Australia – how wonderful can a place be?! We only saw a tiny bit of that huge continent and we will definitely be back because it is rad. For a start we travelled the east coast from Melbourne up to Brisbane and from there back to Sydney and we loved it. Especially Melbourne. I instantly fell in love with this amazing, vibrant, colorful yet laid back city!! Actually, if you would ask me for an Oz city rating (of the cities I do know) this would be it:
#1. Brisbane & Melbourne: both are equally cool and beautiful but Brisbane does have the nicer weather 😉
#2. Port Macquarie: what a cute little coastal town
#3. Sydney: but mainly because of Bondi, which we loved (surprisingly so, I had pictured it rather touristy and busy). Chippendale and Darlinghurst are quite charming, too but all in all I found Sydney rather exhausting.
Hitting the Road
There are several means to make your way up north. You can either fly (if you want to save time and just focus on the bigger cities), rent a car and book hotels/motels or holiday homes in advance or literally on the go or you can book a campervan and take your home with you.
Exploring Australia with a campervan is quite a unique experience – provided you share the same approach to camping (which we didn’t always ^^). We enjoyed it much after we had figured out a routine that worked for us but I’m not sure if I would necessarily do it again.
Why (not) to Explore Australia in a Campervan
It’s not the cheapest way to travel: The costs for the van are easily comparable with prices for a motel/airbnb, plus you’ll have expenses for gas (which is not too bad) and camp sites (which you may not need, depending on your preferences).
Aussies love their campervans and many of them head out of the city for the weekend or on holidays, drive their campervan to a camp site close by and stay there for a couple of days. Thus the fancier camp sites are pretty book out. You’ll have to book in advance. Benefits are: You have electricity and all the waste dump and fresh water facilities you need. Drawbacks: The sites are quite crowded and everyone is basically walking around in their pajamas or similar “lounge” gear. It’s very laid back but not in the sense of sexy beachy laid back 😉
There are also less well equipped camp sites, often close to the major roads, where you can pull up and spend the night. These are official camp sites but they lack the aforementioned facilities – and charm. But they do the job. The app Campermate provides a great overview over the various camp and facility sites.
However you don’t necessarily need camps sites. Going up to Sydney from Melboune it’s actually pretty easy to camp in the wild (it gets a lot harder close to Byron Bay), provided you know where to look and you’re up to doing some (constant) research. The “coastal road” is not really what you might expect as the view of the ocean is completely blocked by bushes and you’ll be driving for hours on end without the scenery changing. However, if you check Google Maps Satellite View you’ll find little openings, loops or public parking lots where you can easily park your car and spend the night or explore the scenery. If there are signs that forbid overnight camping heed them but if there are no signs, I’d say you’re free to stay for the night. That’s what we did at least and we never ran into trouble.
A huge plus is that having the campervan makes things so much easier in terms of spontaneity because you can just go where you want to go, when you want to go.
However, you cannot go everywhere because the car is just too big and simply not made for off route tracks. You’ll have to stick to the main routes which makes off the beaten path explorations close to impossible.
Work out a Travel Routine
It took us a moment to figure out the best travel routine which (for us) was:
- Wake up fairly early and have breakfast somewhere nice, explore the area for an hour or two and then get in the van and drive up for 2-3 hours.
- Have lunch somewhere nice and explore the area.
- Optional: drive up some more and have coffee/tea in another area.
- Once it starts to get dark drive up for 2-3 hours, find a place to spend the night, have dinner, and go to bed. We usually looked for a place with views of the ocean, which of course you won’t see at night but which make waking up so damn beautiful.
Going by this routine you should be able to cover some distance (approx. 300-400km) every day but don’t spend the whole day in the car.
Where to Book your Campervan
After a bit of research we opted for Maui Rentals. They offer nice rides fully equipped with bathroom (toilet & shower), huge beds, kitchen (as well as TV and microwave, which we never used) and all in all quite spacious and comfortable (you can also get more hippie-style ride there but then you depend on facilities on the road). I was also impressed by how clean our car was (we had booked a max 2 year old). Our Campervan was a pretty little and surprisingly spacious home on weeks for 10 days – I loved our neat “little” ride.
Magnificent Melbourne
We flew in to Melbourne and had I had the chance, I would have stayed there for good, get my stuff shipped over and just become an Aussie (well, a trip to Hawaii would have been necessary from time to time, but Melbourne would have more than satisfied my life cravings). What a city! Melbourne is absolutely lovely! It’s vibrant, fun, diverse, colorful and surprisingly clean. One of the things I loved most about it was that you can do pretty much everything by bike. Simply get a bike pass (1 or 3 days) and get 30minutes free each ride. Melbourne Bike Share is super easy and super convenient. Melbourne is such a bike friendly city and has bike lanes all over the place. Note that you have to wear a helmet, which you can simply buy at one of the larger 7/11s – they’re just 5 AD and they’re great quality (we actually took ours home for guests.). Many people also just leave their helmets at the bike racks for others, so you might just want to keep an eye out for those.
If you like great food, little shops and some neat street art Fitzroy should be on the top of your list. Such a wonderful neighborhood. You can spend hours just browsing through all the little shops and cafés and I personally liked the street art way better than that at famous Hoisier Lane and other downtown lanes.
Links Melbourne
At South of Johnston you’ll get the most delightful breakfast. We went there every single day basically ate our way through the menu. It’s awesome! They also serve delicious lunch options
https://goo.gl/maps/4aJmCvpopTq
Smith & Daughters is a great vegan Mexican Restaurant. Not only is it super tasty but you won’t even notice it’s vegan
(Went there with two guys, without them knowing it’s vegan and they loved it – before and after they learned it’s vegan 😉 )
https://goo.gl/maps/ZwJDtgnN7Fp
Victoria Market is absolutely worth a visit and great if you’re looking for organic, fresh produce
https://goo.gl/maps/83UcifbZoBy
I haven’t had a chance to try out Serotonin Eatery but I follow them on Instragram and it looks soooo delicious and lovely
https://goo.gl/maps/vk819tkWbFN2
Urban Projuce is a great stop if you’re riding you’re bike to the beach (which is awesome)
https://goo.gl/maps/PCyBtQdyR3N2 Try the Kombucha tasting board and some of the sweets as well J
We went to Lucy Liu for dinner and really like the food, cocktails and design of the place. It’s slightly more upscale but not too expensive
https://goo.gl/maps/a9Wh4MmMCnm
If you’re into strolling through some more shops South Yarra is also very nice.
On the Road
Day 1: We had wanted to but didn’t stop in Wilsons Promontory because it was simply too cold in October but it’s supposed to be absolutely beautiful (may be quite touristy though). We had a nice breakfast and hurried on to get to warmer regions 😉
We decided to make “a short detour” to Point Hicks Lighthouse – and quickly realized that going by campervan means you are not as flexible in terms of where you can go as we had imagined. The access road was not at all bad but it was bad enough to make the (supposed one hour) way down a two hour torture. We were in constant fear we would get stuck right on our first day and would have to pay a huge amount of money for somebody to come get us and our super sized ride out of there. We weren’t even able to turn around because there was simply no place big enough. It was clear, we had to drive all the way down – and pray we make it back up 😀 Point Hicks Lighthouse is pretty though so the panic wasn’t competely in vain 😉
Links
Breakfast at Tathra Beach
https://goo.gl/maps/rqCCMfSsZ4E2
Point Hicks Lighthouse
https://goo.gl/maps/TgkCsgCbGE72
Day 2: Day two led us from Eden (first camping ground visit – all other nights so far we camped wild, which is way cooler and way more hippie) and waking up to the sight of kangaroos grazing in front of our van to Wajurda Point with wonderfully secluded Moon Bay and on to Wallaga Lake, where we took a long stroll along the (very windy!) beach to Camel and Horse Head Rock – which is lovely but the worst thing after walking 6 km is realizing that you have to walk back the entire distance!
Links
Wajurda Point https://goo.gl/maps/aB5pHif5JnL2
with wonderfully secluded Moon Bay
https://goo.gl/maps/aB5pHif5JnL2
Wallaga Lake
https://goo.gl/maps/pkY1QzWqL432
Camel Rock and Horse Head Rock
https://goo.gl/maps/SQCDpnfh4952
https://goo.gl/maps/XPJ3hwkMRkx
Day 3: We had a campervan breakfast at the observation lookout in Batehaven (where we had parked overnight) and decided to go for a short morning stroll afterwards which turned out to be a pretty cool and prolonged climb over the weirdest coastal rocks. So fascinating to explore those awesome geological formations. Afterwards we went on to Kiama, to check out cathedral rocks as well as the Minnamurra rainforest walk. We had wanted to check out a nearby glow worm tunnel but the road conditions didn’t let us 😦 What followed was a two hour long search for the next camp side (which ended at the Pavillion of Kiama). Not all that easy sometimes if your opting for cool, secluded, and with views 😉
Links
Observation lookout in Batehaven
https://goo.gl/maps/ma42W5KYdMo
Weird coastal rocks (don’t know the exact area but it was off the main road on a little, wild parking lot with a nice bench, overlooking the water. The rock formations cannot be seen from up there, you’ll have to climb down some steps (it may have been Wasp Head but I cannot recall to be honest)
https://goo.gl/maps/iMMRgzyFLRy
Kiama cathedral rocks
https://goo.gl/maps/kuztXx4Nzjm
Day 4: On the fourth day we woke up in Kiama to discover that the camp site (i.e. parking lot) that we settled for the night before was actually perfect. Not only did it have a recycling bin close by (yes, we recycle on vacation) it was also just a short coastal walk to the nearby lighthouse and blowhole. But what’s the most perfect thing that can happen to you when you think the morning cannot get better?! whales!!! OMG I’m always speechless and my heart literally skips a beat when I see these magical animals. We continued on a cultural tour and visited Fo Guang Shan Nan Tien Temple (a Chinese Buddhist temple in Wollongong) and Sri Venkateswara Temple (a Hindu temple in Helensburg), both very beautiful and aweinspiring. We drove back down south to check out the impressive Sea Cliff Bridge and enjoyed some beach time in Clifton. Driving on we passed through Sydney using the scenic Harbour Bridge and camped at Whale Beach.
Links
Pavillion of Kiama, a public parking space at the time
https://goo.gl/maps/XEzsvydBcEt
which is quite perfectly located for a beautiful stroll along the coastal path to the nearby lighthouse and blowhole in the morning
https://goo.gl/maps/mtVqGbfbSAy
Fo Guang Shan Nan Tien Temple
https://goo.gl/maps/XXCs8TMfYmG2
Sri Venkateswara Temple
https://goo.gl/maps/bYfrury3sPS2
Sea Cliff Bridge
https://goo.gl/maps/G8GKEGRvG2r
Clifton
https://goo.gl/maps/E6tZksyEGTt
Whale Beach
https://goo.gl/maps/Axmgz3Deerv, the perfect spot for a beautiful sunrise (note that you’ll have to pay for parking starting at 6am)
Day 5: Whale beach turned out to be not only the perfect spot for a beautiful sunrise (did I mention that it is so rad to camp wild?!) but also the surf spot of the day with loads of surfers, as well as teams of Go Pro and Hurley flocking in early in the morning to set up for what seemed to be a contest. We lingered for a bit but then drove on to Newcastle and Nelson Bay. Newcastle is nice and features some cool ocean baths, lighthouse and impressive harbour (those cargo ships coming in – wow!!!) but what really impressed us was Nelson bay. We climbed mount Tomaree (the views!!!) and enjoyed the white sands of Zenith beach.
Links
New Castle
https://goo.gl/maps/QnVGCq6ra3U2
Nelson Bay
https://goo.gl/maps/oMiJd5TMH5n
Mount Tomaree
https://goo.gl/maps/J9sBqNhXNNB2
Zenith Beach
https://goo.gl/maps/NHCQyaH7D9T2
Day 6: We had set up our camp at Lake Cathie near Port Macquarie, which turned out to be the most beautiful place to wake up to. I got up at 5am and went for a morning walk at the serene beach. No one there, just the sand, the waves, the most wonderful sunrise and myself. Port Macquarie is definitely my favorite coastal town (if you don’t count in Melbourne). So cute and laid back. We took our time and stayed a bit – also it was laundry day and we gave our clothes the chance to dry in the warm – and quite breezy – spring air. We also took the chance to visit the local Koala Hospital, which was a very touching and educational experience. I have to say, some of these poor creatures have some pretty sad stories. and did you know that Chlamydia is one of the major problems for koalas?
Links
Lake Cathie: Get up early for a morning walk at the beach!!
https://goo.gl/maps/Wcj3wqGAGyF2
Port Macquarie
https://goo.gl/maps/EHJGGq8hnHT2
Koala hospital
https://goo.gl/maps/rWS6r93X2S32
Lv’s on Clarence has awesome breakfast and lunch
https://goo.gl/maps/QDeVfnsNc5k
Nearby Horton Street is quite nice for some shopping https://goo.gl/maps/Jeyw7nvnmn82
Day 7: We woke up on a campground in cute little Sawtell, south of Coffs Harbour. Right by the ocean and with two dramatic beaches, whales passing by while the sun rises. After a healthy breakfast by the beach watching the surfers and local whale watchers flock in. We stopped shortly in coffs harbour. the city is nice enough but didn’t impress us much so we drove in the direction of Byron Bay, topping shortly at heritage listed Ulmarra and very Scottish MacLean. hahaha, how cool is their city marketing?! Even the lamp posts are clad in Tartan here – and I had the best lunch since ages: miso glazed pumpkin salad. Wow!!! Glasgow style! We went on to Byron Bay and that city certainly has a special vibe to it. Unfortunately it’s also very busy and very commercial – and very camper unfriendly. We drove around for ages to find a camp site and ended up on a paid camp ground as wild camping is simply not possible. Sad for a city that prides itself on its surfer lifestyle and hippie vibe.
Links
This campground in cute little Sawtell is actually not an official campground. There are signs that overnight camping is prohibited when you’re driving up the street but at the site itself there are no signs. There are always vans lined up and although the police drove by nobody seemed to mind our camping there (which we did two or three nights). So I guess you should be fine.
https://goo.gl/maps/2GgYxTXH6GS2
Café Treeo is a lovely place for breakfast
https://goo.gl/maps/V2F9d9LoRXL2
Sea Salt has very tasty Fish & Chips
https://goo.gl/maps/YpPUCvYkzfM2
Lime dishes up some really nice Mexican fare
https://goo.gl/maps/CMxugHagwqq
Ulmarra
https://goo.gl/maps/o1KdHcUvGs12
Maclean: As Scottish as Oz gets
https://goo.gl/maps/CXxrZzm99692
On the Bite
https://goo.gl/maps/FeFTUrNz7392
Day 8: We went to Nimbin, a crazy little Hippie town, where you get offered weed on basically every corner. Cute but not much to explore really. Lismore is close, quite pretty and has some nice street art to check out. There’s also a place where you are supposedly able to see wild Koalas – we went there and I walked around for an hour gazing into the trees. Not a single Koala. So we decided to drive back to lovely Sawtell and spend some more time there.
Day 9: Enjoyed a relaxing beach day in Sawtell, went for a walk, relaxed, did nothing much and drove on to Emerald Beach in the late afternoon. Emerald Beach is only half camper friendly and we had some troubles finding the right spot (which was still not perfect) but the morning had a wonderful surprise in store.
Day 10: It was quite a cloudy morning (the first one really) and after having so much trouble finding the right spot I was kind of disappointed but decided to go for a morning take anyhow. I went in the direction of the Look at Me Now Headland Track (yes, that’s indeed the name) and was so excited to find some kangaroos grazing in the front yards of a little street. I got closer slowly, watching them, taking my time, feeling so happy about these cute creatures (also loved that they were very much alive as opposed to the poor babes we saw dotting the highway). They were soon scared off by a vehicle and I went on to the trail – just to find a hill completely covered in kangaroos. I couldn’t believe my eyes. They were all over. So many of them. So many with their little babies, who were content to either graze from the comfortable position in their mother’s pouches or were happily jumping around and playing with each other and their mothers. So unbelievably cute!
When Jens joined me we stayed there for a bit, continued our walk and then drove on to Brisbane.
Links
Emeral Beach
https://goo.gl/maps/W3hctFdAHfP2
Look at Me Now Headland Track
https://goo.gl/maps/ZB2swfVSmcn
Blissful Brisbane
Ok, so everybody was like “Yeah, Brisbane you can do in a day, no need to stay longer” and I figured Brisbane would be a sleepy town that doesn’t have much to offer. O, how wrong I was!! We were deeply saddened to have to leave this GORGEOUS city after just one day to explore. How cool is Brisbane?!!! This city is one of the most beautiful, charming, laid back, cool and exciting places we have ever come across. Exploring it by bike (Citycycle is awesome and the bike system is so clever), ferry, and by foot (30k steps in one day) we fell more in love with the city every minute. Regarding ferries: both CityCat and the free CityHopper are very cool and so much fun. A two hour CityCat ticket for the whole of Brisbane cost approx. 7AD. The ferry stations usually feature a bike sharing station, which makes it super easy to get around by connecting the two. CityHopper is the free alternative but only covers the city center.
Do check out the Botanic Gardens und South Bank with Kangaroo Point Cliffs etc., Chinatown on the other hand is not worth the way up.
Links
Brisbane City Botanic Gardens
https://goo.gl/maps/nKcYCFLC1DC2
South Bank
https://goo.gl/maps/GDt56DQ24N62
Kangaroo Point Cliffs etc.
https://goo.gl/maps/VU4rBCKU5vs
The Three Monkeys Coffee and Tea House is a bit weird looking but quite delicious
https://goo.gl/maps/ShGf9vvGZRJ2
The Brisbane City Hall has great free tours and interesting views: https://goo.gl/maps/Hay3JVgqwgA2
For a wonderful breakfast head to
Plenty (try the Kombucha)!
https://goo.gl/maps/dcXLeYTiDwG2
or West End Coffee House
https://goo.gl/maps/QmBFEB2ji912
If you’re up for a sweet treat, try Doughnut Time. I’m not usually a donut fan but these are great, not too sugary and greasy and great flavors
http://www.doughnuttime.com.au/
The Big Prawn is an unusal landmark, fun to stop at, if you pass by but not worth a detour
https://goo.gl/maps/baWP5w23NPF2
Splendiferous Sydney
From Brisbane we flew back into Sydney, sadly the last stop on our trip. We stayed in Bondi, which I had expected to be a rather touristy choice but it felt surprisingly untouristy, very relaxed and laid back and we really rejoiced about making it the base for exploring Sydney. Sydney is beautiful but I also found it to be somewhat exhausting. The center is crazy busy with people, Manley (which I had figured would be a rather secluded place) turned out to be the biggest tourist draw and though public transports and ferries connect all parts of Sydney quite well, it does take some time to get where you want to go.
The Opal Card is great for getting around via Metro und Ferry. The daily maximum fare is 15 AD, it’s automatically distracted if you travel often and works perfectly.
The Bondi to Coogee Walk is probably one thing that is on every tourist itinerary but you should definitely do it because it is BEAUTIFUL. My recommendation is to go late in the day. You’ll catch the sunset if you start at Bondi Beach around 4-5pm and will have the most beautiful walk.
Links
Paddington Reservoir Gardens: Lovely and very much off the beaten path
https://goo.gl/maps/ZonRUySoyzK2
One Central Park: beautiful architecture
https://goo.gl/maps/b6MSzXaxbZo
Anzak Memorial: very impressive and
https://goo.gl/maps/7MkwdtnzDHk
Lox Stock & Barrel: yummy!
https://goo.gl/maps/hj4XnNRJQ2Q2
Brown Sugar: wonderful Pancakes https://goo.gl/maps/diD8N9zKQh12
The Nine: had wanted to go because of their great reviews but they were closed. Might be worth checking out:
https://goo.gl/maps/wR3uQdLqqWK2
Bondi Farmers Market: the most wonderful farmers market filled with stalls full of organic produce, fantastic snacks and prepared food
https://goo.gl/maps/iyzzFUL8Epm
The Health Emporum: great health food store
https://goo.gl/maps/H8b5XTyZgom
Benett St. Dairy: wonderful breakfast
https://goo.gl/maps/3RSWybxGg9R2
Let Curiosity Guide You 