If I do say so myself, I planned the perfect 6 week road trip – going up along the Great Inland Highway and back via the Pacific Coast Way. This road trip took us through cattle country, sugar cane fields, quaint hinterland towns, beach resort towns, Great Barrier Reef, Sunshine Coast, Brisbane, Gold Coast and Sydney. I’ve put this page together to help people planning road trips along the east coast of Australia.

I added some island stays and sailing along the way and these were some of our highlights.

Route Information
We travelled inland to Airlie Beach (Great Inland Way) and back via the coast to Sydney (Pacific Coast Highway), then the Hume Highway (inland) to Melbourne. We loved the variety of travelling inland and along the coast. It was like two completely different holidays.
All routes here are suitable for all car / caravan types. While the roads are sealed, there are some areas that flood particularly in the outback so check before you go.
We drove through Brisbane and Sydney so add extra days to visit the cities.

To prebook or not?
We travelled with a touring (ie not offroad) caravan and I pre-booked most of the accommodation for the first 5 weeks. I debated whether to do this – but read some places are popular and book out year round and I didn’t want to miss out. If you are going during Queensland school holidays I recommend pre-booking.

Best months for this road trip
We travelled in September / October. I timed this because it is warming up and we wanted to do water activities. The weather at that time of year in Queensland is not too humid, and cyclone and stinger seasons haven’t started.

Road Trip Summary
For more info click the link or keep scrolling.
Day 1: Finley / Melbourne 293km
Day 2: Finley to Parkes 418km
Day 3: Parkes to Dubbo 119km
Day 4: Dubbo to Lightening Ridge 349km
Day 5 Lightening Ridge to Roma 423km
Day 6 Roma to Carnarvon Gorge 268km
Day 7 and 8 Carnarvon Gorge
Day 9 Carnarvon Gorge to Emerald 243km
Day 10 Emerald to Airlie Beach 500km
Day 11 and 12 Airlie Beach
Day 13, 14, 15 Sailing on Whitsundays
Day 16 Sailing and drive to Cape Hillsborough 170km
Day 17 Cape Hillsborough
Day 18 Cape Hillsborough to Yeppoon 353km
Day 19 Yeppoon
Day 20 and 21 Great Keppel Island
Day 22 Great Keppel Island to Byfield National Park 43km
Day 23 Byfield to Rockhampton 81km
Day 24 Rockhampton to Bundaberg 287km
Day 25 and 26 Lady Musgrave Island
Day 27 Bundaberg
Day 28 Bundaberg to Bargara 13km
Day 29 Bargara
Day 30 Bargara to Hervey Bay
Day 31 Hervey Bay to K’gari (previously called Fraser Island)
Day 32 and 33 K’gari
Day 34 K’gari to Coolum Beach (Sunshine Coast)
Day 35 and 36 Coolum Beach
Day 37, 38 and 39 Diddillibah (Sunshine Coast with family) 20km
Day 40 Diddillibah to Burleigh Heads (Gold Coast) 191km
Day 41 and 42 Burleigh Heads
Day 43 Burleigh Heads to Crescent Head (North Coast NSW) 422km
Day 44 Crescent Head to Sydney 443km
Day 45 Sydney to Gundagai via Southern Highlands 377km
Day 46 Gundagai to Melbourne 504km

Day 1 Melbourne to Finley 293km

• Stayed at: private house – there is free camping at Finley and low cost showground camping.
• Stops / Experiences: No stops – travel afternoon only to see relatives on the way. This was a good driving distance for the first day.

Day 2 Finley to Parkes 418km Newell Highway

• Stayed at: Parkes Showground it was cheap and had a new toilet / bathroom facility, we didn’t prebook
• Stops / Experiences: Jerilderie, Narrandera, Forbes
• Highlights: Dusk photo opportunities at Parkes Showground, the surprisingly interesting town of Narrandera, walking along the lakes at Forbes and Jerilderie
• Tip: This was quite a long driving day. Stopping at the towns along the way broke the drive up and made the drive enjoyable. Plenty of space to park at the towns along the way.

Day 3 Parkes to Dubbo 119km, Newell Highway

• Stayed at: Zoofari Lodge, Dubbo Zoo
• Stops / Experiences: Park Run Parkes, the famous Parkes Telescope (the Dish), Dubbo Zoo overnight experience
• Highlights: Dubbo Zoo overnight stay and behind the scenes tours we also loved the Dish.

Day 4 Dubbo to Lightening Ridge 349km

• Stayed at: Big 4 Opal Park – almost over the road from the bore bath
• Stops / Experiences: Gilgandra – windmill trail / coo-ee history, Green Car Door trail to sunset at Lightening Ridge, Bore Bath
• Highlights: We loved having a drink at the sunset location and soaking in the bore bath
• Tips: If you want to go to the bore baths at night stay at the Big 4 Opal Park. The Information Centre has a printout of four Car Door Trail maps

Day 5 Lightening Ridge to Roma 423km

• Stayed at: Roma Gun Club
• Stops / Experiences: Chambers of The Black Hand, Dirranbandi lunch stop
• Highlights: Hitting the Queensland Outback, Black Hand tour
• Tips: We missed out on the Big Rig Night Show at Roma it was booked out – book in advance if you want to do it.

Day 6 Roma to Carnarvon Gorge 268km

• Stayed at: Breeze Holiday Park Carnarvon Gorge (an easy 10 minute drive to the National Park visitor area) it had really good camp kitchen facilities, a bar open at certain times and good coffee
• Stops / Experiences: Roma saleyard tour, Roma shops / CBD
• Highlight: Loved the Roma saleyard tour and the 45km turnoff drive to Carnarvon Gorge with the cows and cliffs and the trees.
• Tip: The 45km road into the park from the Carnarvon Highway is sealed and suitable for conventional vehicles and caravans. Carnarvon creek rises rapidly after heavy rain and can make access impassable. The free Roma Saleyard tours currently run on Tuesdays it was very popular.
• Read more on the blog here

Day 7-8 Carnarvon Gorge

• Stayed at: Breeze Holiday Park Carnarvon Gorge
• Stops / Experiences: One long day hike to the end of the Main Trail, pre-dawn hike to the top of the gorge to watch the sun rise
• Highlight: We were blown away by the scenery.
• Tip: The main trail through the gorge is quite flat, some of the side trails are steep. There are many creek crossings – the rangers have placed rocks to step across be careful not to wet your feet if you are walking a long way. Two full days was the perfect amount of time for us.

Day 9 Carnarvon Gorge to Emerald 243km

• Stayed at: Emerald Caravan and Camping Village
• Stops / Experiences: Rolleston, Emerald pool
• Highlight: Travelling along the Great Inland Way – different sights along the way

Day 10 Emerald to Airlie Beach 500km

• Stayed at: Tasman Park Holiday Park – great location could walk to down ( about 15 mins) or catch the bus, really good bathroom facilities
• Stops / Experiences: Nebo Hotel, Middlemount
• Highlights: The outback roads through mining country (flat), hitting sugar cane country, the first view of Airlie Beach as we drove in, the spotless fancy bathroom at our caravan park!
• Route: The map shows our route. It was an easy sealed drive. I imagine it could be subject to flooding.

Day 11 – 12 Airlie Beach

• Stayed at: Tasman Park Holiday Park
• Stops / Experiences: Explored Airlie Beach shops / beachfront by foot, two island jet ski safari with Whitsunday Jetski tours
• Highlights: Lunch at Sorrento Restaurant at Coral Sea Marina delicious food, and just outside the craziness of the busy main Airlie Beach area, waterfront views. Jet skiing!

Day 13 -15 Sailing Whitsundays

• Stayed at: Whitsunday Blue catamaran
• Stops / Experiences: Sailing, snorkelling, eating, drinking, relaxing, stand up paddleboarding, Whitehaven beach
• Highlight: All of the above fantastic experience one of the many highlights of our trip
• Tip: We paid and left the caravan at the caravan park we may have been able to find a storage place but it was easy. We caught a bus direct to the harbour and a taxi back taxi didn’t cost much.

Day 16 Airlie Beach to Cape Hillsborough 170km

• Stayed at: Cape Hillsborough Tourist Park
• Stops / Experiences: No stops
• Highlight: Sunset on the Cape Hillsborough beach the Tourist Park is beautifully located right at the beach and at the start of hiking trails
• Tip: If driving south, google maps will tell you to turn at Mount Ossa. Don’t do it – it’s not for caravans. Continue to The Leap and turn off there – you will see an official sign to Cape Hillsborough.

Day 17 Cape Hillsborough

• Stayed at: Cape Hillsborough Tourist Park
• Stops / Experiences: Dawn kangaroo experience, short hikes, watched the Australian Football League (AFL) grand final in the communal area with takeaway pizza
• Highlight: Watching the grand final but most overseas people would say kangaroo experience!
• Tip: Take a photo of map of walks at reception. We did Andrew’s Point lookout – it’s best if you can walk there or back via the beach so it’s a circuit – check the tide times.

Day 18 Cape Hillsborough to Yeppoon 353km

• Stayed at: Beachside Holiday Caravan Park – loved that we were right on the beach
• Stops / Experiences: Sarina Sugar Shack tour (between Cape Hillsborough and Yeppoon)
• Highlight: Sugar shack – we were lucky we were the only people on our tour (first tour of the day) the next tour was packed.
• Tip: Book sugar shack tour in advance had nice food there. We would have liked to do the Capricorn Caves – we could have booked in advance and done the tour on the way to Yeppoon but didn’t think about it till too late.

Day 19 Yeppoon

• Stayed at: Beachside Holiday Caravan Park
• Stops / Experiences: Beach sunrise, Yeppoon lagoon, wandering the foreshore, good coffee , buying fresh prawns at Rosslyn Bay fish market
• Highlight: Watching the beautiful sunrise.
• Tip: We paid a bit extra for beachfront site – view is obstructed by vegetation but I thought it was worth it

Day 20 – 21 Great Keppel Island

• Stayed at: Great Keppel Hideaway (GKH), package included Keppel Konnections ferry connection
• Stops / Experiences: Snorkelling, relaxing, short hikes, happy hour drinks
• Highlight: The whole stay was a highlight an escape from reality to a tropical island. Seeing a turtle and two whales snorkelling.
• Caravan Storage: Cap Coast storage – just around the corner from the marina $30 / night included transfers to / from the marina
• Tips: There are great deals to GKH during the week outside of school holidays. We thought paying to go snorkelling with Great Keppel Watersports was worth it – recommend booking in advance.

Day 22 Great Keppel Island to Byfield National Park 43km

• Stayed at: Ferns Hideaway (no power / water on sites, each site has fire pit)
• Stops / Experiences: Canoeing on Water Park Creek, exploring Ferns Hideaway
• Highlight: Canoeing
• Tip: The restaurant at Ferns Hideaway is now only available for functions.

Day 23 Byfield National Park to Rockhampton 81km

• Stayed at: Southside Holiday Village
• Stops / Experiences: Kershaw Gardens, Rockhampton Museum of Art, Riverside District including Heritage Building Trail, Mount Archer National Park
• Highlight: A drink at hotel on the heritage building trail

Day 24 Rockhampton to Bundaberg 287km

• Stayed at: BIG4 Cane Village Holiday Park
• Stops / Experiences: Rockhampton Park Run and Botanical Gardens, Calliope River Historical Village (we just stopped for coffee, didn’t go in), Gin Gin
• Highlight: Rockhampton Botanical Gardens

Day 25 – 26 Lady Musgrave Island

• Stayed at: Lady Musgrave HQ (pontoon off Lady Musgrave Island)
• Stops / Experiences: Snorkelling and diving on the barrier reef, island walk
• Highlight: Diving and snorkelling with turtles, staying overnight on the pontoon in the glamping tents and watching the sunrise and sunset over the the island and reef. This stay was one of the highlights of our road trip.
• Tips: We left our caravan at the caravan park for the night. There was plenty of parking for the car at the marina.

Day 27 Bundaberg

• Stayed at: BIG4 Cane Village Holiday Park
• Stops / Experiences: Botanical Gardens, Bundaberg Rum distillery tour, Macadamias Australia farm
• Highlight: Bundy rum tour and tasting
• Tip: If I planned this trip again, I would stay at Bargara or a nearby beachside town and do a day trip into Bundaberg to see the sights in Bundaberg. The drive is very short.

Day 28 Bundaberg to Bargara 13km

• Stayed at: Absolute Oceanfront Tourist Park – 3km to town
• Stops / Experiences: Table service gourmet lunch, walk into Bargara to see the town
• Highlight: Lunch at Water Street Kitchen
• Tip: The Big 4 is closer to town, on the coastal walk and next to a swimmable beach. We would stay there next time. Absolute Oceanfront is smaller if you prefer a smaller caravan park.

Day 29 Bargara

• Stayed at: Absolute Oceanfront Tourist Park
• Stops / Experiences: Walked the Coral Coast Pathway Bargara to Burnett Heads and back, lunch at Kellys by the Sea, thai remedial massage, drink at Bargara Hotel,
• Highlight: Visiting the beaches and Mon Repos Turtle Centre by foot. The trail is flat, varied and beautiful. We loved Kellys By The Sea.
• Tips: If you only want to walk one way, you could catch public transport back (2 buses) or a taxi / Uber.

Day 30 Bargara to Hervey Bay 120km

• Stayed at: Beachfront Tourist Park Torquay – our site was right on the beach with a beautiful view
• Stops / Experiences: Childers, Vintner’s Secret Vineyard, walked the beachfront at Hervey Bay
• Highlight: Childers – heritage town with so much character, delicious food, lots to see we loved it
• Tip: Don’t just drive through Childers!

Day 31 – 33 K’gari (Fraser Island)

• Stayed at: Kingfisher Resort – we loved our stay there but it is a bit of a drive to the side of the island where most of the sights are.
• Stops / Experiences:
• Highlights: Floating down Eli Creek on blow ups (we bought them cheaply at Hervey Bay), beach driving
• Tips: We parked the caravan at Hervey Bay Storage, very cheap and easy (book in advance).
  There are lots of ways to visit K’gari – self drive with own car, self drive with hired car from the island or mainland, tours from the mainland or from Kingfisher Resort. If you are short on time you can see the main sights on a day tour but try not to miss this stunning island.

Day 34 K’gari to Coolum Beach 208km (from River Heads)

• Stayed at: Coolum Beach Holiday Park – great location in the middle of Coolum and right on the beach
• Stops / Experiences: Walked around the town of Maryborough, visited The Storybank (Mary Poppins museum), drinks overlooking the beach on the Coolum Surf Club balcony
• Highlight: The Cistern Chapel – a public toilet transformed into a work of art. So random – amazing!
• Tip: We selected a Top of the Dunes site right between access paths to the beach we loved being so close to the beach.

Day 35 and 36 Coolum Beach (Sunshine Coast)

• Stayed at: Coolum Beach Holiday Park
• Stops / Experiences: Surf beach, Sunshine Coast Coastal Pathway, walking around town, cooking course at Spirt House Restaurant, dinner at Bombay Bliss restaurant
• Highlight: Eating the food we cooked washed down with wine at the delightful Spirit House Restaurant cooking school
• Tip: Book the cooking school in advance.

Day 37 Coolum Beach to Diddillibah (Sunshine Coast) 19km

• Stayed at: Weeroona Bungalow (my parent’s highly rated airbnb)
• Stops / Experiences: Spent the day with family
• Tip: Diddillibah is located close to beaches and the hinterland so much to do. We left our caravan at a Rivershore Holiday Park nearby on an unpowered site. It was quite pricey but the site was literally right on the river and each site had a fire drum. It was beautiful.

Day 38 – 39 Diddillibah (Sunshine Coast)

• Stayed at: Weeroona Bungalow
• Stops / Experiences: We spent most of the time with family but had a delicious lunch at The Boat House in Cotton Tree. It’s right on the Maroochy River – magnificent view – we always love lunch there when we visit either in the restaurant or the more casual outside area.

Day 40 Diddillibah to Burleigh Heads (Gold Coast)191km

• Stayed at: Burleigh Beach Holiday Park – awesome location just across the road from the beach and close to the cafes, shops and restaurants
• Stops / Experiences: Walk along the coastal path, drinks on the beachside balcony at Burleigh Pavilion, dinner at Kin Pan-Asian Kitchen & Bar
• Highlight: Being wow-ed by the beautiful beach as we walked along the coastal path stopping for drinks along the way.
• Tip: Burleigh Heads is more low key than Surfers Paradise – but if you prefer the nightclub scene and more action than Surfers Paradise would be better

Day 41 and 42 Burleigh Heads

• Stayed at: Burleigh Beach Holiday Park
• Stops / Experiences: Beach, shops, Movie World, Burleigh Head National Park, coastal path Burleigh Heads to Palm Beach, Tullebudgera Beach, early morning beach / surfer photography
• Highlight: Getting up early (before 5am) and seeing the surf / early morning culture.

Day 43 Burleigh Heads to Crescent Head NSW 422km

• Stayed at: Waves Campground – this was a little hidden gem for us
• Stops / Experiences: This was one of our long driving days but we really enjoyed it. Brunswick Heads town and beach, Jayco Coffs Harbour for a peek, took a scenic road to Crescent Head.
• Highlight: Stopping at Brunswick Heads it wasn’t too busy so we had some nice chats with the locals in some of the stores – a local told us about Crescent Head so we decided to stay the night
• Tip: Make sure your van has water, we had power but not water connection.

Day 44 Crescent Head to Sydney 443km

• Stayed at: Private house
• Stops / Experiences: Beach walk at Crescent Head in the morning, Karuah for lunch stop. This was a driving day mainly. We spent the night with friends.
• Highlight: The walk along the beach in the morning I did regret not getting up to see sunrise at the beach.
• Tip: With the caravan we took the toll roads through Sydney. We had barely any traffic lights as we transitted through. It costs money though – make sure to buy a pass once you’ve travelled.

Day 45 Sydney to Gundagai 377km

• Stayed at: Gundagai River Camping & Caravan Park – cheap, on a beautiful river
• Stops / Experiences: Detoured to the very quaint town of Berrima in the NSW Southern Highlands and the wonderful Book Barn. Walked around Gundagai, admired the Gundagai Historic Bridge, sat by the river reading at the caravan park.
• Highlight: Southern Highlands
• Tips: If you book in advance, ask for a riverfront site at the caravan park there were some beautiful powered sites available right on the wide river. If you have time detour off the Hume Freeway to visit the Central Highlands. It doesn’t add much distance to drive as the detour follows the Hume Freeway.

Day 46 Gundagai to Melbourne (home) 504km

• Stayed at: Our own bed!
• Stops / Experiences: A relaxed last breakfast cooked on the BBQ – not wanting to let go of the road trip experience. We then not footed it to Melbourne straight down the Hume Highway only stopping for petrol and short rest breaks.
• Highlight: Not rushing to leave as early as possible like we normally do when packing to go home!