The Epic Capricorn Coast Road Trip: An Introduction

"What's a Grey Nomad?" I remember asking that question when I first saw the term at a sign at a roadside motel during a trip along one of the long highways of Australia. On a piece of sheet metal (at least that's what I recall), the words "Grey Nomads Welcome" were written using white paint. I initially thought it might be some sort of group or gang, but to be sure, I asked my then soon-to-be-father-in-law.

A Grey Nomad is a term used to refer to folks who are travelling the country, stereotypically retired couples (hence, grey) who tow a camper trailer behind their 4X4, or drive around in a mobile home. When I first hear about it I thought, "Hey, there's a great idea." What better way to enjoy your retirement by driving from one place to another until you've seen the entire country? It certainly appealed to me, and I now think of it as a goal to strive towards. A kind of final, long-term adventure to be enjoyed during the twilight of your years.

I still have a long way to go before retirement (unless I somehow amass a ridiculous amount of money which will allow me to retire by the time I'm 45), but I had a small taste of what it would be like to live the life of a Grey Nomad.

Mrs. PWW and I recently made a change in our lives which involved moving to Brisbane, a city about 1,700 kilometres south of where we lived in Cairns. One could fly the distance in about two and a half hours, but why do that when you can drive it and have an epic road trip? Even before we made the official arrangements we needed to move, we were already thinking of a possible itinerary, knowing fully well that we were going to take our time driving down.

THE ROAD TRIP: AN OVERVIEW

When I first came to Australia in 2008, one of the things I noticed is the incredible infrastructure in place for travellers on the road, some which just don't exist in the Philippines. For instance, good roads and highways (insert rimshot here). Caravan parks dot the major highways for people to stop and rest or have a shower, rest areas are plentiful and at times, there are "Driver Reviver" stations which offer a cup of coffee and a snack to give a tired driver the pick me up he or she needs. Needless to say, I was excited about this.

Now, time for a little amateur lesson on geography and scale, kids. Below you can see a map of Australia, and a rough approximation of the distance we needed to travel. Unless universal laws have changed since the last time I checked, the shortest distance between two points is a straight line, and the red scribble on the map shows perhaps the straightest possible route from Cairns to Brisbane.

Cairns to Brisbane along the Capricorn Coast

In the scheme of things, it doesn't really look like a big trip. And it doesn't sound like a big trip either, because we're just travelling in-state. We weren't even leaving Queensland. Then I did some research (because I'm a geek like that) and found out that the land area of Queensland is about 1.73 million km². Do you remember the land area of the Philippines? I do. It's 300,000 km². So if I was to compare the size of the Philippines to that of Australia, it would look something like this:

It's a bloody big country, mate.

So yeah, it was a bit of a drive. But it doesn't end there. Compared to the straightforward approach of travel illustrated in the map above (the one with the red line, in case you can't keep up), we did a few detours to see some sights on the way down, and ended up with a route that looks something like this:

This doesn't include the wrong turns.

In total, we travelled 2,700 kilometres before arriving in Brisbane, adding an extra thousand kilometres to the trip. But with those extra miles, we also gained countless incredible experiences and created memories we'll remember fondly.

With that, I invite you to join me in reliving these memories, and to travel with me vicariously through the next few posts I will be publishing. I'll try to churn them out as quickly and as frequently as I can, but if I hit a speed bump every now and then, please be patient. Just think, at least you don't have to worry about petrol like I did. Especially after seeing a sign like this:

Fill her up

Quick trip trivia: The service station this sign pertains to is where I have purchased the most expensive petrol per litre during the trip, and by far in my entire year in Australia. It was 167.9 cents per litre. I guess if you're in the middle of nowhere (which it obviously is), you have to pay a premium to buy things at what is essentially, an oasis.




To start the journey at Day One, click here.