The Pacific Coast Way: Off Grid Style
Our latest Errington Family Adventure saw us travelling along the East Coast of Queensland, Australia. We mostly followed the Pacific Coast Way but added a couple of detours; firstly heading north to the Daintree Rainforest, and of course we couldn't miss the Great Barrier Reef!
What is the Pacific Coast Way?
The Pacific Coast Way is Queensland's ultimate coastal road trip, at almost 1800km (1100 miles) the PCW follows the Bruce Highway from Cairns in tropical North Queensland to Gold Coast just south of Brisbane in the South East. If you're dreaming of a road trip that serves up sun-drenched beaches, rainforest walks, vibrant towns, and wildlife encounters all in one amazing stretch, this is it.
Our family of four recently drove the route in an awesome fully equipped 4x4 pickup, or 'ute' as the Aussie's would say, with two roof tents from
overlanderadventures and loved every moment. As you'd expect from us, we decided to take the off grid route and camped our way along the coast. Here’s our ultimate guide to a family adventure on this iconic road trip!
Our Route: Cairns to Cape Tribulation to Brisbane
Whilst you could cover the distance in around 20 hours, we tackled it over two weeks, and you could easily stretch it longer - there’s just so much to see!
📍 Our Top Stops Along the Pacific Coast Way
1. The Daintree – Where the Rainforest meets the Reef
We picked up the truck in Cairns, and after a quick stop for supplies, headed on our first detour north towards Mossman in the lush Far North Queensland. Our first night was spent at
Creek's Edge Park; a small private campground with space for about 5 campers in the non-powered section. They have a lovely croc-free creek, which made for a refreshing morning swim!
We then headed to Port Douglas for a quick look around and some lunch, we highly recommend the burgers from
N17 Burger Co.
In the afternoon we took a tour of
Mossman Gorge with a local indigenous guide. Levi talked passionately about his connection to the Daintree, the plants and animals, and the local Kuku Yalanji culture.
The Daintree Rainforest is over 135 million years old making it the oldest rainforest in the world, and at over 1200 square kilometres it's also the largest in Australia.
After crossing the Daintree River on the chain ferry (keep an eye out for crocs!), we headed up to
Cape Tribulation Camping. This is a beautiful campsite, right on the beach and with great facilities. We spent two nights here; wandering the white sandy beach (with virtually no-one else around), exploring the mangrove boardwalk and the rainforest, swimming at
Mason's swimming hole (croc-free), playing pool and eating delicious pizza at the campsite bar.
We did think about skipping it but would say not to miss a crocodile spotting cruise on the Daintree River, we went with Bruce Belcher's
Daintree River Cruises and saw lots of crocs from tiny babies to big mothers with a knowledgeable guide.
2. Atherton Tablelands - Chasing Waterfalls
After the Daintree, we headed south, but rather than following the coast back to Cairns, we headed inland towards the Atherton Tablelands. This fertile plateau forms part of the Great Dividing Range, and is a rural, agricutural area. The green rolling hills are not what we expected to see in Australia, but make for a very scenic drive; it's worth a diversion to visit some of the area's many waterfalls.
We spent the night at
Henrietta Creek Campground, where we were the only campers. This meant we had the creek to ourselves for a morning swim, but unfortunately we didn't spot the reported platypus!
3. Crystal Creek - Beach-side camping
Crystal Creek was our first true off-grid camp of the trip, which we found on park4night. This free dispersed camping area allows you to camp right on the beach. There are no facilities, and it feels a bit like you shouldn't be driving down the track, but stick with it, it is worth it!
(Don't follow the directions on park4night or Google, it will take you to a dead end in the middle of a farm! Take the Crystal Creek Caravan Park (Barrilgie Road) exit from the Bruce Highway and follow the track along the creek.)
4. The Whitsundays & Great Barrier Reef – Pure Tropical Bliss
One of the reasons we chose the East Coast of Australia was so the boys (and Ridley) could visit the Great Barrier Reef. Sarah actually learned to dive on the GBR way back when! Our Great Barrier Reef experience was certainly one of the highlights of our trip, and we'll write more about it in another post.
We launched into the Whitsunday Islands from Airlie Beach with Cruise Whitsundays, and headed out to the Reef World Pontoon at Hardy Reef. We opted for the Reef Sleep experience, where you spend the night in a covered bed on the deck of the pontoon, which was amazing. We dived and the boys snorkelled on the Reef, we also took a trip on the semi-submersible boat. Highly recommended!
Nomads Airlie Beach was a great base for us, we stayed in their campsite the nights before and after the trip, and left the truck set up on a pitch for the night we were away on the reef. It worked out really well, and you can easily walk from the site to the terminal for the trip - and leaving the truck there meant we could both enjoy a few drinks with the amazing lunch we had before we left Reef Sleep. It doesn't look particularly like a family site but we found it really good, and the boys liked the 2 pools for a cool down swim. Ask for a pitch out the back of the site, where it is a bit quieter.
4. Cape Hillsborough National Park - Sunrise Kangaroos
Cape Hillsborough is famous as a place to spot kangaroos on the beach at sunrise. The campsite at the cape was full when we visited, but we found a quiet spot at nearby
Ball Bay Sunrise was at about 0530, so it was a quick pack up and an early start to get to the beach in the dark. As the sun rose, we saw 2 kangaroos and about 8 wallabies eating the food which a park ranger had placed on the beach. Despite multiple requests from the ranger to turn off camera flashes and keep the noise down, the kangaroos soon got spooked by the crowds and hopped off into the surrounding forest, which was a bit disappointing.
If you're going to visit, we'd recommend getting there early!
5. Byfield National Park - conquering Big Sandy
Byfield is a bit of a detour from the Pacific Coast Way, about 70km north east of Rockhampton, but when Ridley heard about the park, he really wanted to add it to our route. The park is famous for the stunning 5 Rocks and 9 Mile Beaches, but access is by 4wd only and requires conquering Big Sandy; a 1km sand dune which is pretty tricky to climb. After watching a few YouTube videos, Ridley was pretty sure we would make it, but it was still a bit nerve wracking, especially when the Aussie in the ute ahead of us had multiple attempts and kept getting stuck. We had aired down the tires to 15psi and had no problems in low range 4wd. Don't attempt this without a high clearance 4wd vehicle and the ability to air down (or rather reinflate!) your tyres.
The challenge is worth it; we camped at the 5 Rocks campground with only a couple of other campers, which meant we had the beach to ourselves. Look out for the makeshift shower to the right of the path on the way down to the beach.
The next morning we took the alternative track out which includes a beautiful drive along 9 Mile Beach, and a descent of Big Sandy.
6. 1770 - Luxury Camping
Seventeen-seventy is a bit of a strange name for a town, but it's where James Cook landed in 1770, his second landfall in Australia and the first in what is now Queensland. We camped at a great site called
1770 Eco Camp. We were on the 'Grass Trees' part of the site which is right at the top of the hill and has lovely views, a great outdoor swimming pool, communal fire pits and kitchen facilities; a real treat after a couple of nights off-grid!
7. Bundaberg - the Brewery Town
The boys had quickly gained a taste for Bundaberg (the soft drinks not the rum!), so Bundy had to be on our list of destinations. The tour of the 'brewery' is well worth it, you get to sample all of their many flavours and choose your own mix pack of bottles to take away.
We camped at
Buxton Bush Camp near Bundaberg, which is a nice site on the Burrum River. It was quiet when we were there, but regularly hosts music events etc, so check them out before booking.
8. Bribie Island - the Sunshine Coast?
Our last couple of nights coincided with the Anzac Day long weekend, we had planned to stay in Noosa but we really struggled to find a campsite that wasn't full. In the end we found some availability at
Bribie Island National Park, which turned out to be really fortunate. The park is accessed along a long sandy track (4wd only again), but it is pretty flat and felt really easy after Big Sandy! Even before we got to the park, we spotted a family of kangaroos by the roadside, and the further into the park we got the more we saw. When we woke up in the morning there was a group bouncing over who sopped to graze right outside the tent, which was a pleasant surprise after the disappointing experience at Hillsborough.
Unfortunately the weather was not on our side (despite the name of the area!), and after raining pretty much all of the first night the forecast was for continuous rain for the whole of the next day. We made the decision to pack up camp in the morning and bailed out to an Airbnb in Brisbane.
9. Brisbane – City fun to round out our trip
The decision to end the trip in Brisbane actually turned out really well. It allowed us to clear out the truck, repack our bags for the flight home and get the truck washed ready for handover.
We found a great Airbnb in the New Farm area of the city, which was a perfect location to explore with a lovely riverside walkway into the city. With a evening flight home, we effectively got two days of exploring the breweries, the South Bank, riding the CityCat ferries, and enjoying riverside parks. We really liked Brisbane and it was the perfect place to relax and reset before heading home.
🧳 Family Travel Tips for the Pacific Coast Way
- Break up the drive: Aim for 2–4 hour segments, especially with younger kids.
- Pack for all weather: The climate changes as you move south.
- Stay flexible: Spontaneous stops became some of our favourites!
- Book popular tours in advance: Mossman Gorge and the Reef Sleeps can fill quickly.
📸 Final Thoughts: Why This Road Trip is a Must-Do
From ancient rainforests to snorkelling the Great Barrier Reef, this was more than a holiday—it was a real adventure and taking the less obvious, off grid, approach made it even more special.
If you're planning your next big family adventure in Australia, we can’t recommend the Pacific Coast Way enough. Add it to your bucket list—you won’t regret it.
