My friend wants to drive from Melbourne to Cairns and then to Brisbane to catch our flight to Fiji. Im thinking the drive from Melbourne to Cairns is going to be expensive and long. Would an internal flight be better?
My friend wants to drive from Melbourne to Cairns and then to Brisbane to catch our flight to Fiji. Im thinking the drive from Melbourne to Cairns is going to be expensive and long. I've been looking at car hire prices and i dont think i can afford it. Plus driving all that way........ im probally going to kill her. Would an internal flight be better? Or are we going to miss out?
Reply to this Hi Toni,
The problem with flying is that you will always feel that you are missing out - but Melbourne to Cairns is a very, very long way by road. There's really only a few ways you would want to go - but then you're onto a pretty major roadtrip.
Melbourne > Adelaide > Alice Springs > Cairns -
involves crossing vast vast stretches of outback
Melbourne > Canberra > Sydney > East Coast -
but involves backtracking Brisbane - Cairns
Melbourne > South East Coast > Sydney > East Coast -
again backtracking
If you have many months there it would definitely be worth buying a car and then reselling - and you would see much more of the country.
But if you are on any form of schedule - ie if you have less than about 2 months in Australia - I'd advise against it and go for the flight. Driving that distance on any fixed itinerary is just going to cause stress and potential problems if anything goes wrong.
The outback is vast, and the landscape changes very slowly. Maybe a new shade of reddy/brown every 4 or 5 hours... it may just not be worth it if you don't have the time.
Reply to this Thats what i thought... now i've just got to convince my friend. Thanks for the advice.
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