sydney to brisbane

[dean_86]

hey folks was thinking of doing syd to brisbane later in the year my uncle and some friends live up there so it gives me a good excuse to go up there just wondering if anybody has done it what the best way to go is any good or bad stories ect.

cheers
dean

[backroads]

G'day Dean,

are you planning on sticking to main roads/highways or do you want to get off the beaten track so to speak?

There is a mountain of road works going on along the Pacific H/way between Newcastle to just north of Kew. I spoke with a tourer last week that had just ridden it and he said he had to ride on the right hand side of the road for a bit because there was no room and concrete barricades.

You have lots of options at hand to get off the highway. If you check through some of Il'pardrone's post he has done all or some of it "off-highway" and his route is there for you to see.

I am at Port Macquarie and can give you plenty of advice for this area. If you can give us an idea of what type of ride you want to do I am sure you will get plenty of suggestions.

safe travels

[elantra]

G'day Dean,

are you planning on sticking to main roads/highways or do you want to get off the beaten track so to speak?

There is a mountain of road works going on along the Pacific H/way between Newcastle to just north of Kew. I spoke with a tourer last week that had just ridden it and he said he had to ride on the right hand side of the road for a bit because there was no room and concrete barricades.

You have lots of options at hand to get off the highway. If you check through some of Il'pardrone's post he has done all or some of it "off-highway" and his route is there for you to see.

I am at Port Macquarie and can give you plenty of advice for this area. If you can give us an idea of what type of ride you want to do I am sure you will get plenty of suggestions.

safe travels

I did the drive Bris to Sydney a month or two ago and for sure there was A LOT of roadworks as mentioned above.
And at one stage i recall looking at the concrete barriers with no edge left on the road and thinking "no way would that be an option for a touring cyclist"
Other than that (long !) section, many sections of the highway seem to have reasonably wide edges but often the edges disappear when there is a river or creek to be crossed.
I am sure that others have described touring routes in previous threads this year.
I did not see many cycle tourists along either the Pacific or New England highways, if any.
Hope that helps, Regards, Steve

[il padrone]

Other than that (long !) section, many sections of the highway seem to have reasonably wide edges but often the edges disappear when there is a river or creek to be crossed.

When I rode from Sydney to Queensland (it was 11 years ago now ) there was plenty of space in the sealed shoulder of the Pacific Hwy (for the 25kms that I rode it, near Clybucca) but the sheer volume of traffic, especially trucks was mind-numbing and very unpleasant. Particularly as I had a cross-tail wind that day, and was wearing a loose T-shirt. Every truck that raced past blew my T-shirt up over my shoulders. Damned annoying

I was glad to get off that highway and take the back roads.

I did not see many cycle tourists along either the Pacific or New England highways, if any.

No surprise about that

[banjo]

I rode between Sydney and Brisbane last year, having started in Melbourne. I stayed on the main highway mostly and didn't have any problems. Admittedly I am HIGHLY visible on the bike. Even my paniers are high vis yellow.

I took a few detours of the highway namely..

North of Newcastle through Nelson Bay and ferry across to Tea Gardens. Enjoyable.
The Forster loop near the coast.
Stopped overnight at Port Macquarie. (One of my few bad stopovers. Big 4 leisure park where I camped was terrible)

The whole ride was generally great, weather was 90% dry (October).
I rode right through Tweed Heads and Coolangatta up to Southport. The Indy race finished the day before so traffic was horendous near Southport. Given the choice again I would avoid the highway between Tweed Heads and Southport. Very high levels of traffic.

The V1 path from Southport to Brisbane is disjointed, mostly on quiet roads, and generally a very bland ride.

There were several section of the Pacific Highway that were under construction but I had no problems getting through. Good luck, you will have a great trip.