtual road that follows the coastline ... and the best of luck to you ! let us know how it went yeah ?

Answer 9

depends what car you've got