The East Coast is a RatPack fave for many reasons, and how better to see it than hitting the road in a camper with ya pals??
Airlie Beach to Brisbane is an epic roadie route and you can hit up some unreal spots including:
- The incredible Whitsundays
- Secret natural pools
- Sandblows with the BEST views
- Spots only accessible if you have your own wheels
Lydia headed on the roadie with her gals, here’s how they got on…
Travelling around Australia is pretty great but when youʼre able to do it with friends, oh my is it good! This is my second time here and I swear it gets better and better! I was so lucky that three of my friends were able to join me on a little Roadtrip down the East Coast from Airlie Beach to Brisbane.
Having all met in Byron, we caught a flight to Proserpine where we stayed in an airbnb before jetting off on the Ocean Rafting adventure to the Whitsundays.
Click images to see more.
The roadie
Day 1
If youʼre in travelling the East Coast, you have to make a trip to the Whitsundays. If the high speed Ocean Rafting boat isnʼt enough, the crystal turquoise seas should do it. The day trip out is perfect if youʼre on the road, you get to visit all the beautiful locations and have time to relax along the way.
TIP: January is the wet month for the Whitsundays. However, we went in January and LOOK at the colour of the water. The weather was perfect.
Day 2
CAMPER DAY! We picked up our Camper from Airlie Beach (link to all trip and camper bookings at the bottom!). From here we drove straight to Cedar Creek Falls, roughly 25 min drive!
TIP: If youʼre in a Campervan and you are picking it up from Airlie Beach a head to BCF (about 10 min drive North from Airlie Beach) to refuel gas canisters. Cafe to visit: Cafe one a Great for vegetarians & INSANE coffee Coffee spot when visiting Cedar Creek Falls: visit Becky at The Hive at Busy Bee 9am- 4pm
After a dip in the fresh water we drove straight to Cape Hillsborough (1.5 hours). We camped the night at the Cape Hillsborough Nature Tourist Park a a campsite situated 2 meters from the beach.
TIP: 60 Dollars for 4 people and a camper a bargain and well worth the stay!
Day 3
This morning was pretty special. We woke up around 4am to head to the beach for Sunrise. If you donʼt know already, Cape Hillsborough is popular for the Kangaroos and Wallabyʼs that visit the beach to fed every morning for sunrise.
TIP: you want to check the sunrise time and be on the beach 20minutes beforehand
We then hopped in the camper and made our way to Agnes Waters (7 hours). We camped at The Workmanʼs camp (€9 per person per night). If you arrive later in the evening, you can find a plot to park up and stay and the Ranger comes round in the morning and collects card or cash. A perfect stopover place!
Day 4
Two minute drive from the campsite is a short walk called Paperbark Forest walk a itʼs roughly 20 minutes and absolutely BEAUTIFUL.
After a little walk we drove 3.5 hours to Rainbow Beach down Bruce Highway. Bruce Highway is the road you are pretty much on the whole roadie on this part of the East Coast and it really makes you see how vast and baron Aus can be!
TIP: stop at Driver Revivers for free coffee or head to Bunderberg for great coffee and a lunch spot! We camped at Rainbow Beach holiday park ready for a day of exploring the next day.
Day 5
We headed to Rainbow beach in the morning to relax on the beach and soak in some sun. A great place to visit whilst you are here is Carlo blow Sand dunes a you can enter from Rainbow Beach town, follow the hill up and around and then take the steps up. When you get to the top of the steps, you turn left and follow to the woodland path round!
Day 6
We chose to get up fairly early today so we had enough time to explore Noosa. Itʼs about 1.45 hours from Rainbow Beach. Walk the Tanglewood Track in Noosa National Park (roughly 1 hour). The track takes you around the coastal path and you can head back to Noosa town from there. Make sure you stop off at the Fairy Pools!
TIP: Check tide times to make sure you can swim in the Fairy Pools.
Stayed in Noosa Caravan Park a a super peaceful campsite surrounded by Palm Trees. About 15 minutes out of town!
Day 7
Early rise for kayak on the everglades this morning! We hired from Boardwalk Boat Hire a €20 per person per hour a you can also get also get a double kayak or SUP.
We then headed to Laguna Cove a itʼs a beach just down from Noosa town a quieter and super peaceful! The main beach at Noosa can get pretty busy especially peak seasons so Laguna Cove is the perfect alternative.
Day 8
This morning we headed back to Laguna Cove for a chill and to grab some breakfast in the town! The Laguna Lookout is definitely worth a visit for sunset a you can drive up there or if you fancied a 30 min walk, its a lovely walk through part of the National Park. Donʼt forget to look out for Koalas!
TIP: Foodie places – a great Poke bowl at Raw n Rice Acai Bowl at Coconut Heads Cocktail at Miss Moneypennys
Day 9
Woke up early this morning to drive to the Glass House Mountains. A great hike to do is the Mount Ngungun Trail a itʼs about a 2 hour return trip to the top and is SO worth it. The views from the top are beautiful.
After a nice morning wake up hike, we drove to Melany to have coffee and lunch at Sherpa Kitchen a a beautiful garden cafe with delicious food and insane coffee!
A great waterfalls to visit nearby is Gardner Falls a itʼs about 20 minutes from Mount Ngungun! We headed to Golden Beach Holiday Park which is a great place to stay if you want to see Bribie Island and the town of Caloundra. We arrived late afternoon/early evening and decided to have a little picnic on the beach!
Day 10
Thereʼs several really beautiful beaches nearby to this campsite, one is Bulcock (around 35minute walk) and the other is Shelly Beach. Both are beautiful and have lots of cafes and markets to enjoy nearby.
Late morning we decided to go kayaking over to Bribie Island a HIGHLY RECOMMEND. We rented our kayaks from Billʼs rental along the coastline just before Caloundra a they were super reasonably priced and you can hire single, double or even paddle boards.
About the Author: Sammy
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Ben was amazing and went above and beyond to find us amazing deals and exactly what we were looking for. He did it all in record time too! We were very close to our travel date and Ben was doing so much for us so quickly! Definitely recommend
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Friendly helpful and accommodating. Thanks Ryan. You made it all very easy.
Great service from Ben, came back with answers within minutes and walked us through the process, great experience, thanks Ben
George was fantastic, I came in very vague and he gave me the time and examples to lock in what we were looking for. He found great deals and was easy to talk to - he was able to give tips about the process without putting any pressure. Would recommend using Ratpack.
Ben made it so fast and easy for us to reserve our camper van for our trip in the fall! Excellent service!’n
I had a call with Ryan who was super nice, knowledgable and made me feel really at ease with making my decision. He asked me all about what I want to do and achieve on my trip, although I didn’t really want to pack too much in… nor gave much detail on what I want to do, he gave options and ideas for me to look into. He used his own experience as an example which was really helpful to hear and made me feel like I’m right at home with RatPack, I knew then I was making the right choice by talking to him. He answered any questions I had, even if they seemed like silly questions to ask. The booking process is really easy and straight forward, they do all the hard parts for you. Once Ryan talked me through my options, I made my selection and all I had to do was enter my card details for the deposit and I was done! Thanks to Ryan’s detailed and calm approach I knew I was booking with the right company/team. I can’t wait for the next step!!
George has been amazing. He put together the costings for our trip, and then I changed the dates completely and he redid everything and said it wasn’t a problem. I felt that he worked hard to get me the best deal, advised me which pickup town was the best deal, when was the best time to travel, and how I could save money by adding a day to our trip (yes, it was cheaper to go for 21 days than go for 20!). George sent through mountains of advice on travel destinations, camping sites etc. I would definitely recommend RatPack Travel and George.
The Ratpack team and specifically Ryan f were great for booking our dream New Zealand campervan trip. Ryan worked hard over several days trying to find the best possible deals for us and the communication was great with updates regularly. He was able to get us 2 vans that out did any other quotes that we received and we are really looking forward to our trip with Ratpack being by our side. Thanks a lot Ryan F!
Lovely people, more than helpful.
I am so stoked with the service I received from Ryan at RatPack Travel. He was so proactive and on the ball to help me with all my questions and variations. He gave me several options and gave me other things to look at to make sure I had all that I needed. Ryan did all the legwork in following up the availability of the type of van I wanted. If you are wanting to go on a Campervan holiday no matter how long or short, I would recommend RatPack Travel! They will be you support in every step of the process, in the lead up and while on the road. Thanks Ryan! You're a legend! They are a one stop shop when it comes to sourcing campervans and motorhomes from different providers! I nearly forgot to say - he got me a great deal on a newer model. ;)
Thijs and Gemma were just so lovely to communicate with and explained everything so well. Booked us our campervan seamlessly, and with a great deal too 😊 10/10 service from them both!! Couldn’t recommend more! 😊
Ben was super helpful, easy to deal with and always got back to all my questions nice and quickly, with all the campervan options out there we really didn’t know what one to go with but Ben did all the searching for us and made the whole process really simple.
Amazing and outstanding customer service, Ryan exceeded all expectations, he and his team found the perfect deal for us, if you are looking for renting a campervan in NZ or Oz, don’t look for more! Go straight to them and you’ll see you are in the best hands! 🙌
Greg was superb! We told him what we wanted in a camper van. Even with less than two weeks notice, he didn’t disappoint. We loved our camper van and it was perfect for the two of us!
