to the great barrier reef and back, part 02

Planning a long coastal trip is a big challenge in itself, even more so if it’s on a foreign continent. Once I had come up with the idea of us driving to the Barrier Reef and back, I spent countless hours in reading, google-ing and other scientific research. Selecting the right vehicle was essential, for it had to be comfortable for four, yet easy to manage. Caravans and large house-like motorhomes went out early of the competition, the natural winner of which was a tidy campervan with a rooftop tent.

There was some mixup with our booking for the van so we missed the first leg and the first night of the trip. Instead of driving and having an off-grid night at the Diamond Heads camping – the only one in the wild and without any amenities on our list – Hanko and I had to wait for 5 hours to pick up the camper, exploring some fascinating commercial areas in the outskirts of Sydney, while the kids enjoyed the empty fridge at home. (Every time before travel we make our place as clean as possible, for there is nothing better in life than to come back to a tidy place after a prolonged displacement.)

On the positive side, we had enough time to check and re-check our luggage, making sure that no linen tablecloth or cast iron pan is missing. On the negative side, we had to drive double distance on the next day, equaling to about 800km and 8 hours, so to catch up with our very tight travel plan. We couldn’t afford to miss another pre-booked camping spot because this would have made the whole trip impossible.

There was a lot of excitement. It’s a lovely early autumn April day, the kids were having a school break, the weather was fantastic. We felt like bold adventurers who are finally going to see what is it to sleep in a car. Autumn in our part of Australia is really pleasant – neither cold nor hot, just perfect temperature, bright colors and magical skyscapes.

At this point of the journey I was only thinking about the 2000km sprawled in front of us along the shores up north, bearing the dashy name Legendary Pacific Coast Drive. I envisioned romantic ride with epic views which I photograph like crazy. In reality, The Pacific Coast Drive is not that legendary and offers a very few glimpses to the coastline, being mostly a plain straight road with regular greenery on both sides. And endless plains. And all types of cattle. As uninformed as it gets, we expected hordes of kangaroos and koalas, but the Pacific Drive introduced us to all varieties of livestock instead.

The drive is so long and so boring that there are road signs with trivia quiz games – a witty question followed by the answer 10 or 20 kilometres later. Also signs reminding you that you have to stop and take rest, and also that there are people loving you and waiting for you so you better stay awake. Those thoughtful measures actually work and relieve the hypnotising monotony to some extent but what really saved our lives was our curated music playlist. And the small gas cooker at the back of the car which allowed us to improvise random picnics (plus random photo sessions) and to make unlimited Turkish coffees in the small copper cezve I never ever travel without.