# CamperVan - Melbourne to Sydney



## MKDave (Oct 14, 2010)

Hi

I'm coming over to Australia in May and plan to be out for a year.

I want to rent a campervan for the first month which I am able to do for $1000 AUS in a 'hippie campervan'

I want to travel from melbourne to sydney which I think directly is roughly 900KM.

I'd prefer to travel and stop off around the coast on the way to sydney and was wondering if anyone would have an idea of distance from melbourne to sydney using coastline and also places I can stop off at on the way.

Also I heard petrol was $1.50 per litre in AUS is this still the case?

Thank you


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## Wanderer (Jun 16, 2007)

There's numerous smaller towns along the way and a month would be ample time for a slow coastal meanander that could even include heading SW from Melbourne for a few days on the Great Ocean Road and then taking the ferry from Queenscliff across to Sorrento on the Mornington Peninsula and then head around to Cowes on Phillip Island and on through Wonthaggi/Cape Patterson to Inverloch and Tidal River on Wilsons Promontory before heading back inland a bit, a lovely drive up through what is called Tarra Valley though a lot of that South Gippsland region as it is called was savage by bushfires a couple of years back.
Once back on the Princes Highway, it's more or less follow your nose all the way via smaller coatal villages to Sydney though there are some great hinterland drives too.

I'd reckon with a month, you could allow 20 days to do the coast, including the GOR and then 10 days to double back to Melbourne, going inland down to Canberra, Cooma, the Snowy Mountains and Alpine Way into Victoria and Kiewa Valley to Bright and region, perhaps allowing a few days for the norther Victoria wine region.

Have a look online at some maps and also Google Earth is a great way to explore the type of country in advance.


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## MKDave (Oct 14, 2010)

Thanks wanderer. I just gotta get out of this country! Work wise, where would be the best places to find work and what kinds of work are in these places. I've got a enough cash to not have to work but after about 2/3 months I'd like to settle down a bit, find some work and hopefully get a second year visa.


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## Wanderer (Jun 16, 2007)

Any particular sort of work you have in mind, or if not check out the Harvest Trail - Harvest jobs - Australian JobSearch for where seasonal work is, kind of following the sun.
If you want to go somewhere real different, you can always find work in the outback at many places.


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## MKDave (Oct 14, 2010)

To be honest mate anything that is fairly easy going, will earn me my second year visa and can just above cover hostel/foods cost would suit me down to the ground.

Do you have any idea of pay for the jobs you mention?

In the outback, where would this be and what kind of work / pay?

Thanks


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## Wanderer (Jun 16, 2007)

Seasonal work as far as picking goes is paid on quantity, hard yakka for those not used to it but it gets a person fit and a good worker can probably be earning about $20/h and just starting, you might get half of that.
There'll also be jobs in sorting and packing, pobably something like $10 - 12/h
Arriving in May and taking a month or so for initial travel, June is probably a good time to head up to Queensland as there will be work up north from Brisbane whereas it is going to be the start of winter and dormant season in south.
There's also tree planting which is also hard yakka but different - Outland Resources - Australian Tree Planting in Australia treeplanting contractors
As for the outback, it's a huge region, most of Australia but very sparsely populated and the main places will be close to major roads and not all that many of them.
You've got the Stuart Hwy. from SA up through Alice Springs to Darwin and the Barkly across to that from Queensland and south of the Barkly, a number of different roads out into the Queensland outback.
But do some googling on just Outback Jobs or whatever and do some exploring of sites.
You've also got inland N - S secondary routes up through Queensland that aren't quite outback but are still a long way from the coast and plenty of agricultural towns along the way where work can often be found, either farms, roadhouses or even a country pub might be after someone, often just being at the right place at right time.

If you get a job you like and want to hang a bout a while, you ought to try and make it for at least six months, join some local clubs etc. and that way you can qualify as residential for taxation purposes and that could see you paying about $5000 less in tax, even on earnings of just $20,000.


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## MKDave (Oct 14, 2010)

Wanderer, as always you're a legend!

I'm sure I'll be back soon to pick your brains again.

Thanks


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