From Melbourne via Canberra and Sydney to Brisbane – a wonderful route for a road trip along the east coast of Australia. As we had already explored Canberra and Sydney, we skipped these destinations and focused on the places we didn’t know yet! We had a lot of fun and enjoyed our road trip to the fullest!
You can find our 19-day journey here! If you want to check out our favourite places between Melbourne and Brisbane with more information as well as travel time and distance, you can also have a look at this post: 15 things to see between Melbourne and Brisbane.
Saturday, 30/03/2018
Our journey along Australia’s east coast began with tears. Melbourne is a second home to us and one of our favourite cities. After visiting places like Phillip Island and the Great Ocean Road and spending several months in the metropolis with our dear host family, we were off to Brisbane. Next stop: Wilson’s Promontory. We didn’t quite make it there and ended up at a campsite very close by!
Sunday, 01/04/2018
After the first night of this road trip in our car, we set off for the national park. Located about three hours from Melbourne, Wilsons Promontory is a national park in the Gippsland region of Victoria and the most southern point of Australia’s main island (the only other place further south is Tasmania). Especially the locals are fascinated by the beaches and the national park is also an attraction for hikers.
Monday, 02/04/2018
After an approximately 7-hour drive, we reached Green Patch, a town in Australia’s Jervis Bay Territory. After this long drive, the sight of the crystal clear water and white sand filled us with delight. We were impressed and arrived just at the right time: sunset! Not far away there were wallabies jumping around and we spotted dolphins in the water.
Tuesday, 03/04/2018
On Tuesday we already reached Sydney and visited Bondi Beach, the most famous surf beach in Sydney. However, we did not go surfing – it was clearly too crowded for us. We had already visited Sydney a few months earlier for New Year’s Eve, so we didn’t visit the city in more detail a second time. If you prefer nature, you should visit the Blue Mountains. But now it was time for us to move on!
Wednesday, 04/04/2018
We had arrived in Newcastle! In fact, we were very enthusiastic about the beach, but wanted to quickly move on to Port Stephens. There were three beautiful bays: Nelson Bay, Figal Bay and Anna Bay – whereby “we” were of course looking forward to Anna Bay. And indeed: Anna Bay was the most beautiful in our opinion! Huge sand dunes towered in front of the sea, where you could have tried sandboarding or camel riding in the dunes.
Thursday, 05/04/2018
Off to Port Macquarie to the Koala Hospital! We were truly excited. At the start there was a small room where you could get general information about koalas. Afterwards we went for a walk around the cages housing the sick koalas. We became very sad and quiet when we saw the little locals sitting in their trees – some of them with burns, without a second leg or missing an eye. In front of each enclosure we learned what had happened to the koalas and how long they had been in care of the doctors. We were also informed about the therapy and could donate for the little ones and their healing. Many of the koalas had been hospitalised because of bush fires, but also a surprising number due to dog attacks or car accidents. Afterwards we went to Dorrigo National Park. There, we marvelled at Dangar Falls, our first Australian waterfalls!
Friday, 06/04/2018
On Friday, we went to Coffs Harbour first. We went for a walk and then drove on to Washpool National Park. While taking pictures, Carlo unfortunately dropped his camera into a small river. We cooked ourselves something tasty in the rest area and then made our way to our sleeping place not in the best of mood.
Saturday, 07/04/2018
The next day we set off for Nightcap National Park. Among other things, this is home to Minyon Falls – a huge waterfall. Measuring around 100 metres, it thrills with its masses of water falling over the huge rhyolite cliffs that were once part of the Tweed volcano. Unfortunately, we only admired the Minyon Falls from above, as it had started to rain. However, you also have the option of hiking all the way down. Afterwards, we went to Byron Bay to get our camera fixed. It was also time to do some shopping again! Extraordinary: Byron is a little hippie town! There were many colourful shops with dream catchers and peace signs. We thought it was great!
Sunday, 08/04/2018
A day later we again spent the day in Byron Bay – we really loved this town! Carlo spent the morning surfing, whereas I devoted myself to my book. Afterwards we visited the beautiful and very famous lighthouse in Byron.
Monday, 09/04/2018
On Monday, we went to Lamington National Park: one of our favourite national parks on the east coast – no, not only because the name is a well-known and also very delicious pastry in Australia! There were many short, but also longer walks in the national park. Our highlight was the hike to Moran Falls. The walk to the first lookout took us maybe half an hour and it provided a great view of the big waterfall from far away. Then we went on to the second lookout, which was very close to the waterfall. However, we followed the river. So in the end we actually stood at the head of the waterfall and could look down 80 metres! Wow! Lamington National Park is also home to the Tree Top Walk – a trail high up in the trees. At the end we explored the Binna Burra Bellbird Lookout and spotted lots of little wallabies.
Tuesday, 10/04/2018
On Tuesday we made our way to the Gold Coast. This is where we started to shuttle slightly between places – but we didn’t have any problems with that as we only had to drive about an hour at a time! The Gold Coast attracts masses of tourists because of the Surfers Paradise. We didn’t go surfing though, as it was clearly too crowded and we weren’t experienced enough yet. However, we were there at exactly the right time: the Commonwealth Games were taking place. So we went to the beautifully designed shopping centre and watched the games on the huge screen. Unfortunately, we had to buy a new camera while we were there.
Wednesday, 11/04/2018
The next day we headed to Springbrook National Park, which is roughly on the way to Lamington National Park. Springbrook National Park is home to many beautiful waterfalls. Firstly, we visited the Natural Bridge: a waterfall that flows into a cave with lots of bats. Carlo was absolutely thrilled – it was something completely different. Another extraordinary waterfall is the Twin Falls. They were very crowded and it took a while until we could take a picture without other people in it. Finally, we went to the Best Of All Lookout, but then we quickly became quite cold.
Thursday, 12/04/2018
On Thursday we took a little “time out” and spent the day at the Gold Coast mall again. We enjoyed the games and then took a walk along the beach.
Friday, 13/04/2018
Off to Springbrook National Park again! This time, however, we visited Purling Brook Falls. This waterfall is also called Dancing Waters and it really does live up to its name! We had to laugh when we saw that this tour was closed and that we had to go back the exact same way. So there were a lot of stairs again that we had to climb this time!
Saturday, 14/04/2018
On Saturday we went to Brisbane, even though we were going a bit further south again the following days! We strolled around the city, explored different places, drank coffee and ate pizza – a very successful day!
Sunday, 15/04/2018
And off we go heading south again! We decided to visit a sanctuary about an hour south in Currumbin. The Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary was amazing! We took pictures with a koala on our arm and visited the bird, reptile and sheep shearing show as well as the crocodile feeding. We also saw cassowaries, kangaroos and other Australian residents. The day was really fun and we can only recommend the Sanctuary as many of the resident animals can even run around freely!
Monday, 16/04/2018
On Monday we enjoyed another quiet day, went surfing and swimming as well as shopping!
Tuesday, 17/04/2018
Our second last day of our Melbourne-Brisbane road trip was spent on the Gold Coast again. This time, however, we weren’t watching Commonwealth Games, but planning our upcoming travels: Bali, Brisbane-Cairns road trip and our New Zealand trip at the end of May. The adventure wasn’t going to end with this road trip!
Wednesday, 18/04/2018
On Wednesday we spent a lot of time at a campsite close to Brisbane. We did our laundry, went for a shower and then packed our bags for our trip to Bali the following day! A new adventure begins!
