On a scale of Jesus fucking Christ to why the fuck would you do that, how bad is a road trip Melbourne-Brisbane-Melbourne with a 3-1/2 and a 7-1/2 year old going to be?
25
Replies
0
Boosts
@jpm Do it, if you have the time. Fun. We've done multiple road trips Sydney-Brisbane return with kids of all ages and it's always memorable.
@jpm when I did Bundaberg to Melbourne and back with a 2yo & 4yo it wasn’t too bad. Extended stops at playgrounds so they could go wild, and I *may* still have a nervous twitch if you mention High 5
@jpm just bring lots of wiggles audiobooks
@jpm to be fair, it would be easier than dealing with the trauma of taking them on a plane and dealing with the disapproval from fellow passengers.
It really depends on your kids though.
My parents took me across the Nullarbor twice before I was in school, first time some of it was still not sealed…
Both times in kombis
@jpm just long, for everyone...
@jpm A long time ago, when we lived in Melbourne we would drive overnight, nonstop, to Noosa, with 7 and 5 year old boys, for our holidays. The car was loaded up with a tent and stuff for a holiday at the beach. Seems absolutely barking mad now. We stopped for tea at Shepparton, the boys would then sleep through to breakfast, usually at Goondiwindi. We drove the Newell then. It did require the resting driver to actually get some rest, and took 21 hours with lots of stops! Stops are important with children, and helps the adults too! We once had to stop at Shepparton coming back and sleep as both drivers were tired! The Newell now is a pot holed mess, that is very scary to drive. Last year we went down to Bathurst and bought our caravan back. The coastal highway was infinitely better than the Newell even with the expensive tunnels through Sydney.
@jpm As a kid living in Canberra my dad was fond of surprise weekend caravan trips to Melbourne, Sydney and even Broken Hill. All six of us in a '71 Volvo station wagon with cassettes of Broadway musicals (my dad's favourite music) providing the soundtrack. I can still recite all of Guys And Dolls or Annie Get Your Gun word for word with even a passable Ethel Merman impersonation. My point being that the trauma aint gonna generational itself.
@stib lol we are going to be doing the trip in a Volvo as well
@jpm I have good memories of a road trip to Brisbane and back (from Young, NSW) because my parents bought me a whole bunch of magazines and activity books for the trip.
My favourite stuff!
@jpm It will be great. Load up with plenty of audio books and kids music. I'm pretty sure I can recite all of 'James and the Giant Peach' and sing every Peter Coombs song. And lots of snacks. We did it heaps because we lived in Toowoomba and rellies were in Melb.
@jpm My parents took a 3 year old and a 6 year old on a 6 month caravan trip around Australia. I turned 7 on that trip.
Apparently I asked "are we there yet" before we'd even left Perth and they at one point lost my brother in a Darwin crocodile park.
So my perspective might be skewed. I think it's perfectly fine for you to do it. I would not, and not just because no one has ever tried to have kids with me. But provided you toot regular updates I encourage you to.
@abstractcode I’m not sure how much driving vs not-driving I’ll be doing though.
Current plan is Melbourne-Wollongong-Port Macquarie-Brisbane over 3 days, then a week in Brisbane with family, then Brisbane-Dubbo-Melbourne over 2 days on the way back
@jpm 2 days via Dubbo is big days. We did it with a 9mo for LCA2020, and he fortunately slept pretty much all the way. I can't imagine with a 3.5yo and 7.5yo 😱
Update: Brisbane-Dubbo-Dubbo-Melbourne over 3 days, staying at the Western Plains Zoo for 2 nights.
@jpm Done it many times, 2 days is tiring, and I travel without kids. The inland route is generally less bland freeway generica (and misses Sydney) but only if you like those vistas of endless plains. Dubbo zoo would be very cool, but Dubbo to Melb is still a pretty long day of driving.
@jpm we did Brisbane to Melbourne via with an overnight at Dubbo and back several times (maybe 5 round trips?) when the kiddo was younger (3-15?). It was fine, more stops at things along the way when smaller, then books and devices had a greater influence as age increased.
I don’t recommend doing Melbourne to Goodiwindi in one day though, that was a bit much.
@jpm oh dubbo you say
@jpm We did it when DVDs were a thing with a 6 year old. We got a DVD player specially and there was only a couple of meltdowns
@jpm how many days do you have? Can you stop overnights at places with pools and microwaves?And how much screentime are you prepared to do?
I've not done it, but in my orbit are kids who've been fine with Newy-Albury-Newy (one driving day each way), provided stops at parks. But also one kid who can't get to Phillip Island from Melbourne without screaming.
@jpm
Urrgh, can you allow 3 days each way?
