Australia’s Holiday Highway! Our Road trip from Cairns to the Sunshine Coast.
Ready to conquer Australia’s Holiday Highway? Well fill up the tank, and get ready to map out your trip along Queensland’s Pacific Coast Way with our helpful Blog Post on one of Australia’s most beautiful coastal drives!
NRMA Airlie Beach Holiday Park
Our incredible journey along Australia’s Holiday Highway staying with NRMA Holiday Parks begins! We left Cairns and began our 7 hour journey to Airlie Beach, passing sugar cane, banana plantations and coconut trees. This drive never gets old, there is nothing else like it in Australia and you just know you’re in the tropics when the scenery is like this! We drove past Townsville, Ayr and Bowen, all of which made this iconic drive seem real as we’ve always wanted to visit these well known Queensland locations. Our first stop was NRMA Airlie Beach Holiday Park. The location of this holiday park was perfect. It is right across the road from the beach and a magnificent coastal walk, a 2 minute drive to Shute Harbour where the tours to the Whitsunday Island’s depart from (most tours will pick you up from this holiday park) and there’s also a playground and pump track for the kids on the esplanade opposite! What a bonus! As for the park itself, there is an amazing pool area complete with splash zone, E Bikes for hire, which is perfect for the walking track across the road, so many Bbq area’s to make use of, an abundance of wildlife and an onsite Cafe with delicious breakfast and dinner options and a bar! On Sunday’s the Cafe holds a country music afternoon and there’s no better way to wind down than with a cocktail in hand on the deck listening to the tunes!
We stayed here in a 2 bedroom cabin for 3 nights and other than enjoying the pool area and all the holiday park had to offer, we also booked a tour out to Whitehaven Beach. This tour was incredible and such a bucket list trip! We got picked up at 8am and visited the iconic Hill Inlet Lookout, Whitehaven Beach and experienced some amazing snorkeling! This tour also included a delicious lunch and snacks! We highly recommend this day out and it is suitable for all ages! A visit to Airlie Beach just wouldn’t be complete without a day tour out to the stunning Whitsundays. You can see more of these tour options and this bucket list day out here.
Cape Hillsborough Nature Tourist Park
After 3 amazing nights in Airlie Beach, we made our way further south along the stunning coast of Queensland to Cape Hillsborough Nature Tourist Park. This drive was approx 1.5 hours and is right near the beautiful Mackay region. Upon entering this park the kids were greeted with a glimpse of the mini golf that awaited them. The excitement was real, not only for them but for us as well. With direct access to the beach from this park, i was in my element and could not wait to witness a magical sunrise from here, which is what this holiday park is known for! But the best part is, at sunrise we also get to see the iconic kangaroos and wallabies grazing on the washed up Mangrove Seed on this beautiful beach.
We checked into our cabin, which exceeded our expectations. It was spacious, modern, fully self contained and had a beautiful large deck area with partial views out to the beach. The kids headed straight to the waterslides while Gilles and i took some much needed rest and relaxation on the sun loungers provided.
Our alarm went off at 5:15 the following morning to catch a glimpse of this Australian bucket list moment!! We made a coffee, woke up the kids and walked down to the beach as the sun was starting to rise. We sat quietly observing the kangaroos grazing on the Mangrove Seed Pods and Seaweed that washed ashore during the mornings tide. We sipped our coffee and watched the sky turn a stunning shade of pink as the new day was about to begin. What a moment! We could instantly see why thousands of people flock to Cape Hillsborough each year to witness this with their own eyes. It was truly magical and another bucket list moment was ticked off our list!
After our glorious morning, it was a game of mini golf and giant chess for the kids, followed by delicious pizzas at the picnic tables for lunch, and of course another swim and more waterslide action! Later that afternoon, we strolled back down to the beach for a stunning walk along the many trails nearby, the lookout points are well worth it! On the way back, the kids fondled in the rockpools and played a game of soccer on the wide open sand! What a day! We’ve been wanting to visit Cape Hillsborough for so long to experience this magic and let me just say, it certainly lived up to all i imagined it to be!
The following morning before our departure we made a traditional english breakfast in our cabin and took advantage of our wonderful deck area! We were so sad to have to leave but our next NRMA holiday park destination awaited us, along with the stunning scenery on the drive further down the East Coast of Queensland and we couldn’t wait to experience it!
NRMA Capricorn Yeppoon Holiday Park
Our road trip along Queensland’s Holiday highway continued.. we left Cape Hillsborough and drove a further 4.5 hours south to NRMA Capricorn Yeppoon Holiday Park. We could hear the little squils in the backseat as we entered this park, the kids were beside themselves with excitement once they spotted the giant bouncing pillow, pedal karts, E bikes and swimming pool! What a kids paradise this holiday park is and we probably should warn you, they may not ever want to leave!
We checked into our cabin and things just kept getting better… Our cabin faced a large grassed area right in front of the pool and all the action of the pedal karts and E bikes. After another quick unpack it was straight to the fun. We hired E bikes and headed straight out the front of the park to the path along the beach and enjoyed a beautiful scenic ride. Once we returned to the park the onsite food van was setting up, so it looked like an easy dinner of burgers for us! The kids played on the grass while Gilles and i had a much deserved glass of wine, it was bliss!
The next day, we went into town and explored beautiful Yeppoon. From the stunning esplanade, to the playgrounds, lagoon and cafes, this place is not to be missed! What a little gem Yeppoon is, it is a quiet seaside paradise and somewhere we will definitely be returning to so we can spend more time! We had lunch at a restaurant called The Waterine in Yeppoon and highly recommend it. It’s a gorgeous spot right on the water with amazing views of the Keppel Bay Marina! We couldn’t keep the kids away from the holiday park for any longer, so we headed back and they spent the afternoon on the Pedal Karts, jumping pillow and in the pool. Later that evening another food van rolled into the park, this time serving up delicious french crepes. We couldn’t resist so it was crepes for desert for us while we watched a movie in the outdoor cinema that night.
Once again, it was checkout day but not without a quick visit to a famous hike in Yeppoon along a picturesque trail called Bluff Point. This walk is less than a 5 minute drive from the holiday park and takes approx 45 minutes to complete a round trip. There are several steps but it is a relatively easy walk to do and plenty of other families passed us along the way! The best part about this walk, other than the incredible views is that you can spot so many turtles, so the kids absolutely loved that and it made the walk more exciting for them, it was a win, win!!
Turtle Sands
Our final leg of this epic journey! We sadly had to drag the kids away from NRMA Capricorn Yeppoon Holiday Park and travel 4 hours down to Turtle Sands, Mon Repos. This part of our road trip saw us pass through Rockhampton, Gladstone and Bundaberg. The list of places we’ve always wanted to see in Queensland was getting ticked off by the day!
We didn’t quite know what to expect at Turtle Sands as we knew we were outside of the Turtle nesting and hatching season (November – April) and wondered what else was on offer here. But like every other NRMA Holiday parks entrance, we were blown away by what we saw and were so excited for all that the next few days ahead would bring.
We checked in at reception and everything looked and felt so clean, new and modern! We got handed our keys to our 3 bedroom beach front villa and what happened next left us completely speechless… We proceeded to our Villa and were welcomed to the most incredible villa we’ve ever seen! It had a huge deck with automatic roller blinds which faced out to the ocean, a bbq, dining area and lounge! We walked inside and i think i heard Gilles say “this is nicer than our house”!! A stunning lounge, kitchen and dining area along with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms awaited us. Everything looked brand new and was decorated beautifully. We unpacked, explored the park and even thought about extending our stay immediately!
We arrived on the day of Turtle Sands 1st birthday, so the staff were serving cake and icecream, it was an instant fave destination for the kids! We enjoyed our cake and icecream while listening to the live music on the grass by the pool, could this welcome have been any better? Soon after, we headed to the famous Bundaberg Rum Distillery and experienced a Bundaberg Rum Behind The Scenes Distillery Tour. Well, wasn’t this a surprise… we honestly didn’t know if it would be worth it, afterall, we only really wanted to visit here for that iconic photo in front of the giant bottle of Rum! But the tour was unexpectedly awesome! Even for the kids… we got to see and taste the Molasses, learn all about the harvesting of sugar cane and try some samples at the end, there are even more milder forms, with sweet pineapple flavouring if you aren’t really into rum, like myself! The kids were also included and did not miss out on the tastings as they sampled lots of Bundaberg Ginger Beer and soft drink! A visit to the Bundaberg region would not be complete without this tour so be sure to add it to your list!
We woke bright and early the next day to enjoy a coffee on the stunning deck area of our Villa and went and explored the beach, which was basically right on our doorstep! We then hired E bikes and rode 10 minutes to the nearby town, Bargara. We ate breakfast at a gorgeous little cafe called The Windmill. This is a must do, if staying at Turtle Sands because not only is the food amazing, it is a beautiful cafe with a picturesque Windmill as the standout feature and the ride there from Turtle Sands is stunning. The beachfront area of the quaint town of Bargara is simply beautiful! We continued our ride exploring the area including the Mon Repos Turtle Centre which is dedicated to marine turtle research, protection and education of these amazing creatures. After our incredible morning discovering all that was on offer from the nearby surroundings, we spent the remainder of the day enjoying the holiday park, lazing by the pool, playing soccer on the huge grass area and of course tried our hand at the fishing! Gilles was loving life, fishing right on the beach just moments away from our villa!
Our 3rd and final day here, we woke so sad to have to pack up and leave, however, excited to return during Turtle Season. We all got into the car and left another fabulous NRMA Holiday Park one final time, with loads of memories made, quality family time spent and a list of Queensland bucket list destinations ticked off our list! We carried on our journey along Australia’s holiday highway to the Gold Coast with a whole new perspective and outlook on this incredible coastline of Australia!
Want to save up to 30% on your road trip? See NRMA special deals and offers here
You can see more NRMA Holiday Parks locations and discover more about these family fun destinations here. Your own family adventures await!
Or Discover all there is to see and do in Cairns, Australia, where our Road Trip Journey began here
