Rooftop Tent Adventures – freedom to go our own way

Posted On October 19, 2021

When the borders close and ruin your plans.. its time for a rooftop tent!

We planned on hiring a campervan and cruising to NSW (July 2021). But as the world is these days, the border shut and the plans didn’t get a chance to eventuate. Due to uncertainty, we cancelled the campervan before they were going to keep our deposit. And we decided to buy a rooftop tent and have some more freedom in our travels! Best decision! The places you can go and the freedom you have when your bed is on your roof has really opened up another world to us! We love it!

The decision to buy a rooftop tent!

All these plans changed a week before we took off. So it was some quick organising that got us on the road. We left from Bowen and stopped at Laws’ Dads place in Proserpine. Laws welded together a contraption to support the rooftop tent (props to having a handy man). Then we drove to Mackay and went to Kings and bought the Kings Kwiky Rooftop Tent for $1299. Bloody bargain and cheaper then the campervan hire mind you! They wouldn’t let us attach it in the car park of Kings. However, the man with the forklift lifted it to the roof and helped us roll out of the carpark. And said we could unpack it and attach it on the side of the road. Win!

We got it all unpacked and found that the screws to attach it weren’t long enough. Dilemma! So we attached it the best we could and then drove (slowly) to Bunnings. At Bunnings, we went back and forth about four times before we finally found screws that worked. That was an adventure in itself. We were pretty shattered after that experience but still very excited for our beautiful new toy!

The holiday begins!

FIrst stop: The Bavarian in Mackay! That place is great, huge meals and huge beers, what more could we want to kick of the road trip! (Well I had a big water cause someone had to drive😉). Can also recommend getting a share platter there – so good!

Kershaw Gardens Rockhampton

We then drove south. We didn’t really have any plans so we were just driving until we saw a place we wanted to stop. There isn’t too many cool places on the stretch to Rocky so we just drove as long as we could. We rolled in to Rocky at like 7pm and I was googling places to camp up. I came across this free camping grounds called Kershaw Gardens right in the middle of Rocky – how great. You can camp here for up to 48 hours for free!

Free camping – What!?!

We are both new to this camping gig, neither of us previously liked camping much haha. So we were stoked when we saw camp grounds were like $20-30 a night. But then we were absolutely amazed that there are places we could stay for free! How great!

It was dark when we got in to Rocky so we popped the tent and made our bed. We then went for a walk to find some dinner, we found a Chinese Restaurant in walking distance. The change in temperature was already full on – I think this was the coldest night of our trip. Maybe we felt it more cause it was our first night in the colder climate but it was seriously chilly! The grounds were pretty packed already, so many travelers around, but we created a parking spot just perfect for us!

If you want to stay here, you just rock up and park up. But check out this site for more details Kershaw Gardens Rockhampton Regional Council. I didn’t take any photos here cause we got in late and left early! But the first night in the tent was a success! I’d almost go as far as saying it was a dream – we were so toasty!

Bundaberg Rum Distillery

The next day we woke up early and headed south, on route to the Bundaberg Rum Distillery! We stopped on the riverside to have lunch. We had left over Chinese from the night before. Laws was very reluctant to eat as it hadn’t been refrigerated. But I ensured him that we had to build up guts of steel to succeed in this world. One day he will thank me😉

We did the tour through the distillery, it was really cool and our tour guide was really awesome. She made the tour. The big warehouse full of molasse was probably my favourite part. So much molasse!! Of course we bought some rum and some liqueurs. The liqueurs were delicious with milk! Do yourself a favour and try the banana and toffee – Bundaberg Royal Liqueur Mixed 3 Pack. So delicious! And I am not even a rum drinker (well, maybe I am now🤭).

Hervey Bay

We then drove onto Hervey Bay to camp the night. We got in late again, so another day setting up in the dark! Lucky the pop up tent is so easy to put up and take down! So convenient. We stayed at Harbour View Caravan Park, it was really great, hot showers which we were hanging for! You just can never underestimate the power of a hot shower. It was $30 for the night to stay here. We had a powered site but we didn’t need power for anything. We had decided we’d go to Fraser Island for a few nights so we went to Coles and stocked up.

Harbour View Caravan Park

Then we got pizza and wine and went to the campsite. So thankful for a tent that pops up and is ready in 20 seconds. If you get in after dark it is no hassle at all! We pulled out the chairs and table and had a cute little pizza and wine dinner next to the camper. Then got into our cosy little be. We ordered our ferry tickets and camping tickets for Fraser Island online. And watched Youtube videos on how to drive on Fraser, and how to get out when bogged. We’re both amateur’s when it comes to driving on the sand!

Fraser Island Fail

The next morning we bought a few things like trax for getting caught in the sand and a shovel. We then we drove south to River Heads to get on the barge. We got on the barge, takes about an hour and cost about $200 return. When we got off the ferry, Laws ute would not go into 4WD and started making a terrible sound. So we turned around and got back on the barge and went back to River Heads. Mega fail! He worked out it was like a $5k job to have it fixed. So we decided to save Fraser Island for another time when we are more ready and the car works! Barge ride was nice but ha!

Eumundi

We were a little sad about our Fraser fail but we drove further south to the Sunny Coast. We had a little giggle/cry about it while we set our sights on Eumundi. The markets were on the following day and they’re my favourite markets so I really wasn’t disappointed.

Camping: Eumundi Showgrounds and Sports Complex

We camped at Eumundi Showgrounds & Sports Complex. It was a very handy spot even though the highway is just there. Lucky I sleep through everything and Laws wears earplugs so we didn’t notice the noise. From memory it was like $8 each a night there, so cheap. We parked up and set up our 20 second tent. Hot showers again – talk about luxury. 😉 Then we went for a walk to main street Eumundi. W had Sala Thai for dinner and it was very delicious. It wasn’t even too cold strolling back to the camp grounds at night. Possibly that was the red wine helping keep us warm.

There are no better markets in my opinion then The Original Eumundi Markets! They are so big and stretch so far and have so much beautiful stuff and beautiful people everywhere! We didn’t plan on spending the whole day there but it was just how it turned out. We cruised back to our little tent and discussed what our next move would be.

Mount Cooroora Climb

We had seen this big mountain on the way in and both got wide eyed and excited and decided we would climb it. Mount Cooroora is about 15 minutes from Eumundi, it was one of the funnest climbs we have done for a while – well since Mount Halifax anyway. We didn’t know what to expect cause we literally just saw it and thought it would be a cool climb, and it really was!

It gets really steep and there are chains up the steep parts to help you – we were thankful to have gloves in our packs so they came in handy and would recommend you take a pair. The views from the top were spectacular, looking out over the Sunny Coast pretty much 360 degree views.

Camping: Kenilworth Bluff Campgrounds

Rooftop tent adventures - Kennilworth Bluff Creek Campgrounds

We decided to head to Kenilworth for the night and had our eyes set on the Kenilworth Bluff Campground! We called ahead to make sure there was space, everywhere we had been so far had been booked out. Here we were thinking we’d have to start booking ahead – blasphemy! But they had space and said we were fine to come as long as we got in by 5pm. We were craving a camp fire! Goal: Arrive at campsite before dark to make fire and have dinner.

Bluff Creek has everything you need!

We had to go past the campsite into Kenilworth to buy some firewood and marshmallows and wine. The important things. Hot tip: Dont go to town. They have everything you could need available at the camp site. Such a great set up! Anyway, it was about 4:30pm so we were pretty excited to be getting to the campsite in daylight. I put the drone up and took a some shots of the area. Laws started a camp fire, at last! Then I made a cheese platter and we prepped for a spicy night in front of the fire.

Place to ourselves!

There was like two other families camping at the grounds and they were not close to us. It was pretty cool to really just feel like we had the place to ourselves. We put some tunes on, kicked back. Ate snacks, drank wine, drank some rum and milk, toasted marshmallows, got merry and felt the holiday spirit. It was my favourite night of the trip 😁

The next morning we got up and went for hot showers! This campground is really great – hot showers and working toilets in the blocks as well as port-a-loo’s near your campsite. Fire pits at each campsite, tree swings, river to swim in, just a massive valley. It so beautiful and I definitely recommend staying here!

Donut latte for breakfast! – Kenilworth Bakery

We packed up and went into Kenilworth to have breakfast at the Kenilworth Bakery. You have to go to this place. I got a latte in a donut. The donut is lined with Nutella so that the coffee doesn’t soak into it. Amazing and ridiculous. We also bought six huge donuts which were also ridiculous and amazing. Not sure why we bought six but obviously we can’t help ourselves and can easily over indulge. But lucky that last donut came in handy later on in the trip…

If you are in the area, or need a day trip, the selection at this little bakery is truly remarkable! We only got donuts but they had a whole selection of savoury treats as well. We will make our way back for them some day! They had doggy treats too for the puppers!

Driving through the Hinterlands – Maleny and Montville

We then decided to take a scenic route through to Maroochydore and have a look at the beautiful area. This is somewhere we could live very happily.

We stopped for little walks we saw along the way and some small water falls and creeks. It’s such nice country side, even the drive itself was such a treat.

And honestly they have the cutest little towns! We stopped for lunch in Montville at this place called the Edge Restaurant – https://www.theedgerestaurant.net.au. It has the most incredible view looking over the valley while you eat your foods. So incredible! Montville had heaps of little shops and was a very quaint little town. Definitely a must visit little area!

Maroochydore

We then drove into Maroochydore. Laws had to do some study so we booked a hotel – The Sebel. It’s nice and had nice views of the ocean. I chilled out in the spa bath while he studied. It took me like a good hour to fill the spa bath. I thought it was full enough and so I turned it on, those jets shot water EVERYWHERE! Everything was drenched, from the windowwwssss to the wall! I screamed and Lawson came in and pressed the button to turn it off hahahaha why didn’t I think of that! What a fail that relaxing bath was. So word to the wise – make sure you fill those baths well over the jets!! I eventually got my nice relaxing bath and it was definitely needed after that endeavour.

We went for dinner at Corbins and it was so beautiful, they had a degustation menu so we did that and the food was really lovely. The place is really cute and the staff were friendly and attentive. It was dead quiet but and they commented that it wasn’t usually that quiet but I guess people were busy staying home 😊

Exploring Maroochydore

The next day Laws did some more study, I went downstairs and got us some coffee from Little Blackbird Cafe – would recommend, the coffee was nice and strong. We had coffee with some custard filled Kenilworth donuts for breakfast – yum. Then packed up everything then and headed out into Maroochydore for a look, walked up Ocean St and had a look at what was on offer. We ended up going to The Nautical | Alehouse & Galley and it was great, we had some beers and an early lunch and contemplated why we hadn’t found this strip of pubs and grub the night before. I think we could have stayed another night in Maroochydore, it was nice and there was definitely more to see. But we had plans for the Moreton Bay Seafood and Wine Festival.

Scarborough – Moreton Bay Food and Wine Festival

Camping: Scarborough Holiday Village

We drove to Scarborough Holiday Village and booked in for two nights which was an exciting concept in itself as we hadn’t stayed more than a night anywhere yet! The campsite was really nice, showers were great, recently renovated and clean. We had a powered site ($42 a night) and we were right next to a cafe so that was also great. That night was the launch party for the Moreton Bay Food and Wine Festival, we went down to the Woody Point Foreshore for the party, had some dinner with some wines then some margaritas and watched some live tunes. It was a great night!

The pub scene – or lack there of

We did a bit of a pub crawl home – the first place we stopped at was at capacity so we couldn’t go in, so our Uber driver was lucky to get rebooked by us immediately and took us to Suttons Beach Pavillion in Redcliffe where there was an 80’s party on, we stayed for a wine and then moved on to Mon Komo Lounge Bar which was more our scene. We had some nice cocktails and then decided to save ourselves for the festival the next day. In the Uber to the campground, Laws realised I left my leather jacket behind – waa – so we detoured back past the lounge bar and thankfully it was still there. Lucky he got my back 😉 Would not recommend Redcliffe or this area for any forms of nightlife cause there really is no vibe.

The next morning we woke up to the sounds of the ocean – great camping spot! We went for breakfast at the cafe next door to the campgrounds. It was literally 10 metres from our campsite. After breaky we noticed everyone packing up and leaving. One of my friends messaged me to ask what we were going to do about the lockdown. I was like uhhh Laws – check the news! So we realised that we had until 4pm to get on the road and out of the area if we wanted to avoid being locked down in our rooftop camper.

Lockdown in a rooftop tent? No thanks!

I mean it had been great to stay in, but for eight days straight, I don’t think we would have loved it as much. I mean I would love to spend my life attached to Lawson, but he tells me that isn’t realistic🙄 We decided to cut our losses and head back to Bowen, at least be comfortable at home for the lockdown.

So we left the Sunny Coast, regrettably, we were so sad about the Moreton Bay Food and Wine Festival – the setup looked amazing and the food was going to be devine. So sad for all the people involved and how much they would have lost in fresh seafood and smoked deliciousness.

We drove home then, stopped in Gympie at a random smoked food truck and had some lunch in the park.

Camping: Boyne River roadside stop

Camped at Boyne River roadside stop which was a free campsite. Nice spot, right on the highway but also right on the river. We parked towards the back so the road noise wasn’t too bad. We watched a movie on the iPad and ate our last donut for dinner just to confirm we were still on holidays! And lucky for the sixth donut cause otherwise we would not have had enough dinner and we were kind of in the middle of nowhere 😆 We were up early and drove straight back to Bowen from there, the end to our little road trip. A little disappointing but it was also nice to spend some time locked at home together.