During November 25, after a few days with our son in Melbourne, we made the drive from Melbourne to Sydney in 7 days, taking in the sea views and Australian wildlife along the way. Over the seven wonderful days of the trip, we explored incredible landscapes, and saw kangaroos, wallabies, wombats, koalas, and whales as well as a wide variety of colourful birds.
- Wilson’s Promontory (3 nights)
- Eden (2 nights)
- Narooma (1 night)
- Sydney (4 nights)
Read on for a more detailed explanation of our trip.
Day 1 – Drive to Wilson’s Promontory
We hired a car from Avis in Franklin Street, Melbourne and drove out to Wilson’s Promontory, stopping at Woolworths in Leongatha to buy supplies and a bag of ice from the bottle shop for our ice bag – it wasn’t particularly warm on the day, but we weren’t sure what fridge facilities would be available in our accommodation that night.
Notes about car hire
We have used Avis for car hire the last few times we have been to Australia – we like getting a spouse as a 2nd driver for free and always add their option for kerb-side assistance (having suffered a puncture on a previous trip).
Please note that a one-way trip incurs an additional AU$500 in hire costs – this is fairly standard across all hire car companies. I’ve been told it might be possible to avoid the extra charge by hiring a small campervan instead of a car – something to explore in the future…..
The journey to Wilson’s Prom took around 3 hours. We were heading to the accommodation at Tidal River, 30km from the park entrance. Although there is an “official” entrance, there is no entrance fee to the park, and the entrance booths were unmanned.
Around 14km from the entrance, inside the park, we stopped at the Prom Wildlife Walk, at a large parking layby on the side of the main road. The walk is a paved 2.3km loop (grade 2, 45 min return) across open grasslands. We didn’t necessarily expect to see wildlife, but it was a good opportunity to stretch our legs after the drive.
Well, what a good decision to stop! We immediately saw an emu and then spotted a mob of kangaroos on the far side of the area. Following the track, we saw a wallaby under a tree, and then got really close to the mob! On the way out, the emu was even closer. Highly recommend stopping!
Onward to Tidal River and our Wilderness Retreat – a type of glamping option – a safari style tent with queen bed and a single trundle bed and an ensuite bathroom. There was a separate tent with shared kitchen facilities, though out tent also had a large fridge (no need for the ice bag).
I’ve written more about Wilson’s Prom in this post – I’ll just cover the highlights here.
In the evening, we walked through the sand dunes and camp site to Norman’s Beach. Wow! What a view – beautiful sand, blue sky and a gorgeous blue sea – one to take your breath away as the beach appears over the dunes.
Day 2 – Wilsons Prom – walks and wildlife
On our second day, we walked to Little Oberon Bay (8.8km, 3 hours return, grade 3) – a walk through tea-tree-covered dunes and then along a dirt trail with views across the bay toward the Glennie islands. Along the way, we spotted the odd wallably before arriving at the beautiful beach. It was windy and chilly so we just stopped for a quick snack before returning.
In the afternoon, we drove to a nearby car park and climbed Mt Bishop (7.4km, 2.5 hours return, grade 3) to get amazing views across Norman Bay.
Mount Bishop Tip
You think you have reached the top when you get to granite slabs, but you actually need to keep walking across the slabs to get to the best views.
In the evening, we walked around Tidal River, spotting several wombats and wallabies out for their early evening feed!
Day 3 – Wilsons Prom – more walks and wildlife
Having done the Mt Bishop walk yesterday, we decided not to climb Mt Oberon (the most popular walk in the park) as we felt it would offer the same views. Instead, we drove to Five Mile Car Park (20km from Tidal River) to walk to Miller’s Landing (2km, 45min one way, grade 2) to see the Mangroves and then to Vereker Lookout (6km, 2.5 hours, return, grade 3) for panoramic views of Darby Saddle, Corner Intlet, and Cotters Beach. The walk got a little tricky at the top – the path wasn’t clear so I’m not sure we made it to the summit! Other walks are better if you are short on time.
On the way back, we stopped again at the Prom Wildlife walk, seeing a couple of very photogenic emus and a wallaby mum with joey.
In the afternoon, we drove to Squeaky Beach (yes, the sand really does squeak when you walk on it) and had a lovely walk to Whisky Beach via Picnic Beach (and back) (4.2km 1.5 hours return, grade 2), seeing wombats and wallabies on the way.
Day 4 – Drive to Eden, via Raymond Island
It was a 6-hour drive to Eden, so it made sense to have a break along the way. as wildlife enthusiasts, there could be no better place for us than Raymond Island, a short ferry ride from Paynesville – conveniently located 3 hours from Tidal River.
We parked in the large car park in Paynesville and took the ferry (free for foot passengers) to Raymond Island. Although there is an official timetable, the ferry appears to leave when the car deck is full, so you don’t have to wait long. The crossing takes around 5 minutes.
Raymond Island is a residential-only island, 3.7 miles long and 1.2 miles wide, 200 metres from the coast. There are a couple of places to stay, but no restaurants. Although when we were there, a coffee van was selling drinks and snacks.
Why go? Koalas!
There are over 300 koalas on Raymond Island! Apparently, you may also see echidnas, kangaroos, and wallabies as well as reptiles, birds and orchids. We didn’t see any of these, but to be honest, we were pretty focused on koalas – which were easy to spot and abundant!
Why are there so many koalas on Raymond Island?
Fire, disease, clearing and the fur trade meant that by 1925, the koala was nearly extinct. To conserve them, koalas were introduced to Philip Island in 920 and 32 koalas were relocated from Philip Island to Raymond Island on 25 September 1953 by Fred Jones. What a good decision!
Koala Trail
The residents have created the Koala Trail – a designated 1.2 km trail through the residential area. We thought we would be lucky to see 1 or 2 koalas along the trail, but wow, I lost count of the number we spotted! You just walk along the trail looking up into the trees, and there they are!
What blew my mind is that the trees were in people’s gardens. I love watching the squirrels from my kitchen window in Oxfordshire – the residents of Raymond Island can watch koalas out of their kitchen windows!
Raymond Island tips
Put on mosquito repellent. We didn’t and were bitten as a result.
Public toilets (clean as they are everywhere we have been in Australia) are available near the ferry terminal on the island.
We only stayed around 1.5 hours on the island before continuing our journey to Eden, but you can spend longer and explore more of the island or foot or even hire a bike.
Onward to Eden
So back in the car for the remainder of the drive to Eden. It was mainly through forest – although pretty, it wasn’t as close to the ocean as we expected – but then we did the Great Ocean Road a few years ago, so perhaps our expectations were too high!
Eden
We stayed in the Whale Fisher Motel – very clean and pretty spacious with a small kitchenette and friendly staff. We ate at Hotel Australasia, which was a short walk along the road. It was just about warm enough to eat in their courtyard where the kitchens are. I say kitchens as they offer standard pub food in one and a variety of pizzas from the other. You can order a combination – but they can’t guarantee the food will arrive at the same time, which is fair enough. Good portions and tasty food.
Day 5 – Whale Watching
The reason to stop at Eden was all about Whale Watching. We knew we were near the end of the season, so we booked more in hope than in expectation. I’m not good on boats, so the weather was always going to be a concern!
Waking up to a calm morning (I still took sea sickness tablets), we had an undeniable sense of anticipation as we walked down the hill to the wharf (8 minutes) to board the boat with Sapphire Coastal Adventures for the 9:30 sailing.
Only 10 minutes after leaving the wharf, we saw our first whale just the other side of the bay near Naval Wharf! Two humpback whales (an adult and a juvenile whale) breached at the same time – a once in a life time sight!
Over the next hour or so, these whales breached multiple times, as well as displaying tail and flipper slapping and coming really close to the boat. We then moved on to another pod with similarly breaching whales.
Throughout the cruise, we were also given information about the whales and what we were seeing. The crew were really aware of people feeling ill. Although I was fine (having taken a sea sickness tablet) and to be fare it was pretty calm, I felt that it wouldn’t be an issue if I had felt ill.
I would definitely recommend this company if you are in the area. Their tours run from May to November from Eden and Merimbula, and from June to November in Bermagui. Just one thing to note, we actually booked a tour leaving at 3:30 pm, but a month later (and 2 weeks before the tour) it was changed to leave at 9:30 am. This wasn’t a problem for us as we had planned to spend the whole day in Eden, but worth being aware of when planning your schedule.
After the cruise, we went to the Eden Killer Whale Museum on the way back to the motel. The museum tells the story of Old Tom and the Killer Whales of Eden. The pod of up to 50 whales, including a male named Old Tom, was seen between 1840 and 1930 and was known for assisting human whalers in hunting Baleen whales.
The killer whales would find target whales, herd them into TwoFold Bay and alert the humans that the whales were there. After the whalers had harpooned the ‘victim’, the carcass would be anchored overnight so the killer whales could eat the tongue and lips. They would also eat the many birds and fish that turned up to pick at the smaller scraps.
The museum was built to honour Old Tom, who died in September 1930 and houses the skeleton amongst other whaling artefacts and local exhibits.
Certainly worth spending an hour mooching around.
We then walked back to the wharf for a tasty, freshly cooked calamari and chip lunch at the pop-up van outside the South Coast Fish Processors.
In the afternoon, we walked to Eden Lookout and Rotary Park for views over the ocean – apparently, this is a good place to see whales during the high season, but I think we had already had all the luck for one day.
We returned to the Hotel Australasia for dinner, sitting inside this time as the weather had become chilly. The pizza was very tasty, the burger was ok but nothing special.
Day 6 – Drive to Narooma
The next day, we drove along the coast road to Narooma (2 hours). On arrival, we walked to Seal Rock to see what it was all about. Well, it does what it says on the tin – loads of seals enjoying the sunshine!
The main reason for going to Narooma was to visit Montague Island to see seals and, at sunset, penguins.
Unfortunately, there was too much swell to land on the island – there isn’t a dock as such, you have to use the boat ladder – so it had to be cancelled. One for another visit!
Fortunately, our hotel for the night was Anchors Aweigh. Our room had a huge balcony, which gave us some downtime before the chaos of the big city to come. We had dinner at Lynch’s and highly recommend the fish pie.
Day 7 – Drive to Sydney
After a delicious full English breakfast (included in the room price), we started the 4.5-hour drive to return our car to Avis rental, Circular Quay.
We again chose the coast road – though to be honest, we didn’t see too much coast!
Car hire tip
The car rental place is at the Marriott hotel in Pitt’s street. We just turned into the road immediately next to the entry ramp for the hotel and stopped on the side. The office is just up the entry ramp on the left.
From here it was a 20 minute walk to the Meriton Suites, Sussex Street – home for the next 4 nights.
Stay tuned to learn more about our 4 day visit to Sydney!
A Few Tips for your Drive from Melbourne to Sydney (or vice versa)
We really enjoyed our short road trip – we focused on wildlife stops rather than beaches, but there are some beautiful beaches to explore if this is more your thing.
- Book accomodation and activities ahead – particularly during the height of summer. Most of the accomodation was full.
- Be prepared for things to change at the last minute – both the whales spotting and Montague Island are subject to the weather conditions.
- Don’t miss Raymond Island!
Get in touch if you have any questions – we are always happy to share what worked (or didn’t for us)