East Coast Road Trip #2, Queensland and New South Wales, Australia

19th April – 24th April 2018

After taking the campervan back to the depot, near the airport, we got a bus and a train back to Corinda, where Christine and Max live. When we got back, the children were all back from school, kindie and their afterschool activities, and there were a few extra children running around – it was crazy! After kindie on a Thursday, Rosie goes to gymnastics with her cousin, so Max’s sister had brought her home, with a friend as well, so they were all running around the house, playing together.

We spent most of the evening chilling out and catching up. Max had to work late, so for dinner, it was me, Joe, Christine and the children (Charlie, Lucy and Rosie). Christine made enchiladas for dinner, which were really good! We sat around chatting, before me and Joe went for showers and the children got ready for bed.

Once the children were settled, me, Joe and Christine watched some TV and planned our day out, for the next day. None of us were able to stay awake for when Max got home, so we went down to bed at around 10ish, as we had early starts with the children the next day.

The next morning, I was awake at about 6.15. Rosie had her swimming lesson in the morning before kindie and I said I would go along and watch. Christine thought that the lesson was at 7, so we would have to leave at 6.45, but I couldn’t hear anyone moving about when I woke up. I left it a little while and got up at about 6.30. When I went upstairs, Lucy told me that the lesson wasn’t until 7.30, so we had a little longer than we thought.

Everyone was getting ready for school and work all at the same time and it was a little crazy – it was like being back at home in the morning! The children were really good at getting ready though and doing as they were told, so we were able to leave almost on time, just after 7.15.

On the way to swimming, we dropped Max off at the train station, before heading down to the pool. The pool was in a big outdoor area, which I can imagine is ideal in summer! Rosie’s lesson was under a cover though, and there was a seating area for us to sit and watch. Most of her lesson was in the little pool, but towards the end, she did some swimming in the big pool, including a full length of the 50m pool! I was very impressed – it was apparently her first time! We had the option to swim in the big pool during the lesson if we wanted. Joe was going to but when we got there and he saw how professional it all looked, he bottled it!

After swimming, we took Charlie and Lucy to school, before nipping home for some breakfast before we had to take Rosie to kindie. After dropping Rosie off, we went to St Aidan’s, which is a nearby school that has a large field and sports facilities. Charlie and Lucy’s school were there for the morning, for their cross country day with school. We watched a little bit, before we had to shoot off.

From school, we went to Corinda train station, where the three of us got a train to Toowong, a few stops closer to the city. We got off the train and walked a few hundred metres towards the river, to catch the city cat, into the city. The city cat is a boat service that people use to commute to and from the city; it isn’t a tourist thing, but Christine thought it would be a good way to see the city, which it was.

When we arrived at Southbank, we got off the city cat and had a wander around. We walked along the front, looking at the ‘beach’ area, before deciding we wanted morning tea. We stopped in Max Brenner, which is a chocolate café, and had a cake each.

After morning tea, we walked back along the front towards the art gallery and museum. We had a look inside at some of the free exhibitions, which were really cool. It was interesting to see and read about the Aboriginal and Torres Island Straight people and see their work. Even the design of the gallery itself was cool, with a simple water feature with metal balls in, was so effective; it created a calm atmosphere, which was really nice.

Just before we were about to leave, the rain came down. It poured for a while, so we sat inside for a little bit and waited for it to pass. While we were waiting, there was a little boy who looked fascinated by the rain trickling down the glass walls. The thing he didn’t notice, however, were the glass panels sticking out every so often, in between windows, as he walked into them multiple times. It even took his mum a bit of time to realise what he was doing, and why he kept ending up on the floor – it was entertaining for us though!

As the rain was easing off, we started to head back. We stopped in an exhibition about Australian animals, but didn’t have much time, as we had to be back for Rosie finishing kindie. Our original plan was to get the city cat further along the river to see the Story Bridge (apparently Brisbane’s equivalent to the Harbour Bridge) but we didn’t think we would have time, and the rain put us off. Instead, we walked back to Southbank, where I was able to get my patch, before we hopped back on the city cat, towards Toowong.

From Toowong, we got the train back to Corinda and then drove home. We had a little bit of time to just chill out, before Christine went to pick up the children at about 2.30. Before the children got back, we sorted a few things out for our Bali trip and caught up on a few bits and bobs.

When the children were home, we all settled down and watched a film together. We watched ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’ which is a J K Rowling book apparently. It was a little bit scary for Rosie, so I got lots of cuddles from her, which was nice.

Max came home earlier from work (just before the end of the film), so it was nice that we could all sit together for dinner. Christine had done roast pork with veggies, which was yummy. The children became obsessed with the crackling on the pork, but couldn’t call it anything but crackle, which we found quite funny.

After dinner, we cleared the table and Christine put an apple pie in the oven. While that was baking, we watched the end of the film, which Max wasn’t too happy about as he had missed the majority of it, but we didn’t have long left. After the film finished, we went onto watch ‘The Ultimate Beastmaster’, which is a programme on Netflix, very similar to Ninja Warrior. We got a little bit hooked on that, thanks to the children, so watched that with our apple pie and ice cream.

The children had quite a late night, and after they had gone to bed, we weren’t far behind them. We had had another early start and a busy day, and we had more coming up the next day, so sleep was needed.

 

Road Trip, Day 1: Brisbane

We were up a little later than normal on Saturday. I got up around 7 and head upstairs to get some breakfast before we had to set off to watch Lucy play netball. Rosie had only just woken up when I got up there and was shouting for Christine from her bed – I gave her a little shock when I walked in instead. We all got ready, and although Rosie didn’t want to come at first, we all head off to netball together, leaving Charlie and Max at home, relaxing.

At netball, Rosie spotted the playground near the courts, so we took her for a little play before the match started. When the game began, I couldn’t believe how good the players were for their age. The standard was really good, even if Lucy’s team didn’t do too well. During the third quarter, when Lucy wasn’t playing, I took Rosie back to the playground as she had been asking to go back all game, and had been a really good girl waiting.

After the match, which Lucy’s team sadly lost, we made our way back home. It was a quick turnaround in the house, as it was Charlie’s turn to head out to hockey. As Max is coach for Charlie’s team, he had to go along, but Lucy wasn’t too impressed that she had to go too. We all piled into the car and dropped Max and Charlie off, before Christine took us to the car hire place, to collect our final camper.

In the office, the woman that served us was painfully slow and didn’t have a clue what she was talking about. It was a little frustrating to ask questions that couldn’t be answered because she didn’t know, so I was just glad to get out of there. There was a slight change of plan with our road trip, as Christine rang me earlier in the week asking if we would want to stay a little longer on the Saturday to come to an event that Max’s brother (Paul) was hosting. At first, she was under the impression that Heston Blumenthal would be there, so we said we would go – it sounded fun. When she found out that he wasn’t, and it was a barbecuing master class with his products, she told us that we didn’t have to stay if we wanted to get off, but it still sounded good, so we decided we were going.

We drove back to the house, getting a little thank you gift for the family on the way. When we got back, they weren’t back from hockey yet, but we knew we wouldn’t have long to get ready, so quickly took a shower. The family got back at around 1.45 and we had to leave again by 2.15 to catch the train into the city. Max took the children round to his sisters, before we shot off to the train station, just about making the train (after a little jog).

The event started at 3, and we arrived just in time. We were greeted with a sparkling wine, which was really nice, before being seated. We had a little chat with the people we were sat with, before the event began. Heston’s team talked to us about the barbecues that they had brought with them and about the cooking processes they were following. Apparently his range uses coals, which apparently gives tastier food than gas, but cooks quickly, which normal coal barbies don’t.

We enjoyed two glasses of wine with each course. Paul works for Wine Selector, so his company was pairing with Heston’s team to show how to choose the correct wine to compliment the food. As there were four courses, there was more and more noise towards the end of the event, meaning less people, including us, were listening, but surely they expected that when supplying us with so much wine.

The event finished at about 5.30 and none of us were ready to go home. Max had organised with his other sister to collect the children from their sister’s house where they were, and keep them for a sleepover. This meant that we could go out for a few more drinks. First, we went to the pub next door, with Paul, for one, before he had to catch his flight home.

After Paul left, we walked to a different bar, where we sat outside, by the river, overlooking the Story Bridge – at least we got to see it! We had a few more drinks and ordered a little bit of food, before we started to get a little drunk. As we had already stayed in Brisbane longer than originally planned, we were going to set off at 6am the next morning, but I could already see this slipping away quite quickly.

As we were all starting to feel pretty tired, we decided to call it a night and head home. Max ordered a taxi and we were home for 9.30! We did start pretty early, but I didn’t think we would be home and in bed so soon. It was needed though, especially if we were going to head off as planned in the morning.

 

Day 2: Brisbane – Urunga, via Byron Bay

After waking up a few times with a dry mouth but not being able to find my phone or any water, which I knew Joe had brought down, we both woke up properly (kind of) for the first time at about 5.30. We very quickly came to the conclusion we weren’t leaving at 6 like planned, so went straight back to sleep. Our second time of waking up was around 6.40; we said we would get up and start to get ready, but neither of us moved and ended up back to sleep.

Another hour or so passed before I was awake for good. I didn’t feel too bad, but I definitely didn’t feel great and Joe was even worse. We got up around 9ish and as the children weren’t coming home until 9.30, it was kind of ideal really because I couldn’t have left without saying bye to them. I went upstairs to say morning and Christine offered to make us a smoothie. It sounded like a great idea, but Joe couldn’t stomach anything at the time, so I had both and it really helped.

We started to load the car up, just after the children got home, but we hadn’t packed anything and still had washing hanging about. We literally grabbed it all and threw it in the back of the van to deal with later. Just before we left, Christine and Max wanted to nip out to look at a house that Emily (Max’s sister) and Craig were buying, and offered us bacon butties before we left. This was an offer we couldn’t refuse and I still wasn’t comfortable with Joe driving, even though we were so behind schedule.

Once we were all loaded up, we went upstairs and had bacon and egg butties on the veranda. Emily and Craig had come round too, and we were so chilled out, we could have stayed all day. The butties were good for the hangover and Joe had a cup of tea which made him feel much better, so we made the decision to try and get on the road.

Just before we left, we had some photos and said our goodbyes – which I hate. We were on the road for 11, only five hours behind schedule!

The reason we had planned to leave so early in the morning, was to get a full day in Byron Bay (another of my favourite places) before we had to drive a bit closer to Sydney. Due to the late departure, our time in Byron was cut very short, but we still had about an hour. We arrived just before 1.30 and had a wander around the streets and up to the beach.

At the beach, we had a little paddle in the sea, which was nice and refreshing. After a while, we walked up to the bakery, which Emily recommended and grabbed a couple of pies, which we saved for dinner. Although we did have food left, we were only in the van for one night and would have to get the gas bottle refilled the next day if I cooked – something we didn’t know how to do, or if we would have the time to do it – so we thought it best to not use it.

On our way back to the beach front, we grabbed an ice cream, obviously, before getting a portion of fish and chips to share on the front. We did it in a bit of a backward order, but the shops were in that order and we didn’t have time to be going back and forth. We ate our fish on the rocks on the front but I was too full for the chips after my ice cream, so we decided to save them too.

At 2.30, we had to head back to the car, to carry on a little closer to Sydney. We had planned to stop in Coffs Harbour for the night, as it is about half way between Brisbane and Sydney, but the campsite I had chosen didn’t have very good reviews, so we drove a little further. This kind of broke the rules of the camper a little as we arrived in the dark, but it was a nice campsite.

Once we were parked up, we repacked our bags, which were literally exploded all over the back of the van. It took some time but we got there. After we had packed, we ate our pies, which were very good pies! Then, we made the bed up and got into it, doing some blog writing before falling asleep.

 

Day 3: Urunga – Sydney

We had a 5.30 start again, as we wanted to be on the road for 6, to make sure we were in Sydney with enough time to drop the camper off before it shut. We put the bed away and made sure it was tidy and clean in the back, before setting off.

It was a long drive day, but we had a couple of petrol stops in between to break it up. At our second stop, we had some breakfast, but we didn’t have time to do much else, on our tight schedule.

When we arrived in Sydney, at about 1ish, we drove straight to Sarah’s (Joe’s friend) to drop our things off, as we were staying there for the night. As we pulled up outside her house, Joe banged the car into a tree, but luckily it didn’t damage it, so that was okay. We wiped the marks off the van, before taking our bags inside. Sarah was at work, so had left a key out for us. We met her roommate who was very quiet, so luckily we weren’t staying long: we threw our bags in Sarah’s room and head back out again.

From Sarah’s we drove straight to drop the car off, filling up with fuel along the way. At the petrol station, we made a friend, as a man came up to us asking us all about our camper – it’s a good job that we weren’t in a rush.

We dropped the car off and sorted out all the paperwork, as we got $100 of fuel back, meaning we only spent $60 on fuel overall. We got signed off that the van was okay, so they didn’t notice the tree bump, luckily.

After leaving the car, we walked to the bus stop and got the bus to the centre of Sydney. We hadn’t got cash out, for the third time now and there were no ATMs around. Luckily we had our opal cards from our previous visit, so topped them up on our phones, so we could travel. It’s a good job we did this, as the inspectors got on and checked all opal cards.

We made it to central station, where we got off the bus and looked for a café, we hadn’t eaten much in the morning and still had a while until dinner, so just wanted a little something to keep us going. None of the cafés around central would take card, but we did get a free toffee, almond drink thing, which was nice. We walked up the streets and ended up grabbing a subway for a late lunch.

After food, it was time for the patch hunt, before meeting up with our friends for dinner. We wandered in so many souvenir shops but couldn’t find any! I eventually ended up asking someone and she directed us to a shop where there was one! It’s never been that difficult to find one in Australia. When I went to pay, it was a $10 minimum on card, so then I had to go and get cash out. We were already running late and this wasn’t helping, but we got sorted in the end.

From the souvenir shop, we walked back up towards central station, to a restaurant called El Loco to meet our friends. As we both had people we wanted to catch up with in Sydney, and we were only there for one night, we decided to get a place and hoped that people could make it. We got there at about 5.15 and were the first ones to arrive.

The restaurant looked really nice inside and was decorated nicely. We found a table near the back that was big enough for everyone, if they all turned up. Hannah arrived first and then Joe’s friends came after. As Hannah was in a rush, we decided we would order food pretty quickly, so went up to the bar. Even though we weren’t drinking and it was only 6pm, we got ID’d and as Hannah didn’t have hers on her, she wasn’t allowed to stay. This was very weird and annoying for us, as we had to move on and try and find somewhere else.

Fortunately everyone else knew the area, so we moved up the road to a pub called ‘The Clock’. We decided that Hannah would stay at the table and I would order for her, as we didn’t want to be kicked out again, not that we were even drinking. Jake also came and met us in the pub too. It was nice that people made the effort as everyone is busy but still came to see us. We sat and chatted and got some food. Just after 7, Hannah and Jake both had to leave – Hannah was in the middle of moving house and Jake lives really far away now so had a long commute.

We stayed a little longer with Joe’s friends, which was nice for him, before we headed back to Sarah’s. We got a taxi back, as Hannah had told us about a company that give you your first rides for free, so we didn’t have to pay for it – ideal!

When we got back, we chilled out for a little bit, before going to bed. We were both pretty tired and needed the rest.

The next morning, we had a little lie in as we didn’t need to leave for the airport until 9ish. We woke up around 7.30 and chilled out for a bit, talking about our trip. We got ready and packed up our things again. We grabbed a quick brekkie, before ordering a taxi to the airport.

The journey to the airport seemed to take a while, but I guess we were travelling in rush hour time. We got there eventually and went straight to the check in desk. The checking in process also took a while, as we had to prove we would leave Bali, otherwise we weren’t allowed to enter. Luckily we had already booked flights out, so the lady just needed to submit the information.

After that was all sorted and we waved goodbye to our bags, we went through security, where both Joe and his bag got searched, as usual. We grabbed some food with the remaining cash we had, before heading to the gate to wait for our flight.

Although it’s only been three weeks since leaving Melbourne, we have done so much stuff! We have managed to catch up with more friends and family, which was good, as well as see many more sights and tick lots more things off the bucket list. We kind of feel like we’re on the home stretch now, as we leave Australia and head into the last continent, but we still have three more months to enjoy and make many more memories, which I’m sure we won’t struggle with!

To travel is to live, Katie x