Looking for a bit of sunshine and an escape from the winter in New Zealand, our family headed across to Australia for a two and a half week epic road trip. We were looking forward to some fun family activities and exploring a country we haven’t visited for years, even though it’s only right next door. Now, Australia is a big place, and we’ve driven around the whole coastline back in 2001/2, but with only a two week school holiday time slot available, we were keen to pack in as much as we could while allowing a bit of time to chill too.
It was just a quick 3 and a half hours across to Brisbane from Auckland and, on arrival, we picked up our hire car and headed north by an hour to the southern end of the Sunshine Coast, to Caloundra – a quieter part of the coast but still with lots to do and great places to eat. Our main reason for staying here was that it’s close to Australia Zoo – Steve Irwin’s zoo that his family still run.
Day 1 Friday 7th July
So early the next day, we headed there for the day. It’s huge and we walked well over 12,000 steps. As soon as we walked in, we were greeted by an animal keeper with a Olive Python to stroke. There are a ton of exhibits to wander around and we also took in a reptile talk and a very cool crocodile show at lunchtime, featuring Terri, Bindi and Robert Irwin – plus some pretty massive crocs.
Once we felt we’d seen it all, we headed back into Caloundra for ice cream from Gelato Rumba – Turkish delight ice cream, oh yes – and double scooped with rum and raisin. We took them to the beach which was enormous as the tide was well and truly out and had a wander around.
The evenings quickly get chilly when the sun starts to go down in July so we headed back to our pad, changed and back out again for a freaking amazing burger at Hello Harry. One of the best burgers ever. Such an awesome day.
https://www.australiazoo.com.au
https://www.instagram.com/gelatorumba/?hl=en
Day 2 Saturday 8th July
The next day, still behind by 2 hours on New Zealand time, Rob headed out in the morning to shoot a little drone stuff of the beach for sunrise, which looked awesome, and we’ll post up a few shots over the coming weeks.
A little later on, we were keen for something fun to do and went to Amaze World for a bit and ended up staying for more than 4 hours. Most families were there with younger kids but we all loved it – crazy golf, puzzles, riddles, and lots of mazes. Great fun and not expensive too, as we had packed a picnic lunch to eat there.
From here, we drove for half an hour up into the Hinterland to Mary Cairncross Scenic Reserve. There’s a great little Discovery Centre which explains about the reserve and its wildlife. We had a look around and then headed out for a short 3km walk through the rainforest to spot the pademelons. After seeing 10 or so on the loop track we grabbed some refreshments from the cafe overlooking the Glass House Mountains.
After being out all day exploring, a dip in the pool was in order back at our place followed by steaks cooked on the poolside bbq. A great supper, with a wine or 3, resting up ready for heading out the next day.
https://mary-cairncross.com.au
Day 3 Sunday 9th July
We’d heard that the Caloundra Sunday Street Fair was worth a look around for a few breakfast snacks, before we had to check out of our apartment to head up the road to our next destination. Great German Sausage Hot dogs and Okonomiyaki were to be had, as well as food from all around the globe. We had fun looking around the great local craft stalls and we bought a selection of curry pastes from a local guy – ‘Life’s Good’, one of which we cooked up for dinner that night. Full from our feed, we headed up the Bruce Highway for a couple of hours to Rainbow beach.
https://lifesgoodcurrypastes.com/
https://caloundrastreetfair.com.au/
Check out part two of our Australian Road Trip blog here.
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