Want to avoid Goldie (gold coast) in the school holidays.

[schmik]

Hi,

In Sept/Oct we are doing a four week trip north in QLD (from sydney).
2 weeks of it will be school holidays.   I want to avoid the gold coast in the school holidays.   We will go there and take the kids to the fun parks but not in the crowded two weeks.

Is there anywhere west of brisbane or the gold coast or sunshine coats that you would recommend during school holidays.
How far from brisse do i have to be to avoid the school holiday madness?

Also, does it get colder the more inland you venture (silly question but rarely go inland... the surf and fishing are too good   )

mike

[Nomad]

Hey Schmik,

If you want to do the theme parks the Sunshine Coast is too far away. Unless you want to go to SteveLand.

There was a recent thread about staying down near Dreamworld etc thats probably of  some use.

Cheers Nomad

[baldheadedgit]

Oh..... i thought you wanted to avoid a certain person,,, "Goldie" theres a guy up nth, who's got that name,,, and i can understand you avoiding him....
Not to be confused with the one who lives down Sydney way... now he's a nice bloke,,,



BHG

[BigJules]

I thought you meant GOLDIE too  . The Sydney one though.

In school holiays anywhere worth staying at has people staying there. You could go south of the border, try Brunswick Head. It is not far to the theme parks anymore.

[schmik]

Geez, you lot have me feeling bad for this bloke called Goldie now...

I will stay at the gold coast but NOT in school holidays.  So, leave sydney and head north, make a big inland loop around the goldie, bris and sunshine coast. Get as far north as possible.

Then on the way home (south), when the school holidays are finished, visit the sunshine coast, brisbane and gold coast.

So i am looking for good places to visit around toowoomba or dalby or something. Or somewhere near the glasshouse mountains.  I've never really been inland of brisbane. I've been up in the hills of bris and at Beerwah (steves world). So I am looking for suggestions on somewhere around there.

mike

[Nomad]

If you like the beach get to Noosa North Shore for a few days after the holidays. They should be reasonably empty, but I will have to check dates for you. The banks and beachies are awesome atm. The beach is s bending all the way to DI and there are great gutters. The fish are a bit light on but you should hit whiting time and they are fun to catch especially if your fishing with kids. There are heaps of set ups to surf. If you want a guide for a day I will happily knock off work and go surfing with you.

Cheers Nomad.

[WaituiRob]

Hi Mike,

We stayed at Boyds Bay Holiday Park at Tweed Heads last year in those holidays and there was plenty of vacant sites. It doesn`t have all the bells and whistles of a big 4, but it has excellent facilities and is handy to the freeway. A little bit noisy with the planes, but that didn`t worry us and their fees are heaps better than others on the Gold Coast. It`s about 40mins to Dreamworld.

http://www.tchp.com.au/tchp.php?park=1&page=1


Cheers, Robyn

[schmik]

Thanks for the suggestions guys, looks great.  Especially noosa north shore.  Boyds bay... i might have to throw the canoe on the roof for the trip.

Nomad, i haven't paddle surfed in years.  Started kitesurfing and pretty much never paddled again.   Noosa north shore looks like a top spot for anything in the water!

mike

[riderx]

Hey Schmik,

We do a bit of camping in this area .It is usually camping in National parks with basic facilities ,usually no showers. If this sort of site suits i would suggest the following.

1.   Sundown National Park south west t of Stanthorpe ( This place can get very cold)
2.   Gordon Country .Large privately owned property open to the public. Highly recommend .I would think that you could get a quiet location at that time of year  ( Could get could also)
3.   Andrew Drynan Park .Sits on the "Lyons Road' which is very scenic. Highly recommend
4.   Flanagans Reserve
5.   Darlington Park. This would be driving distance to the theme parks on the gold coast (1 -1.5 hr)
6.   Crows nest National Park

Just google any of them for further information

Hope this helps

Cheers

RiderX

[lockyer]

Hi Mike

Give this place a bell/email http://www.springgullystays.com.au/html/contact_us.html


Cheers

[gutters]

Hi Mike,

My tips for that time of year around the sunshine coast and hinterland would be;

1 - Ocean Beach on Bribie Island - most of the camp sites are individual campsites that are separated by rather thick vegetation, so even when its full you don't have to stare at strangers... or share your campsite. You do need to fully self sufficient no facilities are provided apart from eco toilets in the group camping area.

2 - Peach Trees camp ground Jimna state forest - very nice large campground with flushing toilets non potable water and cold showers. If its crowded here they have an overflow camping ground which is often empty.

3 - Yandilla Farm stay Kilcoy - privately run with a couple of camping options on the property, I don,t think David would allow too many people in at any one time.

4 - Amamoor state forest - 2 campgrounds to choose from, both are very nice and come with flushing toilets, cold showers and non potable water.

5 - Charlie Morelands campground Imbil State forest. - very similar to Jimna and Amamoor state forests.

Have a look at my travel thread for more info on these places or visit the DERM website.

http://myswag.org/forum/index.php?topic=20488.0
http://www.derm.qld.gov.au/parks_and_forests/activities_in_parks_and_forests/camping/index.html

[Nutto]

We stayed here for a few night over new year.  Bugger all people cos they don't let many in
http://www.clarenceriver.com/camping.html
It's in between Stanthorpe & Casino on the map - bit south of where you were looking at, but maybe an option to stop in on the way up.    Beautiful camping spot on the clarence river and the owners are great.   Steep access road in, but we were fine with our setup.


Nutto

[Hefty]

The Bunya Mountains are nice and shouldn't be too cold in September (still quite cool in the evenings though, I'm sure).

Cheers!
Jono.

[schmik]

Thanks!   There are a heap of great suggestions there..... no I'm thinking 4 weeks won't be enough.

After the summer we didn't have in 2011/2012 I am looking forward to some warm weather sooooo much!


mike

[Kit_e_kat9]

Check out my Blog (link below).  We do nothing BUT camp within 3 hours of Brisbane.  Dog friendly or not, I've given many places a go and will continue to do so till I've exhausted the options here. 

We don't do CVP's so you won't find any of those on the blog.

Kit_e

[schmik]

Thanks kit_e. Will check out the blog.

We like to mix it up between caravan parks and camping.

One more thing, in Sept/Oct what's the night time temp likely to be in the hinterland.

mike

[Kit_e_kat9]

Go here and search for your likely town to stay near.  BOM Monthly averages by certain town names.

I've highlighted Mt Tamborine for you here.  That's about as "hinterland" as it gets.  Otherwise the GC sea way is on that list, though temps will differ mountains to coast.

Kit_e