road trip around australia?

Twenty eight days minus two in Melbourne leaves 26 days. If you want to do some sightseeing as well, you will need to schedule that in your itinerary as well. The speed limit in Australia is 100-110km/h (freeways are faster than ordinary roads).

26 days at 500km or so a day a day lets you travel 13000km. Right round Australia is 20000km+ so you can't do the lot. I would suggest Melbourne to Adelaide then north to Alice Springs and Uluru, then north and east to Tennant Creek, Mt Isa and Townsville with a diversion to Cairns then south to Brisbane and Sydney and back to Melbourne if you need to go back there.

Travelling times:

Melbourne Adelaide one day

Adelaide Alice springs two days

Alice Springs Mt Isa - two days

My Isa Cairns - two days

Cairns Brisbane two days

Brisbane Sydney two days

Sydney Melbourne two days

That's thirteen days travelling leaving thirteen days for sightseeing. That would be at least two days in Alice Springs to go to Uluru etc and at least two days in Cairns for the Great Barrier Reef and the Atherton Tablelands. You would want at least a day of two in Brisbane/Gold Coast and two or three of days in Sydney. You are going to spend half your holiday driving very long distances to spend a short time in interesting places.

Might I suggest an alternative? Drive to Sydney via Canberra then fly from Sydney to Alice Springs to Cairns to Brisbane and back to Sydney doing all the sightseeing without the days of travel in between. The drive back to Melbourne via the coast road. There is plenty to see in the southeast of Australia and you could easily spend ten days doing the Melbourne/Canberra/Sydney/Melbourne trip. That would leave sixteen days for explring the centre and the north without having the thousands of kilometres of driving to get there.

If you were going to be travelling for three months, I would say take the car all the way but in just 26 days, use the airlines as well as driving.

Like others have said, it's quite hot around the December months. If you like the tropics then continue up to Queensland and the Great Barrier Reef, etc.

If you like your history and nature then NSW and Tasmania have a lot to offer in that respect. I'm a huge fan of Tassie and there really is a lot to see down there.

I've done a couple of road trips Adelaide - Melbourne and back. I've also done one to Tasmania via the boat and that's a pretty good experience, too (and that does take a car). What I've found is that along the way we have a lot of really good bakeries to drop in on and get yourself something to eat.

The best place to be at Christmas? Hmm... I'd be biased and say Adelaide, lol, but any of the capital cities turn it on really nicely around Christmas time. If you're going to be still in Australia for New Year then check out the fireworks at Sydney Harbour... Spectacular!!!

December is in the middle of summer, Very hot inland and in the far north.

Australia is same size as 48 states. There are only TWO PAVED roads connecting the west coast to the east coast.

Your best Itinerary would be to drive up the east coast, visiting Sydney then continue up the east coast as far as time allows.

Anywhere at Christmas would be ok. Just don't try to travel into the Outback. The December temperatures will be over 40C 110 F. Hot and Dry, The middle of Australia is Desert.

TO TRAVEL AROUND OZ IN DECEMBER I WOULDN'T RECOMMEND , ITS VERY HOT INDEED AT THAT TIME OF THE YEAR , BUT IF THATS WHAT YOU WANT TO DO , GOOD LUCK , TRY PERTH , IS BEAUTIFUL ,FROM THERE YOU COULD HAVE TAKEN IN BALI AS WELL ,