adventure t
A road trip from Sydney to Brisbane offers plenty of family fun in the sun, finds David Whitley
he children revelling in the netting at the front of the Imagine Cruises boat yelp with excitement. The famously reliable dolphins of
Port Stephens have been spotted, and they’re ready to play in the wake. The New South Wales destination is an all-action first stop on my family road trip from Sydney to Brisbane. Other fun-filled activities in the area (commissionable through Viator) include stingray encounters, sandboarding and quad biking over enormous sand dunes. But from there, serendipity and the joy of discovery take over along Australia’s epic eastern coastline until you reach Queensland’s capital. This year marks 200 years since the
first European colonists made their way to the Moreton Bay Penal Settlement. Originally established at Redcliffe on Moreton Bay, then moved a little inland to the Brisbane River a year later, the penal settlement was later renamed ‘Brisbane’. Thankfully, getting from Sydney to Brisbane is much more fun than it was two centuries ago. It’s a 570-mile drive up the Pacific Highway, which runs parallel to the coast. It’s wise to add a few extra miles to that, however; the north
coast of New South Wales is lined with adorable little beach towns and national parks. Every deviation from the highway brings a great find. At Port Macquarie, the Koala Hospital brings heart-melting encounters with blind koalas that have survived being hit by cars. In Urunga, a giant, fish-filled swimming pool has been created in the lagoon, while a boardwalk stretches along the crystal-clear Bellinger River where it meets the warm ocean. At Emerald Beach, a walk around the Look At Me Now Headland brings plentiful encounters with kangaroos on the clifftops.
BEAUTIFUL BEACHES The beaches are the best thing about New South Wales’s north coast. Both the quantity and quality are extraordinary. You can pick any one from hundreds, and it would be a hyped-up highlight in any other country. Here, the surf rolls in, the white sand is backed by dunes and eucalypt forests – and there’s barely a soul to be seen. Everyone heading up the coast road seems to end up with one beach town they fall in love with. In our case, it’s Yamba. Life here is all about the simple pleasures: ²
travelweekly.co.uk 7 MARCH 2024
DESTINATIONS ROAD TRIP | AUSTRALIA
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