East Coast Australia
- Ruth Carlisle
- 6 days ago
- 8 min read
In March and April of 2023, we spent nine unforgettable weeks making our way up Australia’s East Coast — starting in Adelaide and ending all the way up in tropical Cairns. Along the way we hopped between flights, hire cars, campervans, Airbnbs, and the spare rooms of friends and family.
What follows isn’t a complete guide to Australia (we didn’t make it to the centre, the west, or the Top End), but rather a snapshot of how you could spend your time exploring this incredible stretch of coastline.
THE ITINERARY:
ADELAIDE
How long to spend and where to stay?
We spent 3 days in Adelaide and stayed in an airbnb which was on the tram line to the city centre
Where to visit:
Adelaide Central Market - this is a legendary market — fresh produce, pastries, cheeses, coffee, and multicultural food stalls. It’s one of the best places to get a feel for Adelaide’s laid-back foodie culture. We loved trying out loads of food and drink from there!
Victoria Square, the City Streets and walks along the river - stroll round through Victoria Square and the surrounding grid of heritage buildings, modern cafés, and street art. We also used this time to get set up with our phone and life admin for our 9 weeks in Australia
Adelaide Botanic Garden - A calm, beautifully maintained garden with highlights like the Bicentennial Conservatory, Amazon Waterlily Pavilion, and expansive rose gardens. It’s a great midday escape.
We also arrived at the same time as the Adelaide festival - so enjoyed live music and entertainment for free!
Port Adelaide - a short bus ride away, which was great to walk along the port, find some unique and independent bars, visit the South Australian Maritime Museum and the Street Art Trail (Port Adelaide has become a bit of an outdoor gallery. The street murals are large, colourful, and easy to spot throughout the town centre.)
Hahndorf - A full contrast to the city: Hahndorf is Australia’s oldest German settlement and has a strong European village charm. We enjoyed visiting Hahndorf Main Street, the Boutique shops, German bakeries, pubs, craft stores, and cottage-style buildings. It’s very walkable and picture-perfect. It also has plenty of German Food & Pretzels. If you are into wineries there are plenty to visit around this area too!
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ADELAIDE TO MELBOURNE
How long to spend and where to stay?
We actually flew to Melbourne then worked backwards towards Adelaide again, as we were trying to tie it in with seeing friends. But for the purpose of this blog, I'll talk through in order from Adelaide to Melbourne! In total we took 5/6 days completing this.
We hired a car to complete this part of the trip and stayed in an airbnb in Lorne and with friends.
Where to visit:
Canunda National Park (incl Beach Port and Southsea)
Blue Lake, Mount Gambier
The Pinnacle Lookout, Grampians National Park
The Great Ocean Road Famous Spots: The Twelve Apostles, Gibson Steps, London Bridge, Loch Ard Gorge and the Razorback
Lorne (a cute seaside town)
Otway national park
Split Point Lighthouse
Also make sure to spot some of the local wildlife along the way
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MELBOURNE
How long to spend and where to stay?
I would recommend staying in Melbourne at least a week - there is so much to do here! But you can do it in less time if needed. We stayed with a friend while in Melbourne which was close to one of the tram stops.
What to do:
Melbourne CBD by day and night
Botanic Gardens
Shrine of Remembrance
Queen Victoria Market
St Kilda
Albert's Park
The food scene: the food markets, coffee and we tried out the Big Esso which is all cuisine from the Torres Strait which was incredible to try!
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MELBOURNE TO SYDNEY ROADTRIP
How long to spend and where to stay?
We hired a campervan for a week for this part of the trip and used the app 'Campermate' to find spots to park each night.
We did this part of the trip over a week
I would advise considering the time of year you are campervanning - as it got to 41C in Canberra and sleeping in a campervan was less than ideal!
What to do:
Canberra - great for a day exploring parliament buildings and Mount Ainslie is a great spot for a city lookout point!
Eden and Merimbula - cute coastal towns with gorgeous beaches
Narooma (home to Australia rock and a seal colony as well as lots of sting rays!) and Batesmans Bay
Jervis Bay, Booderee National Park (lots of wild kangaroos here and incredible white sand beaches) and Mermaids Inlet walk
Sea cliff bridge and Bald hill lookout (not pictured below as it literally rained all day - I've also heard Wollongong is a nice place to stop too!)
Royal National Park (we did the wedding cake rock and Marleys Head walk which did not disappoint)
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SYDENY
How long to spend and where to stay?
We stayed with friends in an area close to the university. It was close to the tram line to get to both the beaches and the city centre.
We stayed 1 week in Sydney - but I loved it and would recommend staying longer if you can!
What to do:
Sydney Opera House/Harbour Bridge/Darling Harbour/City Centre/Hyde Park/ St Mary's Cathedral /Botanic Gardens
Coastal Walks! We did Manly to Spit Bridge, Coogee to Maroubra and Coogee to Bondi
The fruitologist acai bowls at Bondi
Watsons Bay - we loved the small beach and cafe at Palm Cove and the short lighthouse walk
Ferrys! The most scenic is the Manly ferry but we got a few different ones to see the city from different angles
Manly Beach and Hugos Pizza
Betty's Burgers (you can get these in most cities across Aus I think but we discovered our love of it in Sydney!)
Surry Hills for some cute cafes and bars
Day trip to the Blue Mountains
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SYDENY TO BRISBANE ROADTRIP
How long to spend and where to stay?
We did this part of the trip over the space of 1 week
We hired a car and stayed in airbnb's along the way. We stayed 1 night in Nelson Bay, 1 night in Nambucca Heads, 2 nights in Byron Bay and 3 nights in the Gold Coast
What to do:
Anna Bay Sand dunes, Gan gan lookout and Nelson BaY
Port Macguire - cute seaside town with a coastal walk and a koala hospital
Nambucca Heads - gorgeous beaches and viewpoints
Good stop offs en route to Byron from Nambucca Heads are the big banana at Coffs Harbour, emerald beach and the 'look at me now' lookout point to see some kangaroos
Byron Bay - make sure to check out cape Byron lighthouse, beaches and the cute boutique town. We also had some serious good ice cream here! 🍦
Gold Coast - so many great places to explore here! We explored Coolangatta, Currumbin, Tullebudgera Creek, Burleigh Head national park, the Spit and Miami Beach
Surfers Paradise - the main hub of the Gold Coast, a busy holiday town but incredible views - our highlight was going to Skypoint for the amazing views and breakfast buffet!
Labrador Beach Pelican Feeding - everyday ay 1:30pm, honestly amazing to watch - the birds don't even look real
We also used a public BBQ for the first time! There are so many of these around Aus and we finally got using one and they are so quick and easy, would highly recommend!
Springbrook National Park - we did the twin falls circuit hike, the best of all lookout and the natural bridge. Beautiful scenery and great to mix it up from all the coastal lookouts
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BRISBANE
How long to spend and where to stay?
We stayed for 3 nights in a self catering apartment in the city centre.
What to do:
Brisbane CBD (grab a map from the visitors centre to see the highlights!) /Southbank / Botanic Gardens/ Kangaroo Cliffs
Check out the great food scene! Check out Lune (the best almond croissants), o- bagel (for some seriously good bagels), the farmhouse Kedron (the brunch is amazing!), the plough Inn (great pub and pizza food), Joeys (great view of the city and good for a drink!), Ahmet's Turkish
Mount Cootha - loads of walking trails but we did a summit walk to the lookout over the city which took 35mins when parked at Slaughter Falls car park!
Get the kittycat free ferry along the river to see Brisbane from the water!
Queensland Museum- there are lots of museums but we enjoyed taking a look round this one!
Food markets! We went to the Wednesday city market but I believe there are some at the weekend too
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SUNSHINE COAST
How long to spend and where to stay?
We spent a week on this part of the trip and had a car hire
We actually went further North first spending 2 nights at an airbnb in Hervey Bay then working our way back South to spend the rest of the time at family's house based in Yandina.
What to do:
Day trip to Fraser Island - we went on an organised tour as you need a 4WD. A day will give you a whistle stop tour, but I would have loved to have stayed longer!
Hervey Bay - a cute seaside town and where we stayed for getting our Fraser Island Tour. Its meant to be amazing for whale watching if you come in the right season!
Australia Zoo - feeding the kangaroos was honestly my highlight but they have crocodile shows and loads of native and exotic animals
Noosa Heads, National Park - we did the coastal walk which was so beautiful and great for watching the surfers.
All the beaches and boardwalks! We visited Alexandra Headlands, Mooloolaba, Caloundra and Coolum Beach
Glasshouse Mountains - we stopped at Montville and Maleny en route which are cute towns in the Hinterland and then did the Mt Ngungun hike which took an hour in total
Nutworks and Ginger Factory were great for a rainy day activity for us! The amount of flavours of macadamia nuts was amazing!
Emundi Markets - a huge market which takes place on Wednesdays and Saturdays, definitely worth stopping at.
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NORTH QUEENSLAND
How long to spend and where to stay?
This part of the trip was actually quite rogue! In reality we actually flew to Cairns after finishing the 'Melbourne to Sydney' Roadtrip. We stayed 3 nights in Cairns at an airbnb then got a campervan for "a dollar a day" deal (which is quite common with different companies) - the catch was, we had to have the campervan back to Sydney within 5 days. At the time, as budget travellers we thought this was a great idea as it sorted out our car hire and accommodation. But in reality we had to spend 2 of those 5 days solidly driving to get the campervan back on time!
What to do:
Cairns City - a really lovely small city with a beautiful boardwalk, lagoon and marina. We also visited the night market and admittedly their shopping mall for aircon purposes!
Skyrail over the world oldest rainforest and then catch the scenic railway back!
Hartleys Croccodile Adventure Park - as well as tons of crocs, you also see loads of other native animals, we particularly loved seeing a cassowary up close!
The Great Barrier Reef! Also a must do! We just went snorkeling and did a day tour with @downundercruiseanddive which we could not recommend more!
Whitsundays - a must do! Incredible white sand beaches and turquoise waters! We also saw a turtle when snorkleing! We went with a company called 'zigzagwhitsundays' which we really enjoyed
Magnetic Island - we did 'The Forts' walk (where you can see koalas en route!), fed the local rock wallabys and took a dip in Alma Bay
Mission Beach
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Happy Travelling!
Ruth xxx