Geelong to Cairns in 9 weeks??
Submitted: Thursday, Apr 18, 2024 at 13:55
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BJLong7
Hey guys, myself, my wife and three kids are hoping to do a 9 week trip from
Geelong to
Cairns in sept. We are taking our dog and travelling in a Jayco journey triple bunk ensuite van towed by my Colorado. Just wondering if this is doable? We will be leaving on the 16th of sept but have to be back in
robe sa by the 14th of nov. We will be spending a few days in the
gold coast and i am (by myself) flying back to melb on the 12th of Oct (and returning to GC on the 13th of Oct) to take part in the melb marathon. Please see attached a list of
places my wife has jotted down to visit. If someone can recommend how many days to spend at each place, which
places to drop and which
places for an overnighter would be appreciated.
Cheers Brendan
Rough itinerary
Reply By: Member - Mark (Tamworth NSW) - Thursday, Apr 18, 2024 at 14:28
Thursday, Apr 18, 2024 at 14:28
Looks good, should have an enjoyable trip with sensible amount of driving with
young children.
Some suggestions below.
Going up the coast there and back, no inland travel?
You don't tell us what your interests are, that would help people respond better.
The travel times look like travelling at the legal speed limit, suggest you add 10% to those times towing Van.
Bear in mind you can't really swim on
the beach at that time of the year north of Bundy between stingers and crocs.
Can thoroughly recommend the
Stockton Beach CP near
Newcastle, catch the ferry across to the centre of
Newcastle.
Suggest the NRMA Narrabeen Lakes CP if you must stop in
Sydney otherwise there's many good ones just north of
Sydney on the Central Coast.
At Byron, look at staying at Broken Head CP, tucked into a beautiful valley at the southern end of Tallows Beach 5km south of Byron.
Suggest you take scooters or similar for your older girls when in CP.
For $10 Download Wikicamps if you haven't already.
Gave a great time.
AnswerID:
645688
Follow Up By: BJLong7 - Thursday, Apr 18, 2024 at 14:41
Thursday, Apr 18, 2024 at 14:41
Hey mark! Thanks so much for your reply. The girls have bikes so they love riding, the littleist one is on a balance bike but we have a
seat on the back of my bike for her. I stand up paddle board but other than that we are open to anything to knacker the kids out and to see the sites. We just want a relaxing time but with plenty of things to keep the kids occupied. I'm just worried about spending too little (or too long) at
places which won't be necessary. I want to do a few over ighters where we can just park and explore and take off the next morning to shorten the drive times but am happy to do a couple of long drives aka 5-6 hr trips. We can
free camp in our van for those overnighters. We plan to spend a few days in Sydney/gold coast/
Cairns(
port Douglas) and maybe Coffs aswell. Just looking for advice as we haven't done such a long trip before. Not so much into hiking as we want to be as the little ones will restrict us. We are planning on returning inland aswell so those locations are just for the way up.
Cheers mate, appreciate your help
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: BJLong7 - Thursday, Apr 18, 2024 at 14:47
Thursday, Apr 18, 2024 at 14:47
Part 1
Part 2
I need to condense this to allow for the trip
home :(
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Member - Mark (Tamworth NSW) - Thursday, Apr 18, 2024 at 16:27
Thursday, Apr 18, 2024 at 16:27
We are presently working our way down the NSW south coast to
Lakes Entrance. We found Merry Beach about 20 minutes north of
Batemans Bay had vans right next to
the beach with very docile roos grazing everywhere. It is similar to
Diamond Head near
Laurieton, just south of Port Macquarie.
Batemans Bay had a good bike path around the harbour, we saw large stingrays, seals and a dolphins within 1m of the bike path looking for a free feed when a fisherman was cleaning his catch.
Suggest
Emu Park or Yeppon instead of
Rockhampton they are more holiday themed on the coast.
Ditto
Cape Hillsborough instead of Mackay.
If you budget allows, for your kids entertainment stay in caravan parks marketed as Holiday Parks, it will have more activities for them (they'll cost more though).
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: BJLong7 - Thursday, Apr 18, 2024 at 19:08
Thursday, Apr 18, 2024 at 19:08
Thanks so much for the input, have changed a couple of things around to shorten stays at some
places. Just to be sure the 9 weeks also includes getting back to
geelong. Just looking at all the
places i've listed, it seems as though it might be a far fetched and not staying at certain
places long enough, any tips on
places to skip or stay less at?
This is where I am up to...
where I am up to
Part 2
Cheers
FollowupID:
926026
Reply By: Member - peter g28 - Thursday, Apr 18, 2024 at 21:01
Thursday, Apr 18, 2024 at 21:01
Just a few notes..
The trip is doable..no issues with that...
I would reconfigure some your road times from
Brisbane onwards up to
Cairns..
Brisbane to Sunshine Coast..depending on the time of day of the week has a habit of becoming a mobile
carpark.
The Bruce Highway has a LOT of traffic on it and it is tiring driving with consistent oncoming traffic etc and getting tied up in convoys, plus all the roadworks.
So as someone has mentioned earlier...do not discount the idea of heading inland from
Brisbane to go north..ie..head inland from
Brisbane towards
Toowoomba..across to
Roma..then straight up through to Charters Towers and cut into the coast from there or continue north through Mt Garnet down to
Innisfail.
This route has some very interesting towns to visit..and it can be cheaper on the hip pocket..ie van park fees etc.
Either way you will have a great memorable time..
Good Luck.
AnswerID:
645692
Reply By: Member - Bigfish - Friday, Apr 19, 2024 at 07:57
Friday, Apr 19, 2024 at 07:57
First thing I would do is get rid of the dates and stay length times. Also your travel time figures. You seem to be over planning. Have a list of
places you,d like to see and just head for them. Roadworks, weather, accidents, extended stays, health issues are all variables that will see your travel times thrown out the window. My brother in law is also a over planner and is a pain in the butt to travel with. Be flexible and take things as they come. You might also have accommodation issues in some
places. Being very flexible will lead to a lot better holiday than a rigid time
table. Good luck
AnswerID:
645694
Follow Up By: Member - Mark (Tamworth NSW) - Friday, Apr 19, 2024 at 11:18
Friday, Apr 19, 2024 at 11:18
Your meticulously planned BIL sounds like my wife! Always angst when travelling.
I concur with Bigfish on having flexibility. Apart from the schoolies period, I wouldn't bother booking more than a week ahead.
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