Australia Road Trip - Cairns-Melbourne

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We have made in to Melbourne!!! After 5 weeks and over 5000km we have finally made it. Paul is currently watching a ridiculous game of Australia football so has left me to write our last blog for a while. So last time we wrote we had just arrived in Cairns which was lovely and spent a few days there chilling out and appreciating the fact that it wasn’t crazily humid for the first time in 2 months. We attempted to prepare for our massive road trip but both decided a plan wasn’t necessary and just to head south and see what happened. So off we went, both extremely excited, to pick up our home for the next 5 weeks. First impressions were it was small (extremely small) and as the only thing I have ever driven is a mini I was very worried about driving it. After a very embarrassing 5 minutes where I couldn’t turn the van on (I was turning the key the wrong way) we were off! Driving in Australia is very easy, the roads are so straight and well sign posted so you hardly even need a map. As Paul was navigating he decided we should head inland straight away rather than stay by the coast. As everyone knows there is not much inland in Australia so we spent a few days driving down the straightest roads that seemed to go on forever. There would be a small town every few 100km which seemed so old fashioned and a little bit odd. At one point we so nearly ran out of petrol just because it was so far between towns and stupidly hadn’t taken any spare with us.
We also begun to realise that it wasn’t actually that hot in Australia, in fact it was actually still winter. Also it kept raining! There is actually nothing worse than living in a tiny van when its raining, everything gets soaking wet and it is so loud! So after a few days driving through the middle of nowhere I decided we should return to the coast. We had a night staying in this awesome campsite where we were basically parked in some woods, Paul built an awesome camp fire and we ate kangaroo sausages. Unfortunately whilst Paul was collected some wood he got bitten by something (we think a spider). As we were absolutely covered in mosquito bites we didn’t really think anything of it until Pauls hand started to swell up. It was getting quite big but we decided to just ignore it and go to sleep and when we woke up the next day it was MASSIVE. He had to keep it elevated as otherwise he was in so much pain so I panicked a lot and dragged him to a pharmacy where they started mentioning ambulances and spider bites and I panicked even more. Luckily they just gave him some anti-histmamines which knocked him out for like 2 days and meant he didn’t have to do any driving. After a few days his hand finally began to return to normal and then something bit him on his other hand and that one swelled up as well! It was all a bit ridiculous and meant he spent about 4 days either asleep or being really dopey but I was happy as got to chill out on some of the most beautiful beaches.
Next we headed to Bundanberg where we visited the famous rum distillery and as I was driving Paul got to drink 4 massive samples of rum which made him very happy (and drunk). We then reached Hervy Bay which we were both really excited about as we were going on a whale watching tour. We booked a lovely tour where we got so much yummy food like profiteroles and scones but we were the youngest people on the boat by like 50 years. Seeing the whales was incredible, they came right up to the boat and played around for ages. We had to keep waving and cheering to keep the whales interested and running from one side of the boat to the other. Was such an awesome day and definitely one of the highlights of our whole trip. At nights we were staying mostly at campsites but tried to stay at as many free rest stops as possible but most of them were pretty grim. The campsites were pretty odd places, most of them were like little old people communities who were all really lovely to us. We stayed at one really odd campsite where literally everybody had mullets! Our next stop on the trip was right next to the Glass house mountains where we visited the Steve Urwin zoo. It was a very different zoo as lots of the animals were free to roam around, like these crazy lizards which just wandered around. It had a massive kangaroo area which you just wandered through and got to feed the kangaroos which we got very excited about. We also got to stroke koalas which were so unbelievably cute.
Next we headed to Brisbane where we stayed at a lovely campsite with this crazy turkey who kept stealing all our stuff and drove Paul mad. We spent one day exploring Brisbane which we loved and then decided to head a bit inland to Springbrook national park. The journey up to the national park was crazy, tiny little windy roads and these richity little bridges. It was so steep and there were no barriers so felt like we were going to fall every time we went round a corner. It was so worth it when we reached the top, the views were incredible. We stayed the night in the park basically by ourselves and the stars were stunning. Next we reached Byron Bay which was a very cool little town and full of backpackers so finally got to see some people our age. Decided to head to a pub for the first time in ages and had a great night with a lovely Irish couple who we didn’t really understand but were lots of fun. We then visited another gorgeous national park where we stayed right next to a beautiful beach, again the journey to visit it was a bit crazy and had to drive down some unsealed roads which was strictly forbidden in the van but was so worth it. We then had a few days visiting lots lovely beaches and eating some of the bests pies in Australia. Throughout our trip we also visited lots of big things, like a big banana, a big prawn and a big pineapple. It was a bit bizarre as they are huge tourist attractions over here but really they are just a bit crap.
We then came up with the idea to spend Pauls birthday in Sydney so we speeded up a little so we could make it on time. Pauls birthday was a bit random as living in a van limits you a little bit but we managed to have a great exploring Sydney and visiting the aquarium. We treated ourselves to lots yummy food and I bought Paul a few presents including a cigar which after a few glasses of whiskey he attempted to smoke and failed miserably, it was very, very funny. Once we reached Sydney the weather got a lot colder and after a very miserable night in the van we actually had to buy a heater. After a quick stop over in Canberra we decided that since it so cold anyway we should head up into the snowy mountains. We stayed in a beautiful spot before we drove up right next to a lake with the mountains all around where the temperature got down to -2 at night! The next day was one of the best days of our trip we rented snow chains and headed up through the snowy mountains. The drive was beautiful and was crazy seeing snow. It was a very windy, steep climb so took us a few hours to drive over the mountain so when we reached the other side we decided to stop at a random rest stop. This was the best idea as at the rest stop were 10 wild kangaroos who were just hopping around. We spent ages sat around with the kangaroos all around us and when we started to make lunch they all went mental coming so close to us. We didn’t think it could get much better and then a couple of wild emus came down the road. Was amazing to see them in the wild and they really are very strange animals.
We were reaching the end of our trip and decided to drive down the great alpine road to reach Melbourne. Again we had to rent snow chains and this drive was even better, the view from the top was incredible. After stopping in a few more random places we finally reached Melbourne and dropped off the van. Campervanning through Australia has been incredible, you really don’t really how crazily massive this country is until you travel through it. To think that we have only seen such a small part of the country. It has been such an experience although I would not recommend living in a van for 5 weeks! So now we are in Melbourne where we are hoping to live for the next 6 months, we have finally found somewhere to live after a very long search and hopefully should have jobs soon. I am not looking forward to real life after 4 months of travelling, we have only been in Melbourne for a week and I already have itchy feet! Miss you all back home but the great news is that whilst its getting colder there, its getting hotter here! Lots love xxx

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Comments

[auntie Jean]

swollen hand
Hope hand better Paul, love the photo, just the thing to get your mum to have a panic attack!! Clare...have you lost weight? Make sure you ar elooking after yourself love auntie Jeanxxxx

[Mum]

What an incredible journey!!
Loved reading this blog. The camper van looks great fun!! Sorry to hear about Paul s hand. Hope that it is better. Loved hearing about the kangaroos. Love the photos. Miss you both loads. Love you Mum xxx