Captain Cook Highway, courtesy of Tourism Queensland
Going on a road trip? Lee Atkinson, creator of the Australian Road Trips app, picks her five favourite summer holiday road trips
What makes a great summer road trip?
We’ve all experienced the holiday road trip from hell, stuck in a line of slow-moving traffic going nowhere fast.
It’s not my idea of fun, so first and foremost a good summer road trip is one where you won’t find holiday crowds. There also has to be plenty of places to stop and things to see and do – it’s a holiday after all, not a commute – great scenery and hopefully a few places where you can cool off along the way.
Here’s my pick of five great drives (in no particular order) that are better in summer.
Great Alpine Road, Victoria
Bogong High Plains, courtesy of Lee Atkinson
The Great Alpine Road is one of Australia’s most spectacular driving routes, an alpine loop across the roof of Australia. The road snakes across the Victorian Alps from Wangaratta to Bairnsdale, and is one of the country’s best all-weather mountain drives.
The road climbs up into the snowfields from Bright, bend after bend twisting through forests of mountain ash and stringy bark that eventually give way to stunning views of the valley below.
Once you enter Alpine National Park the road sits atop the ridge of the mountain for about 30 km, giving spectacular views on both sides of the road as you drive high above the snowline. The drive winds through Hotham and Dinner Plain before descending again through rolling treeless hills towards Omeo.
- How far? around 300 km; www.greatalpinevalleys.com.au; www.victoriashighcountry.com.au
Eyre Peninsula, South Australia
Driving in Coffin Bay National Park, courtesy of Lee Atkinson
If your idea of a great summer road trip includes ocean views, then you’ll love the Eyre Peninsula, the triangle of land jutting into the sea between Adelaide and the Great Australian Bight.
It’s one of the best-kept beach secrets in the country, where you almost always have the beaches to yourself, the coastal scenery is some of the most spectacular you’ll find anywhere, there’s next to no traffic and the oysters aren’t bad either.
Sound too good to be true? The catch is that the Southern Ocean is usually icy cold and home to lots of big white sharks, but in terms of great coastal driving routes it gives the Great Ocean Road a run for its money.
Highlights are oysters and fresh seafood; the stunning 5 km cliff drive at Elliston; fishing from town jetties; four-wheel driving in Lincoln and Coffin Bay national parks; the Talia sea caves and Point Labatt sea lion colony; and swimming with the sea lions at Baird Bay. Just watch out for those sharks.
- How far? around 670 km; www.southaustralia.com/EyrePeninsula.aspx
The Bass Coast, Tasmania
The Nut, courtesy of Lee Atkinson
Anywhere in Tasmania makes for a great driving holiday, but the northern coastline is an unsung treasure, especially for a summer road trip.
It is a place of rugged beauty, where fertile farmlands spill into the wild waters of Bass Strait. The main route across the top of the island, along the spectacular coastal Bass Highway, travels through beautiful rainforests, some of the state’s best wine producing areas and past pretty fishing villages to finally reach the wild wilderness of the west coast at the aptly named Edge of the World lookout.
There’s so much to see and do on this road trip that you’ll need at least a week, even two. Good places to stay for a day or two are St Helens, Launceston and Stanley.
- How far? 450 km; www.discovertasmania.com.au
The Waterfall Way, New South Wales
Ebor Falls, Guy Fawkes River National Park, courtesy of Lee Atkinson
The Waterfall Way is a classic touring drive that starts on the mid-north NSW coast at the beach resort town of Coffs Harbour.
It coils its way up through lush rainforest of the Great Dividing Range to the New England Tablelands, finishing in Armidale.
Highlights include Bellingen with its strip of cafes and galleries; mountain-top Dorrigo National Park, with its spectacular skywalk that leads out over the rainforest canopy; and the high plateau gorge country.
The best things about this drive is that most of the attractions are free and, as the name suggests, there are plenty of waterfalls along the way, with the pick of the bunch being Dorrigo’s Dangar, Ebor and Wollomombi (one of the highest in Australia).
- How far? around 200 km; www.visitwaterfallway.com.au
Great Tropical Way, Queensland
Victoria’s Great Ocean Road might get all the glory, but the Captain Cook Highway from Cairns to Port Douglas is every bit as stunning, and a whole lot warmer and less crowded.
Most people tend to avoid far-north Queensland in the steamy summer wet season, but, contrary to popular opinion, it doesn’t rain all day, the waterfalls are thundering, the roads and campgrounds are empty and you can pick up some great deals on accommodation. All excellent reasons to head north for a road trip in summer.
Continue north through the Daintree rainforest to Cape Tribulation. In the dry you can keep going to Cooktown on the 4WD Bloomfield Track, but in summer you’ll need to backtrack to Mossman and head west on the sealed Mulligan Highway and head to Cooktown which, unlike Port Douglas, still has a last frontier feel to it. Circle back via Mareeba and the Atherton Tablelands.
- How far? around 700 km return loop from Cairns. www.greattropicaldrive.com.au
Lee Atkinson is the author of 11 travel books, including eight guide books on travelling in and around Australia. Her Smartphone app, Australian Road Trips is available from iTunes and Google Play: see www.ozyroadtripper.com.au for links.
