Expert: Ian Smith - 10/19/2004

Question
hi Ian,

i will be travelling down to sydney from brisbane. i will be driving, as i will start at 6pm, taking the pacific highway route. i was wondering if u know any emergency numbers which i can all in case of a car breakdown, or other emergency's. could u also recommend me if there is another route to drive to sydney? a good place to spend the night?

thank you,
keith

Answer
There's two routes, the Pacific and the New England Highway.  Since you obviously aren't all that interested in sightseeing (leaving at 6pm) the inland route is probably the best.  It's fractionally longer in distance (about 10 kms) but doesn't have the holdups you tend to get on the Pacific Highway.
I would recommend you go through Tenterfield, Armidale then turn off at Uralla and head down Thunderbolts Way, a newly tarred route that is shorter and very scenic and brings you in just north of Newcastle.
Where to stop?  Again, you haven't given me enough info.  Being a long distance driver I tend to go a long way whereas others tend to want to stop sooner.  There's heaps of good places to spend the night but it again depends on whether you want to see anything en route.  Personally, if you haven't done the trip before I would be recommending several things to check out en route but, you have to supply more info.
Get the NRMA's phone number when you pick your car up, that's probably your best bet as they cover all of N.S.W.
Back to you, cheers, Ian