Our Australia Self-Driving Trip (2022)

We took our first post-pandemic family trip to Australia at the end of 2022.

This was the itinerary of our long-awaited trip after a 3 year hiatus.

Summary of our itinerary

Day 1 : Melbourne CBD
Day 2 : Melbourne CBD – Great Ocean Road – Melbourne CBD
Day 3 : Melbourne CBD – Puffing Billy – Melbourne CBD
Day 4 : Melbourne CBD – Philip Island
Day 5 : Philip Island – Lake Entrance
Day 6 : Lake Entrance – Canberra
Day 7 : Canberra – Blue Mountain
Day 8 : Blue Mountain
Day 9 : Blue Mountain – Sydney CBD
Day 10 : Sydney CBD

Day 1 Melbourne CBD

Touched down in Melbourne at 11am on overnight flight via low cost carrier Scoot from Singapore.

Evening shopping and a quick dinner in Chinatown before we headed back to rest.

Overnight at Ibis Melbourne Hotel & Apartment.

Day 2 Melbourne CBD – Great Ocean Road

A day trip to Great Ocean Road. We booked a private tour since there were 6 of us, with more freedom and flexibility. At a slightly higher cost, of course, but we are glad we did.

Good weather, gorgeous scenery and humorous guide made this day trip very enjoyable.

Day 3 Melbourne CBD – Puffing Billy

It’s Christmas Eve. I started the morning making a solo trip to Queen Victoria Market to soak in the festivities as locals did their last minute shopping.

Thereafter, we picked up our rental car and headed off to Belgrave for Puffing Billy train ride.

More on our time in Melbourne in a separate post (coming soon).

Day 4 Melbourne – Philip Island

Merry Christmas!! We travelled from Melbourne to Philip Island (~2 hours drive) to spend time with penguins!

It’s Christmas Day and shops were all closed. Luckily there was a Chinese restaurant opened for dine-in and it enjoyed roaring business.

A walk along The Nobbies boardwalk.

My son’s favourite part of the whole trip – The Penguin Parade. Unfortunately no photography is allowed to protect the little cuties.

Overnight at North Pier Hotel.

Day 5 Philip Island – Lake Entrance

Spent our morning on Seal Cruise. Another favourite attraction of ours.

Then we left Philip Island and made our way to Lake Entrance but not before we had fish and chips at San Remo Fisherman’s Co-Op for lunch.

Pit stop at Maffra, a quiet, attractive town known for its nineteenth century homesteads and historic ambience.

After an over 4 hours drive, we reached Lake Entrance in the evening time and checked in to Albatross Motor Inn. The friendly owners gave us a Christmas goodie bag each with cookie, candy cane, chai latte and coffee mix. They even helped us with our laundry and brought them back nicely folded.

Day 6 Lake Entrance – Canberra

Walked out to get some breakfast from the shops. We had some delicious pies and sweet doughnuts.

Then we had a stroll along the beach and the town before another day on the road. Many holiday makers were having fun in the warm sun and sandy beach.

Enroute to Canberra, we dropped by a town hoping to get lunch, but only the supermarket was open. We ended up making do with butter chicken and cumin rice from the counter.

The journey took us over 5 hours on the road. Reached Alvio Tourist Park Canberra in the late afternoon.

Day 7 Canberra – Blue Mountain

Dinosaur museum, a obligatory visit for my son who is a big dinosaur fan since young.

A visit to Australian Parliament House in Canberra.

More on our time in Canberra in a separate post (coming soon).

Then we are off to Blue Mountain, a 3+ hours drive.

Stayed overnight at The Church @ Woodfort, a serviced accommodation converted from a heritage-listed century-old church. The best accommodation we had for the trip.

Day 8 Blue Mountain

A rainy day with thick fog so we were disappointed not being able to have a view of the Blue Mountain range from. The fog was so thick we could barely see 10m ahead.

Thick fog at Evans Lookout

The weather was better in the afternoon at Scenic World but this was the best we saw.

The ride on the world’s steepest railway kind of made up for some of the disappointment.

Day 9 Blue Mountain – Sydney

Left Blue Mountain in the morning and made our way to Sydney.

Afternoon walk to Anzac Memorial and a brief visit to Australian Museum. Read more in Visit to Sydney’s Australian Museum.

Checked in to Ibis Styles Sydney Central.

Day 10 Sydney CBD

Counting down to 2023! Our last day of the trip on New Year’s Eve.

Had a great seafood lunch at Sydney Fish Market.

Went down to Sydney Harbour hoping to take some nice photos of the Sydney Opera House. Sadly, the area with the best view was only open to ticket holders of Countdown party. Other zones were full of early birds waiting for the party to begin in the afternoon.

If you hoping for a view of the Opera House, avoid going on New Year’s Eve!

Late lunch at Chinatown before heading back to collect our luggage and to the airport.

Thoughts on the Trip

Looking back, we should have avoided travelling during the peak Christmas season. Though we had a chance to soak in the festive atmosphere, the lodging cost was high and we had to contend with large crowds in many attractions. Many shops and restaurants are also closed during the Xmas season for their owners and staff to take a deserved break. We ended up not being able to try some of the food we had planned to.

I would avoid planning such long drives again in future trips as it took away precious sightseeing time. Long drives also tire and stress the driver and the ‘navigator’, that’s me, had to prompt hubby of the directions and next turn.

Trip Cost

The trip was the most expensive family trip we have ever taken, due to festive/peak season travel rush and post-pandemic inflation. Note: The exchange rate was around S$1 to A$1.05~1.08 for our trip.