Hervey Bay Car Hire
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Sydney · New South Wales

Sydney: The coast in both directions

Sydney is a departure problem before it is a destination. The harbour sits in the middle of everything, and the three ways out — south along the coast, west over the ranges, north up the highway — start from different sides of it.

South is beach and bush in quick succession, west is cool country and clifftop lookouts, north is the long run up the coast.

Where this depot puts you

  • The Royal National Park and the south coast

    The national park begins at the city's southern edge, a plateau of coastal heath and cliffs broken by beaches, and the coast road runs through it rather than around it. Beyond, the escarpment drops to surf beaches and old coal towns.

  • The Blue Mountains

    West, the highway climbs the range in one long pull to Wentworth Falls, Leura and Katoomba, where the streets end at lookouts over the Jamison Valley. Tracks drop off the cliffline into rainforest and under waterfalls, and past the mountains the road opens onto the central west.

  • The Pacific Highway north towards Newcastle

    North, the highway crosses the harbour, runs up the Central Coast and through the Hunter to Newcastle, a city of long beaches behind a working port. It is fast road most of the way, which is the point if the far north coast is the goal.

Worth knowing before you book

  • The depot is at Caringbah in the Sutherland Shire, south of the city: it suits the south coast and the Hume Highway, and puts the harbour between you and a northern start.
  • Getting out of Sydney with a van is the slow part; the approach roads, the bridge and the tunnel all carry the peak.
  • Toll roads are charged by plate, with no booth and no cash, so sort payment before you leave.
  • Inner-suburb parking is metered and tight, so collect the van and go.

What you can drive

Every depot is stocked from the same national fleet — campervans, 4WD campers and a five-seat car. What is actually available on your dates is confirmed by the search, not assumed from a list.

The full fleet, with specifications · All pickup locations

Sydney is one of the pickups in the network; the locations page lists the others, and Hervey Bay is not among them — vehicles for the bay come out of Brisbane.

The depot page for Sydney