Melbourne to Cairns 2026
Helen
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And so we meet again East Coast Australia! When we originally booked the trip, we were told to expect mostly good weather but lots of crowds because of Easter and school holidays. Everyone advised us to book in advance. We figured we managed some long weekends and school holidays in our 2024 trip to Perth, so thought it would be similar. We couldn’t have been more wrong and should have factored in that, approximately, 80% of Australia’s population lives on the East Coast. While in Chiang Mai, we happened to check out some of our favorite caravan parks and tossed in some estimated dates. To our surprise, we found some of them to be solidly booked. This resulted in us spending a week coming up with a plan and booking stops to cover the first 3 weeks on the mainland. We don’t normally plan so this was a challenge for us and for the most part we stuck to it.
A quick flight from Hobart had us at the Let’s Go’s Melbourne office to pick up our next van and on the road by lunch time. We had decided to escape the hustle of Melbourne and spend our first night out at Warragul, just a couple of hours away. We could stock up on groceries, unpack and get the van set up. Our time in Tassie had indicated I am still not a morning person and we should check the local K-Mart for a cheapo microwave, make everyone’s lives easier. This version of the Tourer didn’t come with the diesel heater but we had extra storage under the seat so it balanced out. The next day we headed off to Toora where we stayed at Toora Tourist Park for 3 nights. We pretty much had the place to ourselves for the first two nights. We drove down to Sany Point the first day for a walk along Waratah Beach. It was windy, rainy and cool but we enjoyed our walk. The following day we headed into Wilson’s Prom area to hike Fairy Cove and Tongue Point. It was a beautiful day and we really enjoyed the hike. We sat at the point for lunch, watching the waves hit the rocks and found it funny when we noticed a rock that looked like a grumpy old man. When we got back, the park had been taken over by families for the start of the long weekend and our quiet was shattered.
We left the next day to head to Seaspray where we would spend the rest of the Easter long weekend. Google took us a crazy way to get there and it was a quick reminder to double check directions. Seaspray Caravan Park was great. We had a site by the fence so no one could walk through the site and everyone was really respectful of people’s peace and quiet. There was one horrible moment when I sprayed myself with the water hose set up for cleaning the dump point and had to walk back through a busy park soaking wet. Luckily for me, it was just water. We got in some long daily beach walks and saw a moonrise. We also drove into Sale for some groceries and a Dan Murphy’s stop.
After that we booked a kid free break at NowaNowa Caravan Park. We did some walks along the gorge, were followed by the chickens, had nice conversations in the camp kitchen and drove down to Lakes Entrance on our last day to stock up. We made some changes to our schedule here as it became apparent that it wasn’t as busy as expected. The fuel prices, which had gone nuts with the war in Iran, were really affecting people’s decision to travel or not. The highest we paid was 3.15/L but we saw it as high as 3.80/L. Let’s Go even offered a $250 fuel rebate to renters to keep people from canceling. While here, we also made the decision to head back to Canada for the summer… long story. We got a really good deal and booked the direct BKK-YVR-YXC with Air Canada. We also booked 4 nights in BKK, 3 at our old stomping ground the Vie!
A two night stop at Boydtown Caravan Park was quiet and uneventful. It was surprisingly empty as many people had moved on after Easter, so we managed to get in some beach walks and enjoyed the space. A 2 night stay in Narooma had us enjoying some short but stunning beach walks. We also had a nice walk along the pathway, by the golf course and over to Bar Rock. We booked 4 nights at Big 4 South Durass Holiday Park which got us to the end of school holidays. It was crazy, kids everywhere and even the camp staff said it was “doing their heads in”. We met Sean, Les and Mike who were at the site next to us. They were on their bi-annual boys camping/fishing weekend and invited us to sit with them around their firepit for 2 nights. It was great and Mike ended up giving us a bottle of his homemade chili oil. We also managed to get in some nice long beach walks, the distance between the 3 areas was around 10km. This is also where “trust me, I got this” or as we coined it “Adventures with Paul” really started. Paul was all about exploring the rocks and not always taking the regular path. The nights spent here meant we were able to get a powered beach front site at Potato Point, one of our favourite places for 3 nights. The camper in the neighboring site left us some wood and a firestarter so we were able to have a couple of nice nights sitting by the fire. We enjoyed our daily beach walk and Paul rescued a baby octopus. It was a wildlife mecca with emus, kangaroos and monitor lizards all walking through our site… with the occasional human child for good measure. Since we had arrived on the mainland it had been really windy and there was a gale warning almost daily. There were a few hazardous surf warnings as well which created some pretty booming waves. It rained a bit, but not too heavily. NOTE: We took way too many photos to include them all here! Check out our full album to see the rest of the highlights.
We spent 2 nights in Kiama where we did Kaleula Head to the Coastal Cliff walk, which was just as lovely as last time. The staff at Kendall’s gave us some directions to avoid the worst traffic in Sydney so we were able to stick around the edge on the way to Budgewoi. We had booked 2 nights here so we could base ourselves elsewhere for Anzac Day, another busy long weekend. It was packed,rainy, there was bleach in the washer which ruined my pants, two highly recommended restaurants were a bust so we were a bit grim about it all. We did get ourselves out of that mindset when we found a quiet spot by the lake where we could bring our chairs and hang out. We also got to see some of the Anzac memorials and a rugby tournament on one of our walks into town.
We chose Seal Rocks for the actual long weekend and it was great. It was packed when we got there, but we had a site by a retaining wall so no one was walking through. The lounge was busy with people visiting and watching the sun set so we were able to be a bit social on our first night. We didn’t see any whales this time but some dolphins came close to shore. Most people cleared out the next day which was a nice surprise. We had a nice visit with our neighbors one afternoon, an older couple. Interesting story, they used to live on a boat with their kids and befriended a younger man who they helped a lot, letting him crash on the couch and feeding him dinner. They lost touch and found out years later that he was found guilty of murdering 12 people. After that we stopped at Bonny Hills, we had planned 1 night but extended to 3. It was fairly quiet and we enjoyed some long beach walks. We had some nice conversations in the camp kitchen, meeting a couple who had just moved back to Australia after living in Canmore for 10 years. Woolgoolga was packed and we moved to avoid camping by some loud, ballad playing teens. We did an “Adventure Paul” walking tour along the shore on the way back. We did get to see a cauldron of bats, which was really cool and had loads of lorakeets settle in the nearby tree.
We had 3 nights in Iluka. We walked along the pathway to Queen Street beach to the bluffs entrance every day and did a couple of walks along the pathway into town. Unfortunately Chez Basho was closed for renovations but with the camp kitchen set up being so good, we were able to have some great meals. We even hit up the local butcher and had steaks one night. It was fairly quiet, but we did chat with a solo American who asked Paul for some help with his van. We did a positioning stop for a night at Big 4 Tweed Billabong which was interesting to say the least. The site was horrible and the kids next door had a “children of the corn vibe”. We had decided to walk over to the local Dan Murphy’s and when we opened the door the one kid was standing there, just staring at the van, didn’t blink… weird! On the way back, some ambulance drivers decided to flick on the siren as they passed by which scared the bejesus out of us and almost made us drop Paul’s beer. The showers however, were some of the best we had. The next day, we drove through Brisbane and stopped at Beachmere for a night. This was a sentimental one since it was where we stayed our first road trip in 2017. We walked down the Esplanade and had a quiet evening. I think at this point we really started to relax a bit, the crowds had eased and we were through the last “big” city.
We did a quick stop in Hervey Bay at Sunlodge Tourist Park, instead of Tin Can Bay. We were able to walk along to Gataker’s Foreshore again, which was lovely but sadly our favorite tree had fallen down. We missed out on our usual beachfront site at Moore Park, but we love the Bundaberg area so booked three nights nearby at Turtle Sands in Mon Repos. There is a turtle conservatory there but we were about a month late to see the turtles nesting. It was still nice and we got some walks in. Found a great butcher in Bundaberg so enjoyed some BBQ steaks! We had a night at Buschooks, where we met the new managers, a super nice couple. Still the best kitchen set up we’ve ever had. Then we headed out to Keppel Sands. Our first night we almost got blown away in the camp kitchen when a storm came through, blew everything all over and ended up with us running back to the van plates in hand. It settled the next morning and we were able to have a nice beach walk. We also enjoyed a chat in the common area with some locals along with a few rounds of mini golf.
We stopped at Cape Palmerston, we had stayed one night in 2017, but after reading the reviews booked in for 3. Our first night was quiet and the next day we went for a nice long beach walk. Of course this was after one of Adventure Paul’s patented “trust me, I know where to go” short cuts which added an extra 20 minutes. The next day, we went for another long beach walk and sat by the communal fire pit after dinner, which was nice. It was just us until Dean, the camp caretaker came over. We had a really nice chat with him, then his wife Jackie and some of their friends headed over to chat. The next day was another beach walk, then Dean and Jackie came and sat in the camp kitchen with us for several hours. They are really nice and we enjoyed meeting them. After that it was over to Cape Hillsborough which was really busy. We managed to get a quieter spot with decent wifi so we could watch the footie. We did have another “Huntsman in the van” experience but this time it was smaller and we were able to trap it and toss it out the door with our tupperware container. Our highlight was being able to head back up to Diwaia and Andrews Point lookouts. It was a nice day and we saw some turtles. The following day we did the hike over to Beachcomber Cove.
Our next stop was one of the standouts, Hydeaway Bay Caravan Park (we realized we didn’t take enough photos here 😞). We had stayed here back in 2017 and again in 2023, enjoying both our stays so booked in 3 nights. It started off with a nice chat with our neighbors with an afternoon beverage. Then we took the free shuttle and headed over to Monte’s at Cape Gloucester for sunset and a meal. The meal was meh, the service was nuts but the sunset made up for it. When we got back, we went over to the firepit for some more social time. It was great. Kathy and Neil, the owners, were there along with numerous long stayers with the standouts being Narlene, Ric and Helene. We had a really good night and were invited to “barefoot bowls” the following day. We weren’t really sure about going, but Kathy made sure we did and it was great. We got to meet all the local bowlers, including Sylvie and Carol, as well as Stan who gave us some lessons. We had a great time and stayed for the post game BBQ before heading back to sit around the firepit. Helene, who wouldn’t take no for an answer when passing out chocolate, and Ric, who did poetry recitals, had a lot of interesting stories based on their experiences working overseas and having traveled for years. We must have been okay as we were invited back for more bowls the next day. We did a scrounger and I ended up 3rd place on our team with my strategy of “aim at nothing but hit the kitty and move it so my ball is closer”. We had another good night around the firepit and were wishing we hadn’t booked to move on the next day. We went to say goodbye and were given hugs and some red snapper to take with us.
Our next stop was 3 nights in Bowen at Tropical Beach Caravan Park where we have stayed before. We had some nice beach walks, saw loads of turtles and a sting ray jumping at sunset. There was a music night and we had some nice chats with other campers, met a long stayer who reminded us of our friend Lee in Cambodia. Then it was a night in Alva Beach, we got in a nice long beach walk and got some groceries in Ayr on the way. We had a night at Crystal Creek, sadly not as good as it used to be. Then it was off to Wongaling Beach for our final 5 nights. On the way, we had to make our traditional stop at Lucinda for some fish and chips. Thank to the stop in Ayr, we were prepared this time and brought our own malt vinegar which we left for others.
Bali Hai was great, another one of our top stops. We had nice chats in the kitchen every night, despite the sign warning about crocs and the spiders. We managed to cook the red snapper which was delicious and had a jazzy music night when one of the campers played their saxophone in the common area. We had a really nice evening sitting with Deb and Harvey, our neighboring campers, and their two dogs. We didn’t get to do the Kennedy Track, it was closed due to a landslide, but still got our daily beach walks. Our last day we did laundry, packed up and got ready to drop off the van the next afternoon. That night we sat outside, saw lots of shooting stars and satellites while reminiscing about the trip. Our last morning, we had a blip when we were about to leave and the van wouldn’t start. Paul went over to the office and Dave, the owner, came over with a booster pack so we were able to get going. We headed out and dropped off the van in Cairns.
We felt like it was a bit of weird ending to the trip between needing the boost, another minor issue with Let’s Go mishandling our liability deposit refund, our Uber taking us to the wrong airport terminal and the border patrol making everyone wait 20 minutes in a long line up before letting anyone through. All in all though, we had another wonderful Australian adventure. We had some great experiences, met wonderful people and still haven’t seen all the East Coast has to offer. For now though, we both think it’s unlikely we’ll do another mainland odyssey. So that’s it for Australia 2026 but don’t be surprised if you see Tasmania 2027!
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