Riding in Sydney is frustrating for Yanks (sorry, Americans) as we dont have an interstate system do to get in and out of the city its all surface streets. It can take an hour to get the 20 miles from the edge of the city to the centre.

Anyhow I live south of Sydney near Kiama, and it is georgeous country down here with some great rides.

If you wanted to do a southerly ride you could head south outta the city, down thru the royal national park, follow the coast all the way to kiama, even Ulladulla. It depends how much you time you wanna spend ridin and how much you wanna spend in the pub/cafe/art gallery depending on what you are in to. You could do a southerly ride one day, then turn north and stay out around windsor on the night of the 2nd then on the 3rd take the putty road up to the hunter valley and tour some winerys etc. go up the putty road and come back down the wollombi road.

If you want a hardcore 2 day ride that is just to die for then go from sydney up bucketts way to Glouster, Thunderbolts way to Walcha, then down the oxley highway to Wauchope. The oxley is hands down the best road in NSW, stunning views and a joy to ride hard or cruise.

PM me and I will give you my email, I would be happy to give you a heap more detail. the wife and I spent 3 months touring the US by '67 Cadillac and met some great people, so I am keen to pay it back to anyone visiting our country.

 

Some photos from the oxley hwy and thunderbolts way

 

Running on the left side sounds easy in theory, but it's not so easy in practice. And, Sydney airport is about the worst place to start practicing. If you can get someone to meet you and serve as a guide to the edge of town, I would strongly encourage it.

You will absolutely love the country and the scenery. Some of the secondary roads are rough and full of curves. As a general rule, strangely, the worse the road, the faster the speed limit. When the road improves, start reaching for the brakes!

I recall being stopped for a breathalizer check on a narrow, congested, wet, hilly, curving road in the dark of night. All I could think at the time was that drunk Aussies must be the best drivers in the world to be able to safely get to this traffic stop alive!!!

Enjoy some of that Hunter Valley wine for me.

 

I think your biggest challenge is going to be riding on the other side of the road. Whenever I go back home it takes ma a couple of days to get used to it so just be careful especially when making a right hand turn.

From Sydney itself I would definitely recommend riding south for a day trip. Take the Princes Highway south to Sutherland (suburb of Sydney) and take a left through the Royal National Park. The sign says Audley. There is a fee to get in to the park but if you tell them you are going straight through or to Bundeena they will not charge you. This road follows the coast for quite a way and is a good mix of curves and sights. Follow it to Stanwell Tops
(scenic overlook) then down along the coast road.

Also just before the exit to Audley and the park there is a tram museum that may be worth checking out if you are interested in that sort of thing. My dad is a tram driver there.

For the second day you could head west of Sydney to the Blue Mountains and see the 3 sisters and Jenolan caves or head up north to Cessnock in the Hunter Valley. Both of these are good day trips as well.

If you have any other questions let me know.

Cheers
David

 

Being an ex-pat Aussie, the thing I miss the most about Australia is the beaches and beautiful coastal roads. Heading out west as has been mentioned has some cool places to see, but riding Highway 1 either north up to Coffs Harbour, or South down to Batemans Bay have some fantastic stretches of coastal scenery, good surfing too! It will be mid-Summer down there so pack your swimmers! Don't forget to cruise around Sydney's bays also, Bondi, Coogee, etc.

Anyway, sounds like KingKingKing can give you all the help needed.

 

thanks for all the replys rooshooter, ozzie dave, wallaby, peculiar, king and everyone else. yes the hwy 1 along the coast sounds awesome. We definately plan on spending some time at Bondi, Coogee and Manly. you guys are getting me leery now with the talk of all the heavy suface street traffic and no interstates. Fraser doesnt look to far from circular quay where we are staying. King I'll PM you, thanks

 

apparently fly and ride doesnt include helmets and my wife had her mind set on bringing our HD JET 3/4 DOT helmets with comm sets, now I'm reading DOT helmets may subject you to a $250 fine, that Australia requires a 1698 certification. what are your experiences with that?