Few people know this: I might be a Singaporean, but not too long ago, I was actually born in Australia. Specifically, in Sydney.
So when we won a complimentary pre-wedding photoshoot in Sydney – hosted by The Wedding Scoop – I was ecstatic.
The best part? The photographer was the very talented and lovely Trish from Tealily Photography. Double score! And the perfect excuse for us to visit and explore my hometown. I had actually left Australia at the young age of 3, so I had little recollection of my time there.
After having a ball of a time in Melbourne and Tasmania, I was dying to get to know this part of Australia a little better. And what better way to get to know a place well than by doing a self-drive road trip through (and around) it?
Also, a great opportunity to bring Jan’s parents to Sydney, since they’d never been there before.
Why not just stay in the city?
Over the years, we had visited the city of Sydney a number of times. There’s no denying that the food is amazing, the shopping is unending, and the iconic sights and sounds of the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge are breathtaking.
(In fact, we did spend a few days in the city on this trip. More on that in another post)
However, loyal readers of Jayndee will know that we are absolutely not the city-dwelling type. Fresh mountain air and vast expanses of trees and fields speak to us, which is why we adore road trips so much.
Also, our trip to Sydney was set in April, which meant that the lovely autumn colors were due to be out in full force. And we wanted to catch them in their natural element – out in the wild.
But, which road trip should we do?
Here’s the thing. Sydney is situated in such an incredible location – sandwiched between the cities of Melbourne (the Grand Pacific Drive) and Brisbane (the Legendary Pacific Coast Drive) – that we had some trouble deciding which way we should go. The coastal drives that can be taken in either direction are quite literally the stuff of legends.
However, with wedding duties beckoning, we were limited by time, and had just 4 days to play around with.
Since we were due to have our wedding photoshoot in the Blue Mountains, we finally settled on doing a short circuit towards the north.
As for the car, we decided to go with Budget Car Rentals again (we had previously rented a car from them for our Tasmania road trip). The total cost for 5 days (inclusive of the morning we drove to the airport) came up to A$258.60 (~S$255), inclusive of roadside assistance, excess reduction, and other admin fees – we find it extremely affordable. More on where and how we picked it up in the next article.
In sum, here’s our 4 day self-drive road trip itinerary around Sydney and New South Wales:
For your convenience, I’ve also included a map of Sydney and New South Wales, with all the places we visited marked out here:
