The Ultimate Airlie Beach to Brisbane Campervan Roadtrip
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!
with RatPack Travel?
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.
From our RatPackers
I booked my campervan to travel in NZ via RatPack Travel, who managed to find me the perfect van at relatively short notice and with a discount! It was a real help to have someone do the searching and mediate with the company, once they had dates and information from me. Thanks for the prompt and friendly service!
Great service! Jenner was so much help and gave us lots of options to suit our journey. Very attentive and made it an easy process.
This was the best customer service I ever experienced! I highly recommend you if you are looking for a Van or Camper to leave your email address so somebody of their team can get in touch with you. They compare for you all camper hire company’s and you can choose with one suits you the best. I literally talk to this awesome lady from Holland (as I’m only available after 8pm MEL time, so the arrange for me a call with somebody from the EU team for free) and she got our dream van for the most incredible price few minutes after we talked! And not even one day later I got my booking confirmation from the camper company. Their service is free of charge as they earn commission of your booking but this doesn’t cost you a cent. I did my own research before but the deals they give me was way better than I could find by my own. I highly recommend to get in touch with this team and let them find your Van. They literally saved us our fuel cost for a 3 weeks travel from Cairns to Sydney. Yes- that’s almost $1000 they saved us! Go and get your van! You won’t regret it.
So far, so so good. I should have started with RatPack to begin with and saved all that time searching for a camper and feeling like I was getting nowhere. Jenna was incredibly helpful -doing all the hard yards and getting us the best deal. Very prompt service. Thanks for making it so easy !
Very friendly service with Tammy. Super attentive and keen to help us. Got us a discount and one of the last available options.
Ratpack was super helpful! They were extremely responsive and helped us get an amazing deal on two 3-person camper vans. Highly recommend giving them a shot!
Really straight forward helpful and friendly people!
Mike helped us with finding the best van for us for our 3 week trip and was very knowledgeable. With some quick phone calls he gave us the best quotes and walked us through the process in detail. Everything was made clear and we booked our trip in just an hour! I would highly recommend their service.
Great experience with the RatPack travel team! Really went out of their way to help us book our Van’s for two different trips! They have great rapport with the various Van companies, were able to help us book the last available Van for our time in WA and were able to get us some discounts as well. Zan and Mikey were both so easy going, made it feel like we were chatting with friends who genuinely cared about our travels haha, awesome guys! Definitely recommend the RatPack service, will save you time and money fellow travellers!
Mike was amazing - helped me find a van and gave me quotes, a full breakdown, etc super quickly no stress! Just what I needed. Can't wait to start my trip. Thanks dude!
Booked a 3 week trip with MIKEY! Customer service was on point. No Buls**t straight to the point. Saved us a further % on the original price of the campervan and sent me a map of the east coast with highlighted areas he highly recommended to stop at. looking forward to our trip! 🇮🇪 🇦🇺
Highly recommend this company! Mike was incredibly helpful; he gave us lots of useful info and managed to get an excellent deal on a camper for our trip. The whole process was quick and easy. Thank you! Alison and Amy x
Mikey was amazing at helping us plan our 3 week schedule for the east coast. He went over and above to make sure that we were able to fit everything in that we wanted to in the time we have. His knowledge has been a great asset for us making an itinerary. Can't recommend enough!
If you want to book a camper for your trip, you should only do so with Ratpack. The team is incredibly fast and provides great service. No annoying comparison of providers, since Ratpack takes over. They are looking for the best deal and can offer great discounts. they respond individually to your wishes and give you additional tips for the trip. Since there is also an EU team, you could make calls at individual times of the day - simply excellent all around - thanks for everything
Absolutely delighted with the service provided by RatPack Travel. In particular, the excellent guidance and support offered by Jules! We explained our plans and she found a suitable solution to meet our needs. Very grateful and suggest other travellers use this facility. Thank you 😊
