26 Nights In A Campervan, Australia’s East Coast – Days 8-13, Queensland
- Kelly McKenna
- Nov 1, 2017
- 2 min read
Day 8: Airlie Beach to Mackay to Sabrina to Yaamba Kilometres travelled – 457 Where we stayed – Yaamba Rest Area (free) Highlights – ate scones and saw lots of pretty butterflies at the Mackay Botanical Gardens, took photos with “Buffy” the big cane toad, drank ice cold cider at the pub next to our rest area, slept on pretty much the roadside but it was surprisingly peaceful. Very quiet day as lots of driving.
Day 9: Yaamba to Yeppoon to Bluff Point to Emu Park to Agnes Water
Kilometres travelled – 346
Where we stayed – Horizons Kangaroo Sanctuary (paid)
Highlights – saw stunning scenery at Bluff Point (also got attacked by a snake*, less enjoyable), saw The Singing Ship sculpture and beautiful WW1 memorial, played trivia games along the road (this is genuinely a government endorsed activity), camping with kangaroos and seeing lots of cute rescued joeys.
Day 10: Agnes Water to Bundaberg to Maryborough
Kilometres travelled – 240
Where we stayed – Wallace Motel and Caravan Park (paid)
Highlights – visited the town of Seventeen Seventy (the town where Captain Cook landed in Australia in 1770), had lunch at a free zoo in Alexandra Park, tried out the rum at the Bundaberg Distillery, took a photo with Mary Poppins in Maryborough.
Day 11: Maryborough to Rainbow Beach to Noosa Heads
Kilometres travelled – 239
Where we stayed – Boreen Point Campground (paid)
Highlights – walked across a giant sand dune overlooking Double Point and Fraser Island (unfortunately we didn’t visit, it’s on our list for a future trip), saw koala bears in the wild, watched a sensational thunderstorm across the lake at our campsite with fork and sheet lightning (I was absolutely convinced we were going to die).
Day 12: Noosa Heads to Brisbane
Kilometres travelled – 159
Where we stayed – Best Western Plus Hotel Diana (paid)
Highlights – fell in love with beautiful Brisbane, stayed in a hotel in the city and had the best showers and best nights sleep ever – direct quote from my journal “although our room was nothing special, I truly appreciate just the sheer amount of space we had. Even just the simple joy of being able to sit up in bed without hitting my head!” This night happened to fall on Valentines Day so we had accidental date night (we don’t celebrate V Day usually): walked through the city botanical gardens and ate and drank our body weight at Jamie’s Italian.
Day 13: Brisbane to Surfers Paradise to Byron Bay
Kilometres travelled – 265
Where we stayed – Flat Rock Tent Park (paid)
Highlights – watched a sandcastle competition at Surfers Paradise, walked up Byron Bay lighthouse, discovered squeaky sand (makes noise when you kick it).
*snake attack was obviously not deadly, but was scary. We think we must have disturbed a mummy as we did everything correctly – stay still, quiet and remember it’s more scared of you than you are of it, and it will leave you alone – and it decided to launch itself out the bushes at us. We’re fairly certain that we were just unlucky and that this isn’t typical behaviour for most snakes 🙂
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