We have on the spur of the moment decided to leave on Boxing Day to go to Sydney and back. 8 days. We have a 20 ft van shower and toilet. Our dilemma is where to stay? On the way down we will look for free camp or rest stops off WikiCamps but once near Sydney I have no clue. I'm assuming like Brisbane all campsites over Christmas /new year are booked a year in advance and require at least 7 nights. Does anyone have any suggestions other than sit down for a few hours trying to call any and all campsites to get laughed at when I ask if there is any availability. We would like to get into a proper paying campsite for a few days to sightsee. Maybe someone knows of one that doesn't always get completely booked out or keeps a few sites for passing travellers? We love to spontaneously decide to go off somewhere but it doesn't work very well during school holidays. Any other suggestions would be welcome. We would really prefer not to because of security but do people ever park their vans in suburbs somewhere?
Hi cath, if you are coming from Brisbane I would be looking for somewhere on the central coast maybe even as far north as southern Lake Macquarie then commute into the city to sightsee. One close to the rail line would be good then you wouldn't need to take your car and have to find parking. I will leave naming a good park to someone with experience from that area but we stayed in Swansea last week and there were people at reception looking for sites from Boxing Day - don't leave it too long. Personally that,s one time of year I would stay off the pacific highway although heading south maybe not as bad, you could try the New England as far as Newcastle and pick up the M1 at Beresfield to avoid some of the traditional bottlenecks - happy travels.
Hi Cath enjoy and when down near the coast ,there is a great free camp with new toilets at the Hawskbury River just north of Sydney,stay on the northen side coming down you vear off just before the bridge south bound and go under the freeway to get to it,can be very busy on weekends with boaties,Also if you leave the freeway at Berowa you can stay in the north bound parking bay at the pold weigh station opp the bush fire brigade station.Also if coming down the new England hwy,great caravan park at Murarundai,good price great owners.also a free camp just before Willow Tree.mike g.
Have look at the Morisett showground I can't imagine it would be full over the Xmas period.
The train station is within walking distance and there are trains every hour it takes approx 1 hour 50 minutes to Central.
There are many beautiful spots to visit on Lake Macquarie and the Central Coast, I doubt very much that you would find a vacancy at any of the many caravan parks in the Lake Macquarie Central Coast region, it is very popular for school holidays being so close to Sydney
Hi, We stayed at the Sheralee CP at Brighton near Sydney Airport a couple of years ago at xmas time . They don't take bookings just ring each day when you are getting close. Just up the road Rockdale station to go into the city. Closest park to Sydney CBD. Cost was $40/night , CP old and full of permanents but amenities were just renovated , we stayed a week and explored Sydney.
Cheers
Mick
Free without power $10 per night with. They have 10 powered sites and 12 without.
You become a member of the Richmond Club for $5 per year/$20 for 5 years. You can stay 4 nights twice per month.
Has two showers and toilets.
Only thing lacking is taps for water connection. I heard the receptionist tell someone making a booking two days ago, that there was water available. Somewhat misleading, although there is a tap at the dump point.
It is in the airforce flight path and first night here planes were close to top of trees until midnight, but none on night 2.
Hi thank you all for some great tips and advice. This weekend we were camping and we were hit with a super cell storm. It was like a mini cyclone ripped our awning right over our roof together with a big chuck of side aluminium, two of our windows blew completely off. It all happened within seconds with no time to react or do anything except stand back out of path of all the flying debris. Our canoes were blown about 100m and there were aluminium gazebos, including ours flying everywhere. Altogether not fun! Not sure how long it will take to fix our van with insurance so our trip might be off the table
We would like to get into a proper paying campsite for a few days to sightsee. Maybe someone knows of one that doesn't always get completely booked out or keeps a few sites for passing travellers? We love to spontaneously decide to go off somewhere but it doesn't work very well during school holidays. Any other suggestions would be welcome. We would really prefer not to because of security but do people ever park their vans in suburbs somewhere? 
