QLD Road Trip 2026

We’re away!

Notwithstanding a slow start we’ve made it to Denman near Muswellbrook in the Hunter Valley and from what we can see, in the dark after a couple of the region’s finest Shirazs, it’s quite pretty.

We’ve pulled in for the night behind the Denman Hotel, a beautifully restored grand two storey heritage building with an expansive beer garden, landscaped grounds and a great free camp set up complete with defined sites, hot showers, flushing toilets, dump point and even a laundry! Highly recommend.

After taking advantage of the last 15 mins of happy hour we enjoyed a yummy pub meal before retreating to the van for an ambitious attempt at family movie night with Despicable Me 2. It claimed to be the ultimate family movie - we all promptly fell asleep. I think we’re too old LOL 😝En savoir plus

Now this is my kind of winter! ☀️

Today we headed to the northern end of the Sunshine Coast to beautiful Noosa. Having never been before, I have mixed feelings.

The beach was absolutely stunning – crystal clear water, rolling waves and wide stretches of golden sand. But Hastings Street - OMG, hectic! To be fair, it was vibrant and buzzing with cafés, restaurants and boutiques, but definitely a bit too busy and fancy for our style.

We enjoyed a refreshing swim in the surf before settling in for lunch at the Surf Club (much more our vibe), where we scored a prime table overlooking the beach.

While wandering along Hastings Street afterwards, the boys suddenly spotted “Catman” and insisted on getting a selfie. I had absolutely no idea who he was, but apparently he's a Japanese cyclist who became an internet sensation after riding across Australia dressed as a cat 🙄 Of course, we have social media to thank for this brief brush with a celebrity 🤦🏽‍♀️

To top off a great day, the ‘McSmart Meals’ (aka us - team named by the boys) dominated caravan park trivia, taking out the win by a single point! 🏆

Not a bad way to spend a winter's day.En savoir plus

Crikey, what a day! Can you even call yourself an Aussie if you don’t visit Australia Zoo at least once in your lifetime?

By the time we arrived just after 10 am, the place was already heaving with people. We headed straight for the reptile exhibits, then made our way to the Asian precinct, where we managed to score seats in the small amphitheatre and patiently waited for the tiger presentation.

It was a bit of an anti climax. Despite an elaborate setup featuring meat suspended from bamboo poles and another piece temptingly placed in the middle of a pool, accessible only via a log bridge, the tiger they brought out was blind and consequently didn’t discover any of it. Instead, it wandered around while the presenter fumbled through what felt more like a conservation fundraising pitch than an animal demonstration. We all walked away a little underwhelmed.

Things picked up in the African precinct with giraffes, rhinos, cheetahs and meerkats - always crowd-pleasers. We snapped a few photos before making tracks back to the Crocoseum to secure good seats for the famous Wildlife Warriors show.

It was slow to get started but once the crocodiles came out it did get entertaining. We were genuinely impressed to see actual Terri, Bindi and Chandler Irwin all presenting the show in person. We certainly weren’t expecting that, and it was a nice surprise.

By day’s end (close to 15,000 steps later), I think we’d covered the entire park at least twice. I have to say the animal enclosures were all well thought out, the grounds were immaculate, and the whole place was incredibly well organised. I think we just expected a little more spectacle in the spirit of ‘Crikey’.

To cap off a top day we cashed in our trivia winnings for happy hour drinks by pool. Thanks Sunshine Coast, it’s been great.En savoir plus