There is nothing like a legendary road trip throughout Australia. It’s the thing to do there. Buy or renting a campervan and travel throughout Oz. Visiting the unknown parts and places of Australia. It’s always been a dream of mine to actually travel Australia in a campervan. So when I was giving the opportunity to drive a Britz Campervan from Sydney to Byron Bay, I couldn’t pass it up!

It was going to be an epic girls weekend from Sydney to Byron Bay for a short but adventures celebration. Traveling a total of 1550km (963 miles) in 5 days. This adventure included figuring out how to power the camper van to putting up clothesline and making new friends.

OH! Let’s not forget the fact that I am an American and we don’t drive on the left of the road!

Day One: April 21st
Driving Time: 4 hours 17 minutes
Distance: 388km (241miles)

Picking up the campervan on a late morning in Mascot, Sydney. Making a stop at in Port Stephens for a late lunch/ early dinner at Heather Braes Pies. Our final stop was at Port Macquarie, where we stayed at Flynn’s Beach Caravan Park for the night. It was $28 a night for a powered site. Lots of property space and the staff was friendly. Also, only about a 5-10 minute walk from the beach and plenty of local restaurants and food stores. We arrived around 7:30pm and had dinner at the local Mexican Restaurant called, Poco Loco. It was pretty decent Mexican food. I LOVE Mexican food. I’ve eat a lot of it in my day! If I am honest, wouldn’t give them 5 stars but they did deserve 3-4 stars.

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Day Two: April 22nd
Driving Time: 4 hours 54 minutes
Distance: 401km (249miles)

Waking up early for an early brekky at Fifi’s Coffee and Flynn’s Beach Take Away before we headed off to Byron Bay. We wanted to make it in for a Friday night in Byron Bay as we had some friends playing at a local pub (The Northern– in Byron Bay). This day consisted of lots of highway driving, girl toons, and watching my speed!

Day Three-Four: April 23 – 24th

Spent two amazing days in Byron Bay at the Glen Villa Resorts. This place was perfect! Only 5 minute walk into the town and about 10-15-minute walk to the beach. We spent the two days lounging around, watching the waves and soaking up the sun. We also took a hike up to the Byron Bay Lighthouse. This hike is a MUST DO. And cooking our meals in the camper and if we weren’t we went to visit some local spots like: Byron Café and Sticky Wicket Bar.

Day Five: April 25th
Driving Time: 9 hours 18 minutes
Distance: 775km (482miles)

This day was rough! Although it had to be done, we needed to get back to work the following morning. With that said we hit the road early morning only stopping for a big brekky at Yamba at the Caperberry Café. Which was absolutely delicious!

We arrived late that night in Sydney.

Things to know about Australia highways:

  1. Monitor your speed limit they are SUPER strict.
  2. Don’t drive at night. Highways don’t have good lighting or non at all.
  3. Watch out for Kangaroos.– In the states it’s watch out for deers.- Hahaha
  4. Don’t use your cellphones, cops are always around.
  5. Don’t drive on an empty tank. The distances between towns or rest areas a far apart. You never really know when you’ll see another petrol station.

Most important things to take away:

  1. The drive from Sydney to Byron Bay is beautiful.
  2. Do the walk/hike to the Byron Bay Lighthouse at SUNSET! It’s beautiful.
  3. If I could have done it differently I would have done a whole week. Stopped in every town (or most) and really seeing the little town while driving up to Byron Bay.
  4. Book campsites in advance. You can’t just stop anywhere for the night. You will get a ticket. If you’re going on a busy weekend like we did, book a week in advance. Places book up quickly. You always want to consider distance from the nearest beach and town, powered or none powered sites, and any extra facilities on the campsites (like showers, kitchens, etc.).

Lastly, Byron Bay is full of backpackers and campers. Which means you won’t be the only one coming in on a camper or living in a van. This is the best part about Byron Bay, the community of hippies and great people!

(Check out the first of four vblogs on my Youtube Channel.)