Planning a trip to New South Wales
Visitor Information -- The Sydney Visitor Centre at The Rocks, First Floor, The Rocks Centre, Corner of Argyle and Playfair streets, will give you general information on what to do and where to stay throughout the state. There's another Sydney Visitor Centre at Darling Harbour, near the Sydney Aquarium. They share the same contact details: tel. 1800/067 676 in Australia, or 02/9240 8788; www.sydneyvisitorcentre.com. Both are open daily from 9:30am to 5:30pm.
Getting Around
By Car
From Sydney, the Pacific Highway heads along the north coast into Queensland, and the Princes Highway hugs the south coast and runs into Victoria. The Sydney-Newcastle Freeway connects Sydney with its industrial neighbor and the vineyards of the Hunter Valley. The Great Western Highway and the M4 motorway head west to the Blue Mountains. The M5 motorway, Hume Highway, is the quickest way to get to Melbourne.
The state's automobile association, the National Roads and Motorists' Association (NRMA), has a pretty good online distance calculator and route planner at www.drivethere.com.au.
By Train
Countrylink (tel. 13 22 32 in Australia; www.countrylink.info) trains travel to most places of interest in the state and as far south as Melbourne in Victoria and across the border into southern Queensland. Countrylink also has special rates for car rentals.
By Plane
Qantas (tel. 13 13 13 in Australia; www.qantas.com.au) flies to most major cities and towns in the state; Virgin Blue (tel. 13 67 89 in Australia; www.virginblue.com.au) also flies to most major Australian destinations, as well as from Sydney to Newcastle, Ballina (near Byron Bay), Port Macquarie, Coffs Harbour, and Albury. Virgin Blue's main rival, the Qantas offshoot Jetstar (tel. 13 15 38 in Australia; www.jetstar.com) also flies around Australia. Meanwhile, Regional Express (tel. 13 17 13 in Australia; www.rex.com.au) flies to several destinations in NSW, including to the north and south coasts and to Broken Hill.
