good camping places queensland
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Sarah D
Hi, I am travelling into Brisbane in April and have 3 weeks to make it down to Sydney. Were thinking of hiring a camper van for the drive. Can anybody make suggesstions as to what are must sees along the way or/ and in both Brisbane and Sydney. Thanks.
Answer
Firstly, get in touch with the NRMA (National Road and Motorists Association) and the RACQ (Royal Automobile Club of Queensland). These two organisations have lots of touring guides and maps available for planning your trips.
Secondly, reconsider the campervan. Whilst it is a good way to travel around and have cheap accommodation, you can be restricted to some degree. Rental of a small 4 door sedan will be much, much less than a campervan. Fuel costs will be much less. With a car and a cheap motel/hotel room, you can base yourself in an area and drive around the area in much more comfort and much less parking problems. With the campervan, if you want to do day trips, you have to leave the camping grounds and drive around to return to your campsite and all the associated set up problems. I could think of nothing worse than deciding to go to a meal in a restaurant and having to drive the campervan from the camping grounds to the restaurant then have to drive back at 10pm and back into the camping grounds and set up the van.
There are also many of the smaller, out of the way areas, that the roads aren't brilliant and may be difficult to negotiate in a campervan. You are also limited to staying in camping grounds and many of the areas you visit may not have these available. Also a point to remember, nearly every camping ground has onsite cabins and caravans available for overnight or longer. These are generally a fairly cheap option and you soon get sick of crawling around in the restricted space and headroom of a campervan. The two organisations listed at the start also have a fairly comprehensive book of an Accommodation Guide.
As for places to see and do, the entire coastline is dotted with hundreds of beautiful little towns and beachside villages. A lot of it is going to depend on what sort of things you like to do. There's so much available really, from the glitzy Gold Coast and its tourist traps, and the superb hinterlands areas. You can go visit Steve Irwin's Park, go fossicking for thundereggs, enjoy a magnificent scenic view over the Mt Warning volcano basin, bushwalk through the rainforest to lots of little waterfalls up in the Lamington National Park, visit a glowworm cave, take a boat trip out to a massive sand island, learn to surf.
Then head across the border and check out the beautiful villages of Mullumbimby, Lennox Heads and into the hippy commune refugee from the 60's Nimbin. Also lots of beautiful walks around here. Climb Mt Warning and watch the sunrise as this is the first part of Australian to greet the new day.
Further south, and just off the highway, stop in at Iluka and explore the wonderful rainforest right behind the coastal dunes. Rent a small tinny (little boat with an outboard motor) and try your hand at a bit of fishing, or simply rock up to the banks of the mighty Clarence river and cast a line out. Head down the road for about 10 mins to Woody Head, a delightful little beachside hamlet with a beautiful beach and good swimming. Spend a few hours walking over the rock platform and watching the tiny fish and other critters in the little rock pools. Again, a great place to do a bit of fishing. Catch the ferry across to Yamba and wander around this famous and favourite surfing mecca for generations of Australians. Failing that, drive further down the highway, turn left at Maclean and head out to Yamba, don't forget the compulsory photo of the lighthouse on the headland and a beer in the pub overlooking the beach. You might find you spend a day or two in Yamba also, the camping ground there is very close to the main areas.
South again and a 3-4 hour drive brings you to the Coffs Harbour area. Certainly a bit of a tourist mecca and a bit overdeveloped, but still worth a look as the coastline is truly beautiful. Don't forget the essential stop at the Big Banana and its tackorama and food. As the other poster said, consider staying at Woolgoolga. Or continue further south to Nambucca Heads for a picture perfect camping ground beside the river and the beach. Again, rent a tinny and spend the day fishing on the river. You might not catch anything, but you will see a lot of the wildlife.
For the next stop, I would be making it at South West Rocks. There's heaps to do here and a visit up to the old gaol is worth a few hours. The view from Point Perpendicular lighthouse is superb and the surfing is pretty good too.
From there, head to the area of Forster, Tuncurry, Myall Lakes, Port Macquarie, Laurieton. All very nice areas clustered around each other and difficult to know which one to stay at. Pick maybe Port Macquarie and spend a few days travelling around the area. In the right season, you can do whale watching trips as whales migrate up to their breeding grounds around Fraser Island and the Great Barrier Reef.
Next stop, I would leave the coast and head into the Hunter Valley to stay maybe in Pokolbin. From here I would do
Australians, what cultural icons and sights should a visitor see?
Twilight
The red centre, a sunset in the desert, mardi gras?
What are the must sees?
Answer
Mardi gras is a very festive event and definitely worth seeing once in your life but unfortunately if you're coming soon, you've missed it because it takes place in May every year.
Depends where about in Australia you are; especially if you're an active person I would perhaps recommend -
- Snorkeling and deep-sea diving in the Great Barrier Reef
- Bridge Climb on the Harbour Bridge in Sydney
- Camping and hiking at the Blue Mountains, it's a good time of the year too because it's not too hot and chances of bush fires are severely reduced
- Sky diving
- Berry picking
- Barosa Valley makes lovely wine, you'll also find many factories or home-run businesses in the country that harvest honey, wool, cheese etc. you'll be able to see the production process
- You'll find beautiful beaches on the Eastern coastline, particularly in the Goldcoast/Sunshine Coast
- Theme parks, while you're in Queensland, there's Sea World, Movie World, White Water World, Wet n' Wild World, Dream World
- If you're in Sydney, you'll find good seafood at the Fish Markets in the city, suburbs likes Newtown, Surry Hills and Glebe area have great cafes/bars/clubs
- Opera House
- Taronga Zoo
- Blue Mountains, mostly for sight seeing in the tourist areas such as the three sisters, but...I don't know that's not particularly interesting to me.
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