East Australia 5-Day Roadtrip: Day One and Two

5 Day Itinerary in East Australia

Read Day 3 here
Read Day 4 and 5 here

Left: Road trip from Sydney - Right: Destinations covered
Click to enlarge.

Day 1

Since Australia is a large country, most people recommend taking a domestic flight to save time but during the time I went (at the beginning of the year), the flight prices were high so we opted to road trip instead.

Hence the first day we drove from Sydney to Brisbane which took 12 hours. The weather is much hotter and dryer than in Sydney. We had a few stops including one at Richmond Valley. The hotel in Brisbane was booked already so that is why we went there but the activities for Day 2 actually took place nearer to Gold Coast.

Richmond Valley

We stayed at the Brisbane Watermark Hotel and it was very comfortable. The rooms were quite large and very clean. I also enjoyed the breakfast with the fresh croissants, bacon, eggs and more.

Brisbane

Day 2

In the morning we drove 2 hours to Paradise Country Farm where we spent most of the afternoon. There are a lot of tourists here as it offers the opportunity to see many animals that tourists are curious about. You could take a photo holding a baby koala for AUD$20.

After taking a lot of photos of and with the adorable koalas we walked around to see the other animals. There were emus, kangaroos, and sheep.

There were also different shows by the staff from tea-making, bread-baking to horse-racing. We got to try the tea and bread which made for a good light afternoon snack.

Racing performance

The last activity of the day at Paradise Country was sheep shearing. All the sheep were well trained and we saw many different types all with different wool. Shearing looked like it was painful for the sheep but they were actually very compliant and relaxed.

Sheep shearing

You can spend the rest of your afternoon at the Warner Brother's Movie World with lots of rides for youth. We didn't go because I have already been to similar types of amusement parks before which were bigger.

Movie World

It was a short day activity-wise. We ate dinner then drove some more to Gold Coast where we stayed the night.

Read Day 3 here
Read Day 4 and 5 here

East Australia 5-Day Road Trip: Day Three

5 Day Itinerary in East Australia

Read Day 1 and 2 here
Read Day 4 and 5 here

Day 3

This day was probably my favourite out of my whole Australia trip because it was so beautiful and activity-filled! In the morning we drove 2 hours from our Gold Coast hotel to the Town of 1770. Yes that is the name of the place! It offered access to the southern part of the Great Barrier Reef.

We boarded a small cruise called Lady Musgrave to the island with the same name.

Beautiful location for the day!

The boat ride took 1.5 hours to get to the island and it was rough. The waves made the ride bumpy and many people vomited. If you get motion sickness easily, I suggest taking a pill beforehand to relieve yourself from the stress since seeing other people vomit may make you want to vomit as well.

Our ride

However, the ride is worth the gorgeous destination! The water was extremely blue, the sun was shining and the water was calm.

Look at that water!

We spent all our daylight hours there and only returned to the pier when the sun was setting. The passengers were split into groups to take small boats to an un-inhabited island with lots of birds. It was very small and we walked around it in an hour.

Small island

Other activities included snorkeling, taking glass bottom boats to see fish and coral, and sun-tanning. Snack, tea, coffee and hot chocolate were served throughout the trip and there was a hearty lunch with chicken, pasta, beets and salad. I enjoyed the freshness of the food especially the pineapple with coconut shred salad that I've never tried before!

Boats to see coral

It was a fulfilling day spent in the water admiring the sea wildlife of Australia. For information about the Lady Musgrave cruise click here.

Read Day 1 and 2 here
Read Day 4 and 5 here

East Australia 5-Day Road Trip: Day Four and Five

5 Day Itinerary in East Australia

Read Day 1 and 2 here
Read Day 3 here

Day 4

Today's activities were at Gold Coast. First we went to Sea World and spent a few hours there enjoying the rides and shows. However, the weather turned bad around 2.5 hours in and started emitting lightening and rain.

We ducked into the aquarium to prevent from getting wet and also because that was my favourite part. The tanks were filled with beautiful sea creatures from sharks, turtles, stingrays to an assortment of fish. I was mesmerized.

Sky darkening at dolphin performance

As a result, many of the performances and rides were closed down including the dolphin show and sea lion show. I love watching dolphin shows so I was a bit disappointed but I understood the need for safety precautions.

Fish tank photo that doesn't do it justice

After Sea World we went to Surfer's Paradise beach on Gold Coast. It was raining so there were only two surfers in the water but due to the rain we were able to see a double rainbow! At one point there was even a bolt of lightening under the double rainbow which was very cool.

Surfer's Paradise

Admiring the double rainbow (not visible in photo)

That was the end of our journey in East Aussie because...[refer to Day 5]

Day 5

Full day of driving from Gold Coast back to Sydney.

There is a lot of travelling time with this itinerary but we were able to see the animals, nature and scenes that we wanted to see in Australia.

Read Day 1 and 2 here
Read Day 3 here