Roadside overnight stops Sydney to Brisbane

AlexB · Veteran Member

Roadside overnight stops Sydney to Brisbane

DMaxer · Guru

Hi Alex. Welcome to the forum and I am sure you will enjoy your new van.

A lot of the overnight stops have been closed but there is one at the servo just south of Grafton. It is about 15-20 ks south. There is also a free one at New Italy just before Woodburn. If you take the back road from Coffs Harbour to Grafton, there is a recreation ground at Glenreagh. They charge $10 for unpowered or $20 for powered and its really great. They have an historical railway society there plus a good pub with great meals within walking distance.

Coming back down the New England there are heaps. Just take your pick. A look at the Camps book or Wiki Camps will point you in the right direction.

Enjoy and safe travels.

AlexB · Veteran Member

Thanks DMaxer

What a pity that it has changed from when I was vanning 40+ years ago

I will check out the sites you mentioned, Only need the stops to safely sleep for a few hours off road
on the way to my sons wedding.

Is Wiki Camps worth getting?

The touring fun starts later LOL

Alex

PeterD · Guru

You will see a lot of the rest areas along the Pacific Hwy with no camping signs erected. This only means that you are not permitted to set up camps in these rest areas. You are still permitted to stop and rest overnight. Just do not leave furniture out, deploy the awning or put your stands down and make it look like a campsite.

Try these websites:

Find rest areas in NSW - Hover the cursor over a marker to see what facilities are there. I would suggest selecting the ones with space for trucks as well as cars, that way you should be able to fit the van in.

Rest areas New South Wales

If you get a copy of WikiCamps you will find a few showgrounds along the way you can use. One you may consider is the one at Maclean. It's a bit away from the highway traffic and only $10 per night.

AlexB · Veteran Member

Thank you Peter

The first link that you mention I had looked at and is inconclusive of what is allowed

The second one is more interesting and will follow up the locations and ease of access
for this trip.

I don't mind paying a modest fee just to park for the night and not in favour of caravan
parks and their limited entry times.

OK on the hint for no furniture & awnings, only considering stopping at dusk, preparing a meal
and sleep until early morning and get back on the road to the destination.

Will select options to download and then store on the tablet for reference.

Alex

PeterD · Guru

AlexB wrote:
Thank you Peter

The first link that you mention I had looked at and is inconclusive of what is allowed

All the symbols are the RMS standard roadside rest areas. Did you zoom in to spread them out? With some of them where you have one each side of the road you have to zoom right in to view them. The few yellow ones appear to be driver reviver stops that probably are not very large and not suitable for overnighting. When you zoom in and hover the cursor over them you get the name of the rest area plus some symbols representing the facilities at that rest stop.

You will not find many of the RMS rest areas on WikiCamps. WickiCamps is supposed to be for camping areas only. To find the complete list of places youcan crash for the night you use both listings.

AlexB · Veteran Member

Thanks Peter

Yes I did as you suggested with the RMS site and it seems that the Tamworth airport may be the best on the way back?

OK will give wiki camps a miss for the moment

If in trouble I could also try and see if I can get information on 2m or HF radio if anybody is on air
Not into the UHF CB radios.

Busy copying pages to have a small library available on hand if needed

Roy E · Senior Member

Alex,
Your Pajero Sport will have no problem hauling your new Jayco. I have a Pajero Sport and tow with ease, a Jayco 16' Starcraft Outback which is 2 tons all-up and is probably 300kg or so heavier than your new van.
I would recommend you get Wikicamps. I've found it most useful for finding free and cheap camping sites plus there are several apps which come with which are, to me, most useful and two of which I use quite a lot when travelling and setting up camp. They are first, "Fuel Map Australia", showing you where the fuel stations are and the fuel price and, secondly, "Satellite Finder" which tells you how to aim your satellite dish.
Enjoy your new van and welcome to Grey Nomads.
Cheers,
Roy.

AlexB · Veteran Member

Hi Roy

Thanks for the comment on the Pajero Sports - I was hoping that it would be OK for towing (love that small diesel engine)
Traded in my much loved Outlander that would not have been able to tow the van for this one.
Still remember struggling to get up Cunningham's Gap with the 20' Viscount so many years ago and
an old Ford V8.

The fuel app will be very handy considering the relatively small tank and anticipated 12-14l/100 km economy when towing.

OK on Wikicamps and will consider it when planning to go away later, does it require a smart phone with data ??????
or can the whole database be downloaded and kept on a phone or tablet.

Your Starcraft is a slightly bigger version of what I am getting, will have axle under the springs, extra water tank
and solar panels and batteries for free camping but not your sturdier chassis.

Will be going past you on the way to Maleny in May, used to live in Aspley and worked in Strathpine years ago.
Thanks for your advice Roy
Alex

Aus-Kiwi · Guru

Just use Google . Recreation grounds, parks etc .

Dunmowin · Guru

AlexB wrote:

Hi Roy

Thanks for the comment on the Pajero Sports - I was hoping that it would be OK for towing (love that small diesel engine)
Traded in my much loved Outlander that would not have been able to tow the van for this one.
Still remember struggling to get up Cunningham's Gap with the 20' Viscount so many years ago and
an old Ford V8.

The fuel app will be very handy considering the relatively small tank and anticipated 12-14l/100 km economy when towing.

OK on Wikicamps and will consider it when planning to go away later, does it require a smart phone with data ??????
or can the whole database be downloaded and kept on a phone or tablet.

Your Starcraft is a slightly bigger version of what I am getting, will have axle under the springs, extra water tank
and solar panels and batteries for free camping but not your sturdier chassis.

Will be going past you on the way to Maleny in May, used to live in Aspley and worked in Strathpine years ago.
Thanks for your advice Roy
Alex

re: Wikicamps - once installed on your smart phone or tablet, you can then download state by state with filters for off line use. My tablet, for example does not have data, but can hotspot to WIFI. But when driving, even in the outback, if I have downloaded for offline use, I get all the road, maps, camp sites, rest areas, dumpoints etc etc etc. Just filter out what you don't want (i.e. back packer hostels)