NSW Family Holiday

We were very excited to pick up our Vista and begin our roadtrip north! It didn’t take long to make the van feel like home. We loved all the storage spots and it didn’t feel quite as big as we thought it might be to drive around.

We choose to stay the night at the One Mile Beach Holiday Park just out of Anna Bay. It was in a great location and had awesome facilities. Our two-year-old especially loved the pool, playground and huge jumping pillow.

In our van we set off north again with Crescent Head in sights. It was a big day of driving but we were quite comfortable and having the van made it easy to stop for breaks. We stocked up on supplies in Kempsey before heading in-land to the coast. We were pleasantly surprised to discover Crescent Head Holiday Park was right on the water’s edge with an inlet on one side and the ocean on the other. From our van windows we had 360-degree views to watch the sun rise and the sun set.

We had a relaxing day in Crescent Head with coffee at a local café, swimming and sand play in the inlet next to the caravan park and some exploring around the rocks and ‘Little Nobby’. This evening there was a huge storm with lots of lightning and rain, which we enjoyed watching from the van windows.

After a big breaky of eggs and fruit at one of the local cafés we hit the road and headed south; there are some great lookouts in the area and great scenic drives. We continued south to Newcastle.  We took our time on this drive and stopped for lunch and a play in the park at Port Macquarie. We hadn’t visited here before and were pleased that it wasn’t a big detour (about 15 minutes off the main freeway).

We spent a great day in Newcastle visiting a huge playground at Speers Point and catching up with some family who live here.

After a long absence, the sun was finally breaking through this morning so we took off at 5am to head up to Nobbys Head in Newcastle East to watch the sunrise. On our way to find somewhere for breakfast we stopped to enjoy the views of Susan Gilmore Beach. The water colour was stunning and there were lots of locals out for their morning walks! We got a great table at Mereweather Surfhouse and enjoyed breakfast by the ocean. After a bit of relaxing in the van it was time to keep heading south to drop the van back.

• Where the best view was? Little Nobby Lookout in Crescent Head
• Where you stopped for a picnic? A little playground/park area on the edge of Lake Macquarie at Wangi Wangi
• Where was your favourite place/town visited and why? Crescent Head – caravan park right on the water's edge and nice little cafés/shops walking distance from the caravan park
• What was your favourite experience/activity and why? Visiting the Speers Point Playground in Newcastle. It was right on the edge of the lake with lots of different activities for kids of all ages as well as a café on site for coffee and lunch
• Best café for coffee? Green Room Café on the main road in Crescent Head
• Top highlights? Cresent Head township and Lake Macquarie
• Did you have a favourite holiday park you stayed in and why? The One Mile Beach Holiday park was our favourite because of the huge pool, playground, putt putt course and jumping pillow (you couldn’t see the beach but it was just a short walk away)
• What would be your top tip for other campervan travellers? Keep the size of the van in mind when entering car parks! Pack all your belongings in soft duffle type or enviro bags so you can easily fit everything in the van. There was plenty of room in a compartment at the back of the van (accessed from outside) to fit our son's trike and boogie board!
• Can you share a recipe from something you cooked in the campervan? Fried rice was easy to whip up in the van – we scrambled some eggs, added in frozen mixed veggies, then added in soy sauce and a bag of mixed rice/quinoa (that you cook in the microwave for 90secs) and then it was all done!
• What is your greatest memory of the whole campervan holiday? Watching the lightning storm across the skies from inside our cosy van

Like the sound of this? Start planning your Britz family roadtrip here!