Cruisin' in the Motorhome

On Sunday, we picked up our motorhome, then had afternoon tea with Mark & Suzy after they arrived home from Melbourne. We said our good-byes to Jack and began the 45 minute drive to the Gold Coast.


The Euro Deluxe motorhome was awesome!! It was equipped with a kitchen, bathroom, flat screen TV and could sleep 6 people...definitely more room than we needed. It was a 6-speed diesel that sounded like a semi-truck and seemed to take 30 seconds just to get up to 10 kph. But, it took Zach just a few minutes to get used to it and then he was driving smooth!

Day 1 - We continued our souvenir shopping in Surfer's Paradise before walking around the esplanade and beach areas. It was getting dark, so we headed to Bond University to try and find a place to camp for the night. We drove into the campus and almost parked in a commuter lot, but decided we might find ourselves getting towed in the middle of the night. So, we found a nearby neighborhood to crash in for the night. We were pretty self-sufficient in our little home and cooked a nice chicken taco dinner and swooped some internet from a nearby house. In the morning, we walked around the campus and saw my old dorm and hangouts - Don's Tavern, Juicy Bits, the pool, gym and tennis courts. They have started a lot of new construction which made some of it unrecognizable, but for the most part, it was good 'ol Bond!

Day 2 - We headed out of the Gold Coast around noon and began a 4-hour drive down the coast. The highway along the coast is Pacific Hwy 1 - just like in California, so we felt right at home. First stop was Byron Bay, a colorful hippie town with a picturesque lighthouse that overlooks the bay and coastline. We attempted to drive the motorhome up the small mountain and through very narrow and pot-hole filled roads. Not sure the motorhome company would approve of this, but we were determined to get up there and see the views. We finally found our way to the top and hopped out to take some photos. As we got to the main viewing deck, we heard everyone oo-ing and ah-ing at the water. We discovered it was pods of whales swimming right along the coast below us...it was so cool!

We drove through a few more towns and decided to stop in Grafton, NSW which is basically a small trucker stop with one McDonald's. But, this wasn't just any McD's...it was an attractive 2-story building with a pond and fountain out front. We had no problem spending an hour there getting free internet and a .50 cent cone! That night, we stayed at a Bunnings Warehouse (Home Depot) parking lot. We woke up early the next morning and headed on our way.

Day 3: Tuesday we drove about 5.5 hours and found ourselves in Port Stephens, which is a beautiful country town right on the coast. It's a bit out of the way, but definitely worth the extra 30 minutes to get there. We stayed at an RV holiday park since we needed to charge up the battery and find a dump station. Shoal Bay was a great little park with all the amenities we needed. We had a nice lamb dinner, hot showers and played a little ping pong in the game room. (Just for the record Amber won 2 of the 3 games!)

Day 4: After about 3 hours of driving, we arrived in North Sydney but decided to take our time getting through the city. The roads got extremely narrow and the drivers got more agressive and fast. So, we just stood our ground and managed to squeeze through the city tunnels and come out to the south side where we dropped off the motorhome and waited for our new house-sitters to pick us up.

We are happy to report to our families that everything went very smooth (except for a few squabbles) and we had a really fun time exploring much of the coast. We are so happy we decided on this route instead of a train or plane...we really got a good Aussie road trip experience! Check out the video below for some more pics!