Seeing Australia in a camper van was something I never imagined in my wildest dreams. We were able to comb the country inch by inch and see quite a lot of it within a space of two weeks. It was twice what we did in the summer of 1976 and later on in 1981. It was one of those carefree trips where all we had in mind was relaxation and sight-seeing. Far from the madding crowd it was.
We flew into Brisbane from Port Moresby and picked up our van. It had a sink and a bedroom fridge; the roof could be opened up and the seats became beds. Behind the driver’s seat, there was even a small storage place which held a tent and two sleeping bags. In fact, there was room for six people to sleep.
A little uneasy with driving so large a vehicle, we were happy to leave the heat behind us when we crossed into the Blue Mountains of New South Wales. Our first stop was in Armidale, a small town known for its numerous educational institutions. To say it was chilly was an understatement. In fact, it couldn’t have been colder. An icy wind blew through us and we warmed our hands with hot coffee mugs as we were dressed too lightly for such weather. Sleep didn’t come easily; we spent too much of the night tossing and turning.
The next morning we were delighted to see an expanse of green countryside. Rolling pastures dotted with grazing cows were a delight to see. We headed south through Tammworth and took the Pacific Highway to an idyllic caravan park at Gosford surrounded by weeping willows. We were close to Sydney — the heavy traffic on the highway indicated that — but we decided that we would bypass Sydney and head to Canberra. The night was pleasantly warm and the “quick fix” dinners a joy at the end of the day.
Lake George is the beginning of the Australian Capital Territory. Having reached it, we knew we were not far from the city that Walter Burley Griffin, an American, had designed. In the afternoon we made our entrance into well-designed and well-planned Canberra. We thought we were now map savvy and could find our way but after roaming for hours, we went to the Tourist Information Center where we were directed to the Motor Village. It was a splendid place in rolling hills. The motel rooms were up and the caravan park down. Because of the holiday rush, there was no space in the park so we were happy to have a motel room. Canberra was our favorite stop and we spent three glorious days. There was so much to do. The paddling boats in Lake Burley Griffin were popular with us. We raced against each other to see who could get as close as possible to the Captain Cook Memorial Jet. We also visited the Mount Ainslie Lookout where we had a bird’s eye view of the city spread out below us. It was easy to spot the landmarks. We said goodbye to Canberra after one more race in the paddling boats.
After winding our way through many hills we finally got on the Princes Highway and headed to Sydney. We reached Sydney but to our dismay, we hated it after Canberra. It was noisy and polluted and the caravan parks we saw were filthy. We did pitch a tent in one but the surroundings are not worth mentioning. All we wanted to do was leave as soon as possible. The next day, thoroughly confused and totally lost, we finally made it to the renowned landmarks: The Sydney Harbor Bridge and the Opera House. One does not overpower the other though they are close to each other. Sydney now seemed not so bad and we even found a better caravan park. The next day was spent at the Wax Works at King’s Cross and the Toranga Zoo which was rather bland.
We left Sydney and no one was as sorry as when we left Canberra. We traveled north, through Swansea to stop at Coff’s Harbor. What was the attraction here? The Big Banana! An enormous plantation stretching as far as the eye can see. A large model of a banana marked the tourist attraction; visitors were allowed onto the actual plantation and were encouraged to go into the various souvenir shops.
Passing the beautiful waters of Byron Bay, we made our way to Tweeds Head, the beginning of Australia’s famous Gold Coast. We made a brief stop at Surfers Paradise and then headed for Brisbane. On our way, we stopped at the River Hill Caravan Park which had the best facilities we saw during our trip. We got into Brisbane the next day and easily found our way back to the hotel. Although it had been a very long trip, we were still cheerful but weren’t really looking forward to returning to Port Moresby. Our unique and exciting adventure would stay in our hearts forever.
