Melbourne to Sydney in a Van, with no Plan

I say no plan but the goal was to drive up the coast, stopping en route at any beautiful beaches and to see Canberra. We were under the impression that no one had ever been to Canberra so it could well be a made up place. We fantasised about this mythical land and what it may have in store for us.

My travelling companion did all the driving (hours of it!), the little star and we came across and hung out at some cool places. Theoretically they’re on the beaten track but mostly deserted even though it’s peak tourist season.

We had a wander around ‘Lake Entrance’, which had a stunning mass of lakes not far from the sea. Hung out for the day at Point Ricardo, where if in the right season you can spot whales. Sadly it wasn’t the right season but there were dolphins and seals and we surfed. It’s a little unnerving surfing at a deserted beach, I managed to convince myself it was sharky! but my limbs are intact, so perhaps not. Marlo, a small town just down the road gave us the best sunset, and amazing little coffee and local produce shop, super friendly locals, a chilled out vibe and some time with some fellow ‘wicked campers’.

We passed through what looked like American sleepy towns, with just a few shops that were like something out of the 1950s and deserted streets. We slept in the van in rest areas, with massive trucks pulling up in the dead of night, I’ve definitely seen a dodgy film which involved truckers and rest areas, but we survived, I just didn’t sleep. It’s no hardship though not sleeping when you get to lie staring at the mass of stars, bathing in the moonlight.

Low and behold, Canberra was now in spitting distance. Turns out Canberra isn’t made up and it’s not really that mystical. It’s a big city, with big buildings, virtually empty streets and quite a lot of green space. We rolled out of the graffitied van like a pair of bedraggled hippies straight onto the streets of suited and booted people. We definitely got more than our fair share of stares!

The highlight of Canberra was a trip to Red Hill to search for kangaroos. They’re unbelievably big and it wasn’t until we had about 20 pairs of Roo eyes on us that I thought perhaps they might be dangerous. Yahoo Answers tells me they disembowell humans and dogs. Shit.

Now only a few hours from Sydney we powered on through, to see what this famous city had in store for us.