Day 12 Tuesday 18th July
This was the last stage of our Australian East Coast Road Trip where we drove 750 km across nine and a half hours from Carnarvon Gorge to Noosa. We made a few stops along the way, of course, for the odd pie and sausage roll but nothing inspiring enough to write home about on the food front.
The morning mist and the teaming wildlife as you leave the gorge are truly a highlight of the whole trip so far. We left early to make headway into the massive journey and the recommendation is to definitely do the same. We passed hundreds of kangaroos crossing our path, along with cattle and lots of birds up for the sunrise too. Incredible and worth slowing down for. There are plenty of petrol stations along the way, no more than a couple of hours apart, but we were glad we’d taken the decision to just nut the journey out in one go rather than stay overnight somewhere half way.
We made good time because of the early start too so ended up in Noosa just after 4pm so freshened up and went in search of beer and pizza. If you’re in the area, a must visit is Zachary’s in Noosaville for a buzzing atmosphere and awesome food.
Day 13 Wednesday 19th July
Up for an early morning run in the sun today. Such beautiful weather here and such a fabulous waterfront for a morning pick me up after the long drive yesterday.
After cooking ourselves for three days over at Carnarvon Gorge, we felt like a treat brunch out and headed to Depot. It was a bit of a wait for food because we picked a pretty busy time – but well worth it. Try the Truffle Mushrooms. Yum.
We then drove the 10 minutes over to Noosa Heads where the beach is simply incredible. The traffic is pretty heavy getting into town, even in what must be off peak season. But truly worth it. The weather was fantastic. The sea has just the right amount of waves for fun. And the sea was fresh but a great temperature to stay in for a good splash around for an hour or two – with some warm up sessions on the beach of course.
And as today was a chill day and a day for indulging, we went to Sum Yung Guys for a late lunch. Booking is highly recommended, if not essential. And the food has to be some of the best we’ve ever had – that was resoundingly unanimous. The kingfish sashimi is phenomenal, as are the beef short ribs, the pad thai, the pumpkin salad, and the fried rice with Morton Bay bugs. We did spot Matt in the kitchen on our way in but by the time I’d plucked up the nerve to ask for a photo opp, he’d left for the afternoon. Oh well. A highlight on the food journey without a doubt.
https://www.sumyungguys.com.au
Day 14 Thursday 20th July
We got up for a reasonably early start this morning to go and walk around Noosa Heads National Park. But we weren’t early enough though to avoid the crowds. The views from up here are incredible but I’d suggest you get a good early start. By 8:40 the car park was overflowing and we drove right back through and out the other side of town to drop off the car. The walk was single file for much of it too as there were so many people doing it at this time of day. Go for sunrise I reckon as the views can’t be missed. Lou spotted whales out at sea and it’s great to watch the masses bobbing in the water waiting to catch a wave on their boards.
After the walk, we had another good few hours on the beach too. We hired a couple of body boards right there on the beach for just $15 for a couple of hours. And then, when the need arose for more great food, we ventured the 100 meters or so to Betty’s Burgers. Great, big burgers which are amazing value too. And the town’s pretty cute and you will definitely find anything beachy or surfy you forgot or feel the need to buy. Noosa Longboards had some awesome clothes to check out – and longboards of course but they may be a bit tricky to get back to New Zealand.
https://www.bettysburgers.com.au
https://parks.des.qld.gov.au/parks/noosa
Day 15 Friday 21st July
Keen for something fun to do as a family, as always, we sought out some mini golf and found an awesome course at Maroochy. Super friendly staff and nice coffee at this cool spot. They have 18 holes of mini golf where there’s two options for each hole. After completing the yellow course, it was time for ice cream, and then we headed back out for the slightly more tricky blue course. We spent over 3 hours at this great little spot so it was a pretty chill and cheap activity for us all. There was more wildlife spotting though, where a small snake kept making an appearance around hole 14. Maybe he just wanted to join in but the locals thought it might be a baby Brown snake so we kept our distance.
Our afternoon was spent at the pool and looking up where we wanted to spend our last dinner out. We hit on the awesome Light Years in Noosa Heads with delicious asian inspired sharing dishes.
https://maroochyriverminigolf.com.au/
https://lightyearsasiandiner.com.au/
Day 16 Saturday 22nd July
Our Australian East Coast Road Trip was nearly coming to an end, with a flight out at 6pm back to New Zealand. But with only a 2 hour drive from Noosa to Brisbane Airport, we had time for one last activity. We thought we’d stick with the theme of wildlife encounters, after having already been to Australia Zoo, the outback for wildlife right on the doorstep, and whale watching. So we headed to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, just on the outskirts of Brisbane.
We had just under 3 hours here which was plenty of time to explore all the exhibits and grab a photo with a snake. Very weird and a bit out of our comfort zone but gotta be done when you have the opportunity, right. Finally we got to see platypus, after our unsuccessful attempt to spot some at a lake at Carnarvon, and also lots and lots of Koalas, which we also hadn’t managed to spot in the wild either.
Then we were off to the airport to fly back home to school and work, to earn the cash for the next adventure. Brisbane airport had a couple of options for dinner but was a bit more limited than we’d expected to be honest.
Overall, our Australian East Coast Road Trip had been super cool. Great to have a break from the drizzly New Zealand winter to get some sunshine, which had been constant. And also just some fun times hanging out as a family – exploring, eating, and having some experiences none of us had had before. We’ll be back for sure and won’t leave it so long next time.
https://lonepinekoalasanctuary.com/
Check out video one in a series of three from our Australian East Coast road trip here.
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