Queensland Road Map With Distances
Gaetan Boren
This guide is aimed at all travellers, with suggestions for both backpackers and those on a slightly bigger budget throughout. It can be used for anyone travelling in Australia as it covers all the best things to do along the East Coast.
During the Australian summer (November to April), Cairns is hot and humid, with plenty of rain. This tropical monsoonal starts building up in December and by January, the rains are mostly daily and can be torrential.
Although the days can still be hot and sunny, the tropical rains can make diving conditions more challenging, and visibility worse for seeing underwater life. And as Cairns is popular for diving, it could be a real shame to visit and not be able to enjoy this fully.
Another key factor with Cairns and the surrounding area is stinger season. This refers to the presence of tiny stinging box jellyfish in the water. The sting can be extremely painful, and can be fatal in some cases. If you do visit in the months when this is at its worse (Jan to March), you will have to wear stinger suits in the water.
From personal experience, I found the weather in Cairns during August/September to be perfect. We were able to experience every activity and as this is the start of spring, there was plenty of colour and life in the plants and trees. On my second road trip, we were in Cairns in the month of December which was still quite good, although noticeably hotter and humid. It was early December and we experienced no rainfall, but prices for accommodation were higher. I also got stung by a rogue stinger who had made an early arrival into the waters in the Great Barrier Reef. It was very painful for about 30 minutes, and then the sting subsided.
As with Cairns, the Australian summer from January to March bring the hottest and most humid weather. During this period is the highest chance of heavy rainfall and thunderstorms, although they are mostly in the late afternoon.
The best time to visit Brisbane is April to May and September to November, when temperatures are comfortable and humidity and rainfall are low. However, June through to August is also a great time to go to Brisbane, but the temperatures are slightly cooler.
If your Australia trip is focused purely on the East Coast, with the Cairns to Brisbane road trip being the primary focus, then a trip from May to August would be the best time. This also avoids stinger season completely. It would be slightly cooler in Brisbane, but you would still unlikely need a jumper or a jacket.
If you really fancy resting your head somewhere a little more comfortable each night, then a car is a great option. You still have a huge amount of freedom, but just slightly less freedom as you do need to find somewhere to sleep each night.
The big supermarket chains are Woolworths and Coles, which have the most competitive pricing and a huge range. In some smaller locations, you might find an IGA or a SPAR which can be a tad more expensive.
And there are hundreds of campsites along the East Coast. Some are your traditional pitch and stay camping grounds, and some are huge, expansive holiday resorts. Whilst these are typically aimed at domestic travellers, everyone is welcome and you may be blown away by the facilities.
However, I prefer now to travel and stay in hotels where possible. On my most recent visit to Australia, we had a hire car and spent our nights in various Airbnbs and hotels along the East Coast. We stayed in some amazing Airbnbs, including a treehouse in the Gold Coast and a Balinese style villa in Noosa.
Excursions and activities are likely to be your greatest expenditure. There are so many bucket list activities on the East Coast of Australia vthat I highly recommend putting budget aside so you can make the most of these. As an indication, here are the approximate prices of several activities:
As mentioned above, I have driven the route in both directions but my favourite was probably the Cairns to Brisbane drive. This would also be considered the most iconic road trip for the East Coast of Australia too. It spans world class beaches, dozens of stunning national parks as well as incredible Great Barrier Reef and the twinkly Whitsunday Islands.
Cape Tribulation however is considered one of the most dangerous beaches in the world. This is due to the huge population of crocodiles that reside here, as well as the often-fatal stings from Box Jellyfish in the water.
Port Douglas on route is also a beautiful upscale resort town which is definitely worth a stop for a few hours. The beach is beautiful and over four miles long, and its main street is packed with quirky shops and independent cafes and restaurants. If you visit on a Sunday, make sure to check out the beachside markets too.
Alternatively, you can of course join a day trip, such as this one which is a full day exploring the Daintree rainforest, the Mossman Falls and Cape Tribulation. Or this day trip, which includes a stop at Port Douglas and Wildlife Habitat.
If you do choose to spend a night in Townsville, the Oaks Gateway Suites offer great rooms at a good price (67 pn). Alternatively, there is a BIG4 Holiday Park at Rowes Bay with beachside cabins from 50.
But if you have time, then I highly recommend splurging on a sailing trip around the Whitsundays. You can spend around 2-3 days on living onboard a sailing boat, where you can snorkel in the Great Barrier Reef and visit Whitehaven, one of the most beautiful beaches in the world.
But this could be a place to splurge and explore the Whitsundays from a difference perspective entirely. For example, this 1-hour scenic flight over the Whitsundays Island archipelago looks incredible, or what about a tandem skydive over the Whitsundays?
From the Rockhampton area onwards, there are a few stops to consider including Agnes Water/1770 and Bundaberg. The latter is famous for its rum, and visiting the Bundaberg Distillery makes for a brilliant stop. Make sure to book a tour to the local brewery too!
Rainbow Beach is located in the Great Sandy National Park and is a tiny backpacker town, surrounded by huge, towering sand dunes. The town is mostly a starting point for Fraser Island tours, but you can definitely spend a relaxing day here too.
Brisbane as a city may not be quite as cosmopolitan and lively as Melbourne and Sydney, but it does happen to make a fantastic base to visit other nearby areas. The winter months are an especially lovely time to visit the city, so make sure to check out this guide to the top things to do in Brisbane in the winter.
However, for those flying onto Australian domestic destinations or with more time, then I highly recommend continuing your journey. For example, onto the Gold Coast and Byron Bay where there are domestic airports in both destinations. If you have plenty of extra time, you could do the Brisbane to Sydney drive. Although this is another 1000km and 10hrs driving, the beaches are fantastic. However, as mentioned before, the drive from Byron Bay to Sydney would be quite cool if done in the Australia winter (May to August).
Both Gold Coast and Byron Bay are popular holiday destinations with Australians as well as international travellers. And as mentioned, with domestic airports near both locations, you could potentially also finish your road trip itinerary further south of Brisbane. For example, we finished our road trip from Cairns at Ballina Airport, which is just near Byron Bay. This was really convenient as there were rental companies to return you car or camper van.
Otherwise, I recommend picking a beachside community for a couple of days such as Burleigh or Coolangatta. Due to the sheer number of hotels and places to stay in the Gold Coast, you can definitely find some good value stays!
Whether you're planning a trip on a shoestring budget or splashing out, the open road welcomes anyone with a sense of adventure and desire for discovery. Check out escapes in each state, explore travel advice, accommodation, car hire, fuel information, maps and much more on the NRMA trip planner.
Safe drivers have more awareness of other road users, and behave safely and courteously to minimise incidents with other road users, including emergency service vehicles, cyclists, buses, heavy vehicles and trains.
Speeding is a major cause of serious and fatal vehicle crashes in Queensland. Every kilometre per hour over the speed limit not only affects whether a crash will happen, but also how severe it will be.
Having bought our electric vehicle in June, we decided to take a journey north to Port Douglas. Aside from hankering for the warmth of Far North Queensland, we wanted to test out the practicality of long distance driving in what is still seen in Australia as a novelty vehicle.
I am not going into all the pros and cons of driving EVs here. The pros are considerable, but the cons also are important to consider. The most obvious is that some of our electric power along the way would be fossil-fuel generated, but I see this as a reason to hasten the transition to renewables, rather than ignore the advantages of EVs. For the purpose of this article, I want to tackle the question of range anxiety.
Our route up to Trinity Beach (where we stayed before visiting Port Douglas, the most northerly public charger on that route), took us through Albury and Wagga Wagga, to Dubbo and across to Tamworth. On, then, to Tenterfield. We skirted Brisbane then headed straight up the main coastal highway. On day 9, after 2 nights in Townsville, we reached Trinity Beach, just north of Cairns, 3462km from home.
Public chargers are usually activated by a phone app and measure time taken, amount of charge and any fee. Once plugged in, the cable was locked and we could head off for a coffee or lunch. Most highway chargers are fast chargers, with slower chargers alongside. The standard time for a charge on these was usually a little over 30 minutes.
Returning to Melbourne took us back along the coast until we swung off to Mittagong, then north of Canberra and home. The coastal charging network is far more extensive here, with several times the number of chargers. Inland they were generally over 100km apart.
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