The Mogers from NZ came to stay for Christmas and the New Year and we decided we would all go up to the Gold Coast for a holiday, in the Prado, stopping overnight half way up.
Top of the list of things to do was visiting some of the Theme Parks up there. In the end getting accommodation was tricky, with 8 of us, so in the end we stayed in 2 apartments at Turtle Bay Resort on Mermaid Beach. It was a lovely little place to stay that had several swimming pools and even a small cinema.
So we drove up on the Monday before Christmas - fully loaded up with a 155 ltr roofbox that didn't have an inch to spare! The kids are all bigger than a few years ago when we did our last road trip with the Mogers in their Prado (to Rotorua & Taupo in NZ) so it was rather cramped in the car, especially as we each had a bag by our feet!
We stopped in Coffs Harbour Monday afternoon, which was around the half way point - the Novotel turn off was by the Big Banana (we saw lots of 'big' things on our trip but I only managed a few photos!)
Then arrived at Mermaid Beach the following afternoon. Unfortunately our arrival coincided with the arrival of the cyclone further north Queensland, which led to heavy rain where we were. It did mean that the theme parks were not too busy and the queues were not long, but we did get wet and one day we had to go home early as many of the rides were closed (even the wet rides!)
Another great experience in Queensland was being able to do u-turns legally. They even have signs saying it's ok.
MovieWorld - here I am with Scooby Doo!
(I could have shared a photo of the kids with him, but I have to confess I am a big SD fan too!
So we spent Christmas Day with the Mogers and it was - unusually for Aus - a wet affair! Edwin cooked the snags on the barbie under cover as it was raining. But it couldn't put a dampener on the kids excitement! They had a great day, especially sharing it with Steve and Pete. Plenty of lollies, choc, gaming and dvd's too!
On the way home we stopped near Numbacca, a small coastal town. The motel's garden had a vast array of Hibiscus, the best I have seen in Aus so far.
We stopped for lunch at Woodburn, a small NSW town that had a great atmosphere which sits on the Richmond River. The river was pretty swollen having breached it's banks and had a lot of debris in it.
On the way home we stopped near Numbacca, a small coastal town. The motel's garden had a vast array of Hibiscus, the best I have seen in Aus so far.
We stopped for lunch at Woodburn, a small NSW town that had a great atmosphere which sits on the Richmond River. The river was pretty swollen having breached it's banks and had a lot of debris in it.
The next morning we decided to stop at South West Rocks, another beauty point which is recommended for a halfway stopover from Brisbane to Sydney. It was glorious - the first sunny and hot day in a week and an awesome coastline and couple of beaches. We let the kids play in the surf for half an hour and then decided to stay the day and overnight. Getting accommodation for both families was tricky and we got the last 2 accommodation in the area with the help of the local tourist office.
With that sorted, we went back to the surf. One beach had amazing tall waves in shallow waters, called Horshoe Bay, Edwin and the kids really enjoyed themselves:
- spot Edwin and the children (near top rh of photo), the kids are on yellow lielows!
We headed back to Trial Beach for walk before dinner and the sand was amazing - powder snow like that squeaked under foot and seemed to go on for miles! A more perfect beach one would be hard to find.
We headed back to Trial Beach for walk before dinner and the sand was amazing - powder snow like that squeaked under foot and seemed to go on for miles! A more perfect beach one would be hard to find.
We stopped off for lunch at Bulahdelah at a really great if not quirky little cafe that served excellent food. There are so many places and things to see along the Pacific Highway, it would be great to do a proper road trip over a couple of weeks going North from Sydney - maybe one day! And then we were home.
