Another week of our trip has literally flewn by. We decided to drive some more kilometers per day so that we would have more time at the end and could stay more nights at one place. And another argument was that it got warmer the further north we went. Especially in the night this was more comfortable for everyone in the family. We got adjusted with the camping and we found a lot of beautiful and deserted places, beaches, etc in the second week!
After Byron Bay we wanted to go to the Gold Coast region and on the way we decided to stop at the Springbrook Natioanl Park and at a Lookout which was called “Best of all Lookouts” – with this name we kind of had to go there. It was a long way up and a very curvy one as well- so if you or your kids gets sick easily – better grap a bag! That’s what we should have done as well, because one of our girls had to threw up 
– but still the view was nice (I’m going to spare you with the details about the smell in the camper ;-).
We spent the afternoon and the night at the Gold Coast Holiday Park, wow this was really a nice one we had an ensuite site again and the girls where more than happy about the big pool and the slide! And of you want to visit one of the park (which we decided not to), the campsite is perfectly located.
The next morning we drove to Brisbane (we decided to skip Gold Coast, since we hadn’t hear so many good things about it), we parked the camper a bit outside in one of the suburbs and took an Uber to town, this was just easy since parking is supposed to be expensive in Brisbane. We first went to New Farm and Chinatown, did some sightseeing and then walked to the town center and around city hall. We really liked the city, it has a relaxed vibe and you could easily walk everywhere. We then walked over the bridge, spent some time at a playground in Southbank, had some dinner there and then took a taxi back to the camper, since the girls have been tired from all the walking. We spent the night parking in the suburbs…
The next day we went to the DFO Outlet at the airport, since we had to go to the Apollo rental station, to exchange our linens and some more things there, so we have been near the outlet. We found some things for the girls, but if you are not driving by there, then you can skip it – in our opinion. We spent the afternoon in Mooloolaba, a nice beach town, had some ice cream and a nice stroll at the beach. One of many nice beaches, we have seen this week!
We drove to Noosa from there and up the Noosa National Park to the Laguna Lookout – you had a really nice view from up there. We wanted to stay at the beach for the night, but they had signs everywhere “no overnight sleeping” – first time we had seen something like this. Bit annoying, but we then found a nice parking space at Lake Weyba, where we spent a nice afternoon fishing and could stay for the night. I love the picture with the Pelican – super cheesy postcard image ;-))
I really liked Noosa, it’s a nice beach town with beautiful beaches, of course a bit touristy, but has some nice restaurants, shops and cafés. The next morning we had a coffee at Depot Cafe before we drove on.
Our next stop was the Fraser Lodge Holiday Park in Hervey Bay. The campsite was okay but could not be compared to the one in Gold Coast. The girls took a dip into the pool, but since it was a bit cold, we went for a walk to the beach and the town. The beach was not the nicest one and the town was a bit deserted. We don’t know if it just was because it wasn’t high season or if it is like this all the time, maybe people just use it as starting point to go to Fraser Island.
The next morning we drove to Bundaberg, but decided not to spent too much time there and went to Mon Repos Beach, make sure to check this place out for sure if you are here from Nov till March, you could watch sea turtles lay their eggs at the shore and there are nightly tours later where you could watch the young ones hatch and find their way back to the ocean. The beach was still nice and we found some beautiful sea shells there. We stayed there all afternoon and also spent the night at a beach near the sea turtle station.
And the next day was a beach day again, we drove further north to Tannum Sands and found a super nice spot at the beach (Canoe Point), the girls spent the whole day in the water wholes and where perfectly happy. We had the most amazing sunset and collected more shells – everyone happy!
Next day was already Friday, I can’t believe how fast the week had gone by. We drove to Rockhampton and stopped at the Botanical Garden and Zoo, it’s just a small zoo, but they have koalas, kangaroos, crocodiles and some monkeys there and it is for free. So if you are driving through town you could stop there and the gardens are nice too. We then went in the direction Yeppon and stood in the Coolwaters Holiday Village. What a great camp site, they have 2 big waterslides, a big water play park, pool and playground. A paradise for kids…and as most of the time the last days: we where the only ones there!
We have now around 1000 km left to go up to Cairns and we are planning to stop on more beautiful beaches, National Parks, we want to go to the Whitsundays and since we have 2 weeks left now, we also want to spent more than one night at one place. Everyone is happier since it got warmer, the girls can have more pool and beach time, Daddy Frei found his deserted beaches and could do some fishing. And I’m happy when everyone else is happy :-).
Till next weeks and we hope you a not bored from our beach pictures yet 
The Freis
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