Leg 1: Brisbane to Rainbow Beach

This leg was the longest of them all as we had a beach house to stay at in rainbow beach during the Covid lockdown (very lucky).

Brisbane

This is the hub of Queensland, the largest city in the state with a population of 2.28million. As with any city, you will find an array of delicious places to dine, buzzing nightlife and various shopping areas.

Here are up top 10 things to do in Brisbane:

1. Check out Southbank's eateries and stroll along the 'brown snake' (the Brisbane river).

2. Catch the City Cat along the Brisbane River - hop on and off as you please.

3. Walk (or drive if you must) up Mt Gravatt Lookout (south Brisbane) or Mt Cootha (north-west Brisbane) lookout for a birds-eye view of the city. If you're looking for a quieter experience, Mt Gravatt attracts fewer crowds and has a charity based cafe at the top. There is also a cafe opposite the bottom of Mt Gravatt Lookout called Blacksmith Specialty Coffee - They especially love dogs, so if you have a special pooch make sure to give them a visit.

4. Check out Fortitude Valley (aka; The Valley) or Eagle Street Pier for good nightlife. Eagle Street Pier typically has more up-market venues, whereas Fortitude Valley has more pubs/clubs. Although, you can find upmarket places in They Valley such as Cloudland (and the fun Holy Moly Golf venue).

5. Visit Netherworld for all you can play games (old and new) over some drinks and a meal.

6. If you're into gaming (not board games this time but on a computer) pop in and visit Go Gaming Lounge (in the city), Marcus recommends this one when you're sick of the city, or people, or you just need your gaming dose after days on the road and want to place video games on a fast computer on a comparable chair.

7. Visit Folio Books in the city. They stock the books others don't. Winning!

8. Take a Lava or Lime Scooter, or whatever other flavour of scooter there is, overt the Brisbane Story Bridge. You can continue your journey through the city or Southbank - wherever you desire. This is especially fun at night when the bridge and city light up.

9. Do a day trip to the Gold Coast or Sunshine Coast. You can also visit Moreton Island, Coochimudlo Island, or Stradbroke Island (Straddie) which are all off the coast of Brisbane and reached via barges.

10. Enjoy fish and chips along the foreshore at Sandgate, Brighton or Redcliffe. Especially nice as the sun goes down.

North of Brisbane:

In Gympie visit Lake Alford Recreational Park pond. This might sound boring however if you have a bag of bread🍞....Well, that changes everything, and its less than $2!

There are so many birds here and because they're used to getting bread they are super friendly (geese slightly less so). You will also see turtles and eels that also enjoy your bread.

This park is right next to the Gympie Gold Mining and Historical Museum which also has a good cafe on site. Check it out!

Rainbow Beach + Double island point

Rainbow Beach

We are totally biased, but we think this place is paradise. Make sure to visit Carlo Sand Blow (bring cardboard or a boogie board to slide down the sand dunes) and Seary's Fresh Water Creek.

Fraser Island is the largest sand island in the world and only a stones throw away from Rainbow and can be accessed via a barge from Inskip Point - 4WD and walk-on only (they do have a great walk on the island). The barge costs $130 return for a 4WD, but trust us when we say Fraser Island is worth it! We visited Fraser Island and wrote a blog about our time here - click on the link to read more! https://bit.ly/3hvJQdn

The Cooloola Great Walk is easily accessible from Rainbow Beach and is Queensland's longest multi-day hike. We did this 5-day hike in Winter. Click this link to read about our Cooloola Great Walk blog: https://bit.ly/33BBtZ7

Rainbow Beach offers many 4WD tracks (both inland and along the beach), so lower your tires and get exploring.

As we had been in Rainbow Beach for a few months we have had the opportunity to sample many different restaurants. Here are our top recommendations:

Arcobaleno on the Beach is right up there as our #1 - This is an Italian style restaurant and is tucked away behind the Rainbow Beach Hotel. They offer delicious gourmet meals.

Surf Life Saving Club is situated practically on the beach and has the best value for money meals (and very friendly service).

If you're after some good ole' fish and chips by the beach Ocean Breeze Seafoods is the way to go. They are the first fish and chip joint, on the left-hand side next to the laundromat, as you drive into Rainbow Beach.

Our Rainbow Beach section of the blog wouldn't be complete without recommending you to relax. They do have a day spa in the center of town, but also lots of outdoor greenery and beach areas to sit back with a book (and maybe even a hammock if you have one) and enjoy the beautiful nature around you. You can also collect shells along the long stretch of beach - we spent many hours collecting these and then making crafts with our favourites.

Double Island Point

This place is good for just about everything outdoors; surfing, camping, fishing, 4WDing, walking, whale watching, and snorkeling. It's a sheltered area of beach 10km from Rainbow Beach along the beach, so you will need a 4WD to reach this pristine location. If you don't own your own 4WD you can hire one from one of the 4WD hire places in the Rainbow Beach town. This can be a busy spot (nothing like gold coast though) so I recommend going in winter when it's too cold for many Australians.

As Double Island Point it's a point means that the surf starts breaking from that point creating ultra-long waves - coined the longest wave in Australia! Especially in easterly or southeasterly swells (the bigger the better in my opinion).

The rock fishing is superb and is my favourite spot so far in Australia as I don't need to cast far (with my boat rod) to land some 'big kingies' (mostly Bream and Dart).

We have also seen tonnes of whales, dolphins, manta rays and turtles from the point/lighthouse during the winter and spring months. If you're lucky when you're swimming you can hear the whales underwater as they make their journey north and then back south along Australia's east coast with their calves.

Just around the point from Double Island Point (4WD) is Teewah Beach. This is a stunning long stretch of beach that offers beach camping and leads to Tewantin.