Everyone NEEDS an East Coast Taste Test
The east coast of Australia. What a place. This is a trip I like to call the taste test.
It’s something I strongly recommend to everyone looking at doing a lap before actually doing a lap.
This itinerary makes or breaks and it is hardly off the beaten track. But it isn’t the severity of the tracks, not by any means.
It’s the lifestyle. Could you sustain this for 1 month, 3 months, a year or indefinitely?
That’s what this trip can do – mentally prep you for what could be a giant leap of faith into the greatest adventure of your life, not even taking the piss.
With that, this is basically a run down on the itinerary, considerations and things I would change or do the exact same for an east coast trip.
The itinerary
The itinerary is not something I planned, we’ll call it a retrospective itinerary. I couldn’t have told you where I was going the following day let alone a plan before. I had a few ideas of places I wanted to visit but certainly nothing planned day by day.
| Location | Days spent |
| Melbourne | |
| Yarrawonga | 1 |
| Windang | 1 |
| Port Macquarie | 1 |
| Surfers Paradise | 10 |
| Kirra Beach | 1 |
| Byron Bay | 4 |
| Minnie Water | 1 |
| Coffs Harbour | 2 |
| North Haven | 3 |
| Tuncurry | 3 |
| Port Stephens | 2 |
| Swansea | 2 |
| Narrabeen | 2 |
| Windang | 2 |
| Jervis Bay | 3 |
| Batemans Bay | 3 |
| Mystery Bay | 1 |
| Pambula Beach | 3 |
| Eden | 1 |
| Mallacoota | 2 |
| Lakes Entrance | 2 |
| Wilsons Promontory | 2 |
| Melbourne |
Time of year
Travelling through Christmas holidays is tricky with booking last minute. The grey nomads had the right idea, hitting the road after Australia day.
Apart from how busy it is, it tends to get wet as you get closer to Queensland. If the muggy weather is an issue, push out to the dry season or turn around at the mid north coast as that sub-tropical climate is kicking in.
Watercraft
I really laboured over taking the tinny or not. Naively, I assumed the east coast would be offshore and not suitable for a 13 foot tinny.
How I was wrong.
I kicked myself that I didn’t bring it, so the next east coast trip will definitely need some form of watercraft to get onto all the estuaries and waterways.
