Road trip from Melbourne to Canberra and back
 

Hey everyone! True to my post in Tilted Travel, I've decided to go on a solo road trip north, from Melbourne to Canberra, and then east to the NSW/Vic border, and then follow the coast back to Melbourne.

I have a one week maximum time limit, since uni goes back on the 26th and I'll be leaving on the 19th. I'm bringing lots of snacks, lots of music (96 CDs!), and lots of warm clothes, I'm gonna jump in the car and head off on my first road trip!

My goals are to visit Wagga Wagga and Gundagai (simply because of their names!), see Parliament House and the War Memorial (and hopefully take part in the guided tours), and then have enough time for a leisurely drive along the coast back to Melbourne.

Since the Travel forum seems a little quiet, does anyone here have any hints or tips for me, suggestions, advice, things to see, or stories of their own?

And just as an aside, does anyone know how easy it will be to sleep in my car overnight in the country? If I pull into a rest area and lock my doors, will I be fined/told to move along by the police?

Meri's from the Wagga area, I believe. I love Canberra...it's such an orderly city. The Telstra tower is a must for the view over Canberra.

The National Gallery is also excellent, and don't miss 'Blue Poles', the Jackson Pollock painting. I've seen it at that gallery, but it was on loan to the new National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, and I saw it again when I was there last December. It truly is lovely.

Have a ball!

Sweet mate! I'm in Albury now and have a spare bed with your name on it. Too easy. Got about a million mates in Wagga so can definately get you a bed there too. Make it a weekend stopover and you can come and watch some bush footy, then come out on the gas! It's a uni team so you'll fit in like anything. Hope you're single cause we have 12 netball teams, most of whom are alcoholics. If you want a game that'll be easily set up as well.

Not too much to see around the place though, but I can come up with a few things for ya. More to do around Albury.

As for Gundagai, there's sweet FA there so I'm tipping your stay there to be brief.

When in Canberra, be sure to whinge about the cold, as there will be a fucking lot of it. If you go anywhere near Bega/Tarthra I can hook you up a bed there as well. No need to sleep in your car mate... if it's in NE Vic or Southern NSW there'll be a fair chance I can get you a place to stay. One of the advantages of taking 6 years to do a 3 year course.


PS. That goes for anyone here too. If you need somewhere to stay in Albury, be it travelling through, or just want to go somewhere different, say the word. We've got a spare bed and a fridge always full of Woodstock cans... Robert's your mother's brother.

Damn Meridae'n, I really appreciate that! I wish I'd read this thread again before I left though!

Unfortunately I'm a little late! I just got back tonight, due to some unexpected hassles and phone calls from home that sort of put a dampner on my trip, I decided to come home after Canberra.

I left at about 8am on Monday, went to Wodonga and through Albury, then to Walla Walla and Wagga Wagga and checked them out. Then I tried to go to Gundagai but due to not paying attention to the signs I found myself in Henty instead (went SOuth instead of East) and stayed at a hotel there, had a few beers and went to bed, $25. The next morning (Tues) I went back through Wagga to Gundagai and realized there really isn't much there (except for the disappointing 'Dog on the Tuckerbox' attraction), and then made it to Canberra by midday. Checked into a hostel there ($40, getting a bit steep, but it was a good place), and checked out the sights, and had a 3 hour long tour of the War Memorial (that was my one important goal for the whole trip).

The next morning (Tues) I left Canberra and headed south to Cooma, then through Bega and to merimbula and Eden. It was absolutely fantastic to drive through scrub near Canberra, and then an hour later through the Snowy Mountains, with snow for miles, and then an hour later to be having a smoke on Tura Beach with just a t-shirt! Fucking fantastic trip.

I made it back to Melbourne tonight at around 9pm, after leaving Canberra at 7.15am. So a lot of driving for one day, I'm exhausted, and driving along the highway at dusk at 110kph is scary as hell, with all the kangaroos about.

An awesome trip :)

Awesome mate. One thing... how the fuck did you get to Henty? Surely you seen the Albury signs! Easy for me, I'm a local.

You should think about coming up here for a weekend sometime. As I said, beds always free, and my mates here are all just out of CSU so they're still in uni mode, be a stunna weekend.

There's a hairdresser in Henty who is a drop dead glamma. She has a DD rack too, would've been worth just walking in there...