As much as we love cruising, sometimes it's just good to get off the boat, and sometimes it's the only way to really see a country. Australia is HUGE. Even after looking at maps and devouring guides we still didn't have a feel for just how big the country is. It wasn't until we started driving, kilometer after kilometer speeding by, that the true size of the country began to sink in. In the end we couldn't possibly do everything or cover all of Australia; we just didn't have the time (or money). So we decided on renting a little campervan and driving the east coast, from Brisbane to Melbourne. Then we flew to Tasmania, spending a week circumnavigating the island via another rented campervan. Finally we flew from Tasmania to Sydney to hang with friends, then did a mad dash, driving back to Mooloolaba in a two day period. We stayed with our friend (and previous owner of Billabong) in Yamba (near Mooloolaba) for three weeks (lovin' the land life) before returning to Billabong and our life at sea!
It seems we covered a lot of ground, and saw a lot of sights ... so much that we figured we'd deviate from our normal journal style entry, providing picture journals of our trip instead.
The maps below highlight our travels in black. Links bring up various photo-journals, divided in hopes of making them manageable in both size and attention span!
Road Trip Summary:
Brisbane to Melbourne:
2/20/07 - 3/13/07
3,650 km driven
Tasmania:
3/14/07 - 3/22/07
1,145 km driven
Sydney Area (just hanging):
3/22/07 - 3/28/07
Sydney - Mooloolaba Return Drive:
3/28/07 - 3/29/07
1,060 km driven
Total: 5,585 km