Our Epic Road Trip with a baby: The Riverland to Brisbane

I absolutely LOVE a good road trip. Over the years I have definitely chewed through a lot of miles driving across and around Australia. This time we decided to plan a few extra stops and make a bit more of a adventure / holiday of it.

We have been doing long drives with Phoenix since he was 6 weeks old and he loves the car and pretty much either sleeps or is very content staring out the window watching the world go by. We tend stop every 2-3 hrs to stretch and let Phoenix get out of the car for a bit of a crawl, to nurse and usually change a stinky nappy.

Our journey started in Loxton in The Riverland in South Australia. We left in the early hours of the morning with a plan of reaching our first stop, Wagga Wagga, New South Wales just after lunch, a 7.5hr drive.... a side note: Always add on 3-4hrs to whatever Google Maps tells you, especially if you are traveling with a baby...just sayin!

Our first quick stop was for a bit of a roadside  picnic in Euston, a really tidy, pleasant little town to stop at. I had packed a heap of fruit and vegan snacks for the road but I was dying for a soy latte...Euston Cafe/convenience store does not do soy (Euston we have a problem!) so that was a bit of a bummer and something to note if you are planning on stopping there for a caffine fix. We packed up our little picnic, had a stretch, put Phoenix back in the car, started the car and...we heard it...that sound every parent knows...this was going to be a stinker. Back out of the car, back on the grass, nappy changed, back into the car...and off we go (see what I mean about adding on those extra hours...).

Next stop was Balranald and I am so glad that we stopped here! The first thing I loved about this place is the awesome Discovery Center that is free to experience. We spent a bit of time in there and Phoenix really enjoyed all the sensory objects. I also finally got my Soy Latte! The Cafe is great and even serves Vegan and Gluten free snacks which is a bonus! The toilet facilities are 10/10 as well (something you really appreciate on the road because trust me there are some you just walk into and walk straight back out of again). I really hope to return to Balranald some day and explore Mungo National Park which I did not know existed until this trip and it looks pretty epic!

At this stage we were looking at the time and looking at the map and realised that we really needed cut back on our stops otherwise we would be stuck driving in the dark along the Hay Plain which we were not to keen on as it can be pretty dangerous, mainly due to Kangaroos...not to mention all the weird stories you hear...you know...UFO's and such (Ha ha)... anyways I am kind of glad that we didn't reach Wagga Wagga by lunch otherwise we would have missed so much beauty that outback NSW has to offer. We saw Kangaroos jumping across the Plains, tons of Emus and a not so pleasant, massive dead boar! We also caught a killer sunset!

We arrived in Wagga Wagga at around 8:30pm and checked into our Motel. We stayed at Allonville Gardens Motel and the room cost us $95 for the night. I have to say in all honesty it was probably one of the worst motels that we have stayed in...I am not saying it is THE WORST Motel out there but compared to others we have stayed in for the same price this was pretty average. It was also quite far out of the city center. We got stuck with three single beds and no port-a-cot so had to do a bit of rearranging and push all three beds together and Phoenix slept in beside us.

We hit the road early the next day super motivated to reach Fingal Bay, the part of the trip I was most looking forward to. From Wagga Wagga to Fingal Bay is 7hrs according to Google Maps but as always it took us a bit longer. We managed to reach our accommodation just before sunset and so quickly parked the car and headed down to the beach to witness it's beauty.

We booked into a cabin at Fingal Bay Beachside Holiday Park and Oh my goodness the cabins were just adorable! So quaint and perfect, not to mention right across from the beach. They had a Port-a-cot and a high chair waiting for us! I highly recommend staying here if you are visiting the area. We headed a few minutes down the road to Nelsons Bay and grabbed takeaway Indian and a bottle of Vegan Red Wine and then settled in for the night. My only regret was not booking 2 or 3 nights here.

Before heading off to Coffs Harbour we spent a bit of time down at the beach only to find that it was closed for swimming due to the sightings of 10 Grey Nurse Sharks! I jumped online and found a video someone had captured of the sharks using a drone and it is so spectacular I had to share.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93lB2BHxrCw

After the beach we hit the road to explore the surrounds and some of the wonderful lookouts. Everything else was closed due to Anzac Day. We tried to find the nudist beach as I was pretty keen but had no luck (comment below if you have been there or know how to get to it)!

We arrived in Coffs Harbour and checked into the Ibis Budget at around 7pm, very very basic room again and no port-a-cot, but clean and perfect just to get some much needed rest and again only $95. The only place we could find open for something to eat was Dominos so ordered two vegetarian pizzas with no cheese and settled in for the night.

In the morning we woke early to head to the Big Banana, just to get a photo and a little souvenir for Phoenix. We were literally the first people there as they had just opened for the day so we were really happy to find that they had phone holder stands positioned perfectly to set up your photo and grab the perfect shot! After the Big Banana we drove up to the Sky Pier which was definitely worth it and a beautiful drive through some banana plantations. It was a rainy day but the low lying clouds really added to the scenery and we even grabbed some bananas from outside of one of the farms. As it wasn't such a great day weather wise we decided to take the shortest route straight up to Brisbane.

On the way, as we were nearing Tweet Heads we saw a sign for Tropical Fruit World! We HAD to check it out and made it there just before they closed and I was happy to get some custard apples & Papayas (my two current fruit obsessions) and a Sapote which I hadn't tried before. Sapote tastes like Pumpkin Pie and is very sweet the perfect end to the road trip before pulling into my parents house in Brisbane just after 5pm! I have made a note to go back to Tropical Fruit World one day and spend a few hours there when Phoenix is a bit older as there is tones to see!

What road trips have you been on recently? I would love to hear from you in the comments below. Thank you for stopping by and reading my blog. I look forward to seeing you back here next time.

Photo Credit: Lucas Scheffel