As Australia is far more expensive than Asia we decieded to cut costs and hire a camper van for the duration of our road trip up the East coast from Sydney to Cairns. The drive is around 1600 miles but we ended up doing over 5000km as we zig zagged from the coastline to the bush. Having a campervan meant we could take advantage of beautiful free overnight spots under the stars and had the transport we required to go anywhere we wanted to.
Day 1: Sydney to Central Coast
First we headed to Bondi Beach as although pretty crowded we just couldn’t leave Sydney without checking it out. We did think we would just drive north up the coast from there but anyone that knows the area would know you have to go back to town over the Sydney bridge to reach the north! On our way to the bridge we stumbled on a park with the most incredible panoramic views of the the city including the skyline, iconic Oprah house and Harbour bridge. Such a great place for a picnic! After heading over the bridge it was on to Avoca beach for a BBQ dinner before driving past Tuggerah lake and The Entrance. The lake is great for fishing, seeing pelicans and water skiing and The Entrance being very busy and not our kind of beach really we headed on past Central Coast to Lake Macquerie for a free overnight stay in the car park there. Not sure if we were actually allowed to stay there but we had already travelled over 150km and figured we would go without alcohol and risk being asked to move on!
Day 2: Central Coast to Hunters Valley
We started the day with a stove made coffee and cereal and headed up to the vineyards of Hunters Valley. We stopped along the way at Bar beach hoping for a morning swim. Unfortunately the wind and sea were freezing and I’m such a wuss that I wasn’t going to strip off for anyone especially when we have no towels and need the heat of the sun to drip dry! We explored Newcastles other beaches, harbours and town before heading to taste some wine. We chose a pretty quaint vineyard by chance as still without a map or internet we were stumbling through the country. After tasting several wines we opted for a sweet white to go with our sausages and decided to stay overnight at Yenga National Park. We didn’t know if there was anywhere to stay and after over 100km of incredible road through the park and mountains, we nearly gave up and headed back before we stumbled on free overnight parking complete with showers and more amazingly, perfect views of wild kangaroos!
Day 3: Hunters Valley to Port Stephens(ish)
We woke up and had brekki with the Roos and set off in search of Stockton Beach sand dunes in Port Stephens. We completely failed to spot them initially but did stumble on the other end of them as well as some great cliff rocks perfect for fishing,climbing and watching the crashing sea waves with lunch and just round the other corner a small quiet beach with public toilets. We ventured up to Salamandar bay following the coast to Fly Point for a spot of snorkelling in the freezing cold sea then on to see panoramic views of Nelson Bay from Nelson Head Lighthouse. As the sea was so cold and the skies overcast we actually wrapped up our exploration of Port Stephens quicker than expected and decided to head toward our next destination of Seal Rocks and find overnight parking along the way. We did find 2 separate campsites both around 10km off the main roads through the national parks. We never made it all the way to one as after some really rough terrain in our rear wheel van the road became flooded and even for G proved impossible. The other site was down tracks just as ropey and when we got there it wasn’t free after all but $30. I’d rather stay at the side of the road than pay where as G would have gladly parked up if it hadn’t have been for the fact we somehow didn’t actually have any cash on us! So on we went through the vast Myall Lake national park which with no map or GPRS did feel like we had taken a drastic wrong turn. But with my compass working and assuring us that we were heading NE we continued until out of no where we spotted the town of Bulahdelah which allas actually has a large free overnight car park right next to a lake looked down on by a Rocky Mountain which we had seen at a distance and joked we had ended up at Ayers Rock!
Day 4: Port Stephens(ish) to Nambuca Heads (reached 1000km)
From our night stop at Bulahdelah it was easy for us to head straight to the beautiful Seal Rocks. We had planned in a morning swim but the sea was particularly rough and weather was wet and windy again so we aborted and also decieded not to check out Forsters beaches either and instead head inland to Ellenborough Waterfall. It was pretty impressive and we wished we had more time to go down the 600+ steps to swim underneath it but with time being tight we couldn’t go for a splash but instead it was a great lunch stop. The drive there was great fun too. I seriously don’t know how G gets the thing to stick on the narrow lanes when it’s stepping out so much but I’m glad he does when there’s an enormous sheer drop right at the side of us! The great long drive continued on to South West rocks which again has a fantastic beach but the weather was even worse than it had been in the morning so we continued north for another 50km to another free camping spot just outside of Nambuca heads. We had planned on reaching Coff Harbour but the beauty of travelling in a camper van is if you’re hungry or tired or see somewhere incredible to check out, there’s nothing stopping you, so with the rain increasing and hunger striking we called it a day with burgers on the BBQ.
Day 5: Nambuca Heads to Byron Bay
Another very, very wet day in Australia! Had to abandon camp first thing and head to Coffs Harbour for breakfast at a very nice viewpoint over Shelly Beach. From there it was into town but the rain and sea mist meant it was impossible to take advantage of the marina park or national parks in the area so instead we headed straight to Byron Bay. We did stop off at Clarence River to spot the bottle nose dolphins that inhabitant the waters there but I guess they’re like me and hate the rain as there were none to be seen. Byron Bay was equally wet on arrival so after a quick shopping trip at the supermarket we headed to a free overnight stop at the side of the Pacific Highway where it did luckily dry up late evening enough for us to enjoy the last couple of hours of the day with lamb skewers and a couple of beers.
Day 6: Byron Bay to Brisbane (reached 2000km)
The day started with a quick drive to Byron Bay for breakfast on the rocks by the beach. Then we headed up to Cape Byron Lighthouse to see the beautiful Byron Bay in all its glory before we took the 90 minute drive to Gold Coast. We couldn’t snorkel Narrowneck as planned as the sea was really rough again so after lunch on Main beach and a quick stop at Surfers Paradise beach we headed inland to Springbrook National Park and then on to Tamborine Mountain where we enjoyed awesome views over the Gold Coast city scape. From here with all afternoon to kill and the sun making an appearance, we planned a BBQ and overnight stay in Brisbane. Unfortunately we really couldn’t find anywhere at all so headed through the city to the dog park at Namgee Beach for our lamb BBQ (we love dogs so was nice for us to watch them all playing and being doggy!) and then on another 100km till we found an overnight rest area at the Steve Irwin Tourist Drive by Mooloolah river.
Day 7: Brisbane
We had passed some beautiful looking mountains the night before so ventured up to see them for breakfast. The Blue Mountains were magnificent to see with a 360 view platform lookout it was perfect for breakfast before the sun got too hot. From there we headed into Brisbane for a drive to see the Story Bridge, River Walk, city sky scrapers and enjoy a lovely cup of coffee. We headed on to Birdie island for lunch where the sun was incredibly hot making the surrounding sands impossible to walk on then stayed overnight at Yanardi.
Day 8: Brisbane
We were hanging in and around Brisbane to see my good friend that had emigrated last year so headed to the cool beach town of Coolum for breakfast, a great swim at the beautiful cove and to do some laundry! It was then time to head back into Brisbane to be reunited with my friend which felt pretty insane to be catching up at the other side of the world! She introduced us to Brisbanes great night life first having dinner at the city’s man made Beach complete with sand and water surrounded by the beautiful glass skyscrapers at South Bank before heading to the West End for some live music and drinks. Perfect (thank you honey)!
Day 9: Brisbane to Sunshine Coast
With pretty sore heads we relaxed in Brisbane treated to a scrummy home cooked breki before making the long drive to Rainbow Beach via the very cool Noosa Heads. We had planned to trek round the beach walk to see the koalas and relax on some more private beaches but still worse for wear we drove through instead! The heat at Rainbow beach made it pretty difficult to sleep so we enjoyed a great night on the beach heading back to the van pretty late at night in darkness. We had seen that there were no free overnight parking spots in Rainbow beach but that many people park up roadside for the night to be able to see the fantastic sunrise following day. We did just that and at 1am as we were just nodding off we were woken to a bang on the window and torch light in our eyes from a security guard and were told we had to drive to the designated site 20km away. We did drive off but found a sneaky parking sport around the corner.
Day 10: Sunshine Coast to Bundaberg (reached 3000km)
The sunrise was pretty spectacular so we were glad we had hung around to watch it with a nice cup of coffee. Rainbow beach is the gateway to Fraser Island. We had planned to take the ferry over and drive through the island and return to the mainland at Harvey Beach. However the trip is impossible without a 4WD vehicle so we had to give it a miss. After breakfast we therefore headed on to Woodgate beach which was beautiful,calm and warm sea and finally sunny with good shower facilities too. We also headed to Mon Repos beach to see the turtles, stopped off at Bundaberg shopping centre for a quick supermarket sweep then onto Creek rest area for another free overnight stay. Spookily we were the only ones there all night.
Day 11: Bundaberg to Rockhampton (reached 4000km)
We actually had a pretty unsuccessful day…. We headed off in search of the Eurimbula National Park craters but somehow missed the turning! We then decieded to stop at Gladstone to see the rainforest lined beaches but couldn’t find any beaches as I now believe they are actually on the surrounding islands. The town overlooked huge power stations and not very pretty so unless you plan on visiting the islands I wouldn’t recommend stopping there. On to the Capricorn caves we went but on reaching them we had not realised that access was only through a paid group tour that departed at certain times of the day so after a super noodle sandwhich lunch we decieded to just enjoy the ride to a free roadside camp at Cape Hillsborough.
Day 12: Mackay to Townsville
Sunrise at Cape Hilsborough beach was so special I’ll never forget it. Not only is the beach stunning and sunrise superb, but before the sun gets to high wild seafood eating wallabies and kangaroos flock to the sands. We sat keeping our distance but before long their curiosity got the better of them and they hopped over to us to say hello. It was amazing! Really, really really amazing I loved it and wa another incredibly special memory I’ll always have. As the sun came up the kangaroos hopped away so we had breakfast in the car park and showered in the facilities by the beach and o to Airlie Beach. Unfortunately as we are in the middle of a world trip and not just on holiday to Wustralia we couldn’t really afford to head over to Whitsundays for a day trip although it will be at the top of our list of things to do on a return trip to Australia. We headed to our free night parking at Rollingstone where I had a mini break down due to Mosquitos and the night temperature not dipping below 26C all night which combined with the heat still radiating from the vans engine that was located inside the cab sent me doo-lally! I genuinely felt like I was being cooked alive and couldn’t escape due to mosquitoes eating my freshly cooked flesh (I’m the worst person in the world when I can’t get to sleep)!
Day 13: Townsville to Cairns (reached 5000km)
After a horrendous night I had a coldwash at the camps outside shower and headed for the bush to cool down and see Australia’s largest waterfall, Wallarman Falls. It was very impressive the biggest and loudest one I’ve ever seen. We then went onto the beautiful and practically deserted Mission Beach for a cooling swim and to drive down the Cassaway Highway to try and spot a Cassaway bird. We never did see one and after seeing various roadsides warning us about how dangerous they can be we were glad! We reached our free campsite just outside of Cairns and enjoyed our last BBQ dinner with the camper accompanied by thousands of giant fruit bats!
Day 14:We reached Cairns!!!
We actually spent several days in Cairns enjoying the cities manmade beach, park BBQ facilities, keep fit promenade and many backpacker bars. But most of all we will always remember Cairns as the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef. What an awesome day! There was no way I could leave Australia without going snorkelling over the Great Barrier Reef even though it meant we had to book on a day tour, our first of the world trip so far! We boarded our catamaran at 8am and headed for a morning relaxing and snorkelling at Green Island on the beach and in the pool.
Then after a rather delicious buffet lunch it was time for the main event, 3 hours snorkelling on the reef itself from a floating platform.
Wow it was one of the best things I’ve ever done in my life. I loved every second and although I was exhausted I still did not want to leave.
I couldn’t believe how vast deep the reef itself went then to see huge fish swimming in and out of the cravices was incredible. So many different colours and different fish and jelly fish and tiny sharks it was truely the best thing ever!
We really loved our east coast Australian road trip and so glad we decieded to see Australia this way. The country is just so vast you drive down dirt tracks and gravel roads thinking you’re never going to reach your destination but somehow you do! The whole month we spent in Australia was an adventure and one I’ll never forget ❤️
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