Murwillumbah
Lake Arragan
Back for another stay within 2 months. Great National Parks beach campground
Woolgoolga
Relaxing 4 days spent in and around Woolgoolga
Diamond Head
Diamond Head Campground in Crowdy Bay National Park is right on the beach. There is no potable water but cold showers and toilets are available (making this one of the better National Parks). We enjoyed the stunning scenery, swimming and walks. Beach 4WD was embraced by one of us more than the other!
Mermaid Lookout Track Walk
Camping Companions
Diamond Head Loop Walk
Spectacular end of the thunderstorm
Bogged on the beach…Before & After
Wingham (& Taree)
Taree Showgrounds was finally reopened after the damaging floods 6 months ago. We arrived to find we were sharing the facility with the circus 😆. Adam’s family is only 15 minutes away in Wingham. We spent two days visiting, playing with the grandchildren, sharing meals, including seeing Pete & Bec on Saturday night at Taree Tavern. Wingham Coles was also just reopened after a major rebuild due to the flood and the new road bridge into the town had opened the week before.
The Ruins Campground
Set in the beautiful Booti Booti National the Ruins Campground was perfect. Great weather, swims, walks and a visit nearby Forster.
NSW & Sunshine Coast/ Christmas 2025
Taking the opportunity to enjoy NSW National Parks stays – walks, swimming & relaxing; visiting Adam, Olivia, Levi & Lily at Wingham; celebrating an early Christmas with Mum and “holidaying” with Tim, Katie, Abby & Ben around the Sunshine Coast; visiting Brian, Jenny and families!
Trip Stats and Highlights
Travel adventure duration: 3mths, 1 wk
Hottest temperature: ~35° (Kimberley)
Coldest temperature: -3° (Gunning)
Total travel distance: 14,200km
Repairs / flat tyre / broken windscreen (car or van): Surprisingly none given some of the most challenging dirt roads (Oodnadatta Track, Gibb River Road). The van’s fridge and inverter failed but these issues could have happened at any time.
Most challenging walk: Emma Gorge (G.R.R.)
Best meat pie: Mt Elizabeth Station (G.R.R.)
Worst road with caravan: Ellenbrae Station to Mt Elizabeth Station (G.R.R.) or Hermannsburg into Palm Valley, Finke Gorge National Park NT
Worst road – car only: Finke Gorge National Park campsite to Palm Valley
Favourite campsite: Pender Bay (Dampier Peninsula)
Best Adventure/Experience: Mitchell Falls (Ellenbrae Station, Kimberley region)
Worst campsite: Timber Creek Roadhouse NT (crammed front to back/blocked in and bats)
Best swim: Edith Falls NT
Most bush flies location: Devils Marbles NT
Best sunset: So many, can’t pick just one
Things we took but didn’t use: 2nd spare tyre; recovery treads; spare diesel (20L container); portable fire pit
Most expensive fuel: $2.59/L (average guesstimate $1.95~$2.00/L for the trip)
Fuel consumption average: 19.6L/100km
Finally home
Departing late Tuesday morning from Port Hedland & taking the quickest route home the journey took 2.5 weeks over a distance of 5,200kms. Travelling on every day except 2 (visit Kalgoorlie and a service for the van in Berri SA) the variety of landscape scenes made the tiring drive more interesting. From the mountain reds of the Pilbara to the sparse Nullarbor Plains and so much more, I saw a good cross section of what the vast Australian outback has to offer.
On the way to Burra S.A.
For just short of 3 months the weather was picture perfect… with very, very few exceptions the sky was blue with no clouds. Travelling home the weather was more typical winter… cold, windy and cloudy skies. During the last week I encountered rain on most days. The drive to the overnight stay at Burra showground was the heaviest.