One of our contacts in Australia, Mark H, has made a list of posssible things to do while driving along the east coast of Australia. Here’s what he writes:

I promised a few ideas on the road between Cairns and Sydney. I grew up in Brisbane and now live in Sydney so I know some parts quite well and other parts I’ve not seen for a while. Also not aware of your tastes but being from the Nordic countries, I suspect you want to see a chunk of beaches among other things. There are many great beaches and I am sure your research will unearth some of the best ones - I’ll add a few other ideas which you may want to consider. Cairns to Sydney in four weeks is good time but there is lots to see on the way and Sydney is a super city to finish off with so leave some time for it. Our dollar has just dived in the last few weeks against the US dollar and Euro (no idea -v- the krone) which hopefully will help these few weeks.

1. Around Cairns, the best three things to see in my view are the Barrier Reef (obviously - you can see via glass-bottom boats, snorkel, diving and from the islands), the Kuranda scenic train and the Daintree Rainforest. The Atherton Tableland, inland from Cairns is also a nice area of lakes, views and waterfalls (not to the Norwegian standard of waterfalls).

2. The Whitsunday Islands are superb - an island for all tastes, budgets and styles. Read up to work out the best for your group.

3. There is a great place where you are good odds of seeing platypus (maybe more exciting for Australians to see their own rare animal, maybe interesting for others too - I don’t know). This is the only place I’ve seen one in the wild.. It is called Eungella National Park and it is near Mackay, just inland a bit.

4. There are some virtually deserted islands off Bundaberg called Lady Ellitt and Lady Musgrave Islands. They are a bugger to get to and you need to be totally self sufficient when you are there (water, food, tents etc) but they are superb places to go and escape.

5. In Summer, Mon Repos Beach near Bundaberg had turtles laying and hatching which is seriously nice to see. No idea of exacting timings but there will be guides etc to supervise visits.

6. Fraser Island is the world’s largest sand island and numerous people visit there.

7. Sunshine Coast / Noosa etc have some great beaches and are part of the Sunshine Coast. My favourite beaches are just south of Noosa (Petigian and Sunshine) but I suspect they are now populated (used to be able to share these great sandy expanses and great waves with only a few people) and not as pristine.

8. Australia Zoo (originally run by a TV hero in Australia and the US called the Crocodile Hunter) has a good burst of all the Australiana animals in one place along with loads of crocodiles and various other animals from around the world. Much better than your typical zoo - it is around $50 for the day but everything is included once you are in there). It is on the bottom end of the Sunshine Coast.

9. My birth town of Brisbane is a nice place but not that much to see in contrast to the rest of your trip.

10. Gold Coast is your typical highly commercial beach area. Lots of nice beaches and lots of great parties. Inside the Gold Coast (ie, a bit inland) are some great national parks.

11. The great beaches continue through New South Wales all the way to Sydney. At some point, I’d suggest driving inland for a while to experience some sense of the Australian outback. There is little to contrast to endless nothing, incredible dry heat, red dust and typical small rural towns. The pubs in such places tend to unearth some great characters who will be mystified why people come all the way from Norway to be there. All of Europe has nothing to compare to this. Sadly it is a fair hike from the coastal road to get a decent experience but may be worth a contrast to the coastal strip of Australia.

12. Byron Bay is another iconic beach location that most visitors get to that grew out of hippy times. Lots of surfers, artists, cheap eats, and LOTS of people in summer. Well worth the effort. If you are into milestones, there is a lighthouse there on the eastern most point of Australia. Just south of there is a great surfers beach at Lennox Heads.

13. Sydney has a million things to see but little outdoes the harbour and the beaches. The Harbour Bridge can be climbed for a small fortune but does provide a good experience if you are happy to part with the cash where you get dressed up in boring grey overalls etc (there is a dedicated web site if you search for Harbour Bridge Climb). You can walk across the bridge for free in around an hour (one way) and that is pretty pleasant. The opera house is photogenic too and neighbours a pretty good botanic gardens good for walking through. Sydney also has the most significant part of Australia’s history as that is the first point of Australian white settlement. An area in Sydney called the Rocks has a lot of the original settlement area with some surviving old buildings and thinsg from the time. Sydney has its share of good museums to cover whatever you are keen to learn about should you be keen, but Sydney is much more a city of walking and exploring. Taking a ferry to Manly is another typical rite of passage as is a visit to Australia’s most famous beach, Bondi Beach where you can join several 10s of 1000s of other people from all over the world (and probably a few Australians as well!!).

14. The Blue Mountains just west of Sydney is a little cooler and has an important part of Australian history when a path through these mountains were found in the early 1800s to open up all of Australia (no-one really knew how big it was). Some great walks etc in this area.

15. Australia has an assortment of large plastic, fibreglass and metal objects sprinkled down the coastline like the Big Banana, Big Mango, Big Cow and the Big Pineapple. If you cross paths with one of those, there is a nice corny photo op for you. Coffs Harbour has the first of these in the Big Banana which is over 40 years old.

16. Australian pubs (hotels) are a great experience and the beer is much much much cheaper than Norway!!

17. I am biased but Australia has some superb food - the quality and variety (due to our size and diverse weather etc) of vegetables, fruit, meat and seafood is almost unequalled in the world.

There are probably more things of great interest to see and do - these were off the top of my head. As you cruise down the coast in your van, you’ll hear and see things that make you deviate from your original path.

A new photo gallery has now been added to the blog. This is an attempt to make the photos and albums more surveyable. The photos will now be sorted into albums and subalbums. As an example we have choosen the album called Africa from Øyvind’s journey to Tanzania. Try it yourself, it’s quite logical and easy to understand. If you have any questions please leave a comment or send us a mail and we’ll send you a reply as soon as possible.