This is the second part of our road trip along the Australian East Coast. A 3,000 km road trip from Cairns, where we spent the Christmas holidays, to Melbourne, our new home for the next few months.
For part #1, driving through Queensland and sailing to the Whitsunday Islands, check out my article and video here.
After the Tropical North Queensland heat, we started driving towards (somewhat) cooler temperatures, along the coast of New South Wales, from Byron Bay to the Blue Mountains, not far from Sydney, which is about 1,000 km.
After staying a few days in Brisbane to see our friends and say farewell, we spent a few days in Byron Bay, a little coastal hippie town which I hold very dearly in my heart.
Itinerary:
- Day 7-8 – Brisbane
- Day 9-10 – Byron Bay
- Day 11 – Drive to Newcastle (a 7 hour drive on Australia Day)
- Day 12 – Hunter Valley tour
- Day 13 – Drive to the Blue Mountains
We chose to bypass Sydney completely as we didn’t want to worry about parking our two cars filled to the brim in the city (and traffic there is horrendous), and we’d both already been there.
We camped in our beautiful Quechua tent in Byron Bay, but stayed at AirBnbs both in the Hunter Valley and the Blue Mountains, so we could have a break from camping for a few days before the Sapphire Coast of NSW (part #3 of the road trip).
This is our full itinerary:
Recommendations:
- Suffolk Park caravan park for “cheap” camping in peak season close to Byron Bay, and direct access to the beach.
- Hunter Valley wineries: we visited De Bortoli, Mount Pleasant and Tyrrell’s. I fell in love with a gewurztraminer at Tyrrell’s and failed to buy a bottle (sad).
- Sherlie’s beautiful little cottage in the Blue Mountains, which we both fell in love with.
- Blue Mountains sightseeing: take your hiking shoes, leave your fear of heights at home and plan ahead!
Have you traveled along the East Coast before? Which was your favourite part?
Stay tuned for part three of our road trip soon!
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