Illaroo Campground, Yuraygir National Park – April 5th

After having such a good time here last year for the Anzac Day long weekend we decided to return this year for a week. This year the QLD and NSW school holidays were offset by a week and we were hoping it wouldn’t be too busy. We left home on Saturday morning at 3.30am and had a reasonable drive to Grafton where we got the kids their first ever McDonalds Breakfast and filled up the car with diesel. By 8.30 we had arrived at the campground to find it almost full… Like last year we grabbed the last spot that would suit us and have enough room for Bron and Steve when they joined us later in the week. After a quick setup we spent the rest of the day hanging out around camp and down on the beach. Late on Saturday a storm blew in from the west and dropped some rain but nothing too hairy…

The next few days were wet and windy, on Monday we drove to the northern part of the Yuraygir National Park and had a look at the Lake Arragan, Red Cliff, Grey Cliff and Sandon River camp grounds. The wind was blowing from the South East and a lot of the camping spots in Lake Arragan and Red/Grey Cliff area were quite exposed, Sandon River was a little more protected from the wind and would be our pick if we were to camp in this part of Yuraygir National Park.

On Tuesday we were greeted with an overcast morning but at least the wind had died a little and the rain had stopped. After lunch we took a drive down to Wooli and had a look around, on the way back to the campground we took a detour down to Diggers Camp and had a look at the Bookram Camping area. It was a very beautiful spot and good to know there was an alternative area to consider if Illaroo was full, the National Parks information online says it’s not suitable for camper trailers or caravans but there was a caravan there when we visited and plenty of suitable spots.

On Wednesday we had perfect weather and joined some of our neighbours and their kids on the Sandon back beach which is approximately 10km drive north along the beach from the Illaroo Campground. Whilst we were up this way we drove right into Sandon Village and had a look around, the village is on the banks of the Sandon river opposite the Sandon River Campground that we visited earlier in the week. We had an awesome time on the beach with warm weather and perfect clear water to cool off in.

Bron, Steve and Alana arrived on Thursday morning and found us down on the beach, they were soon set up and we enjoyed hanging out together and enjoying another beautiful day. Anna went out on her surfboard and managed to stand up for the first time. On Thursday evening we cooked pizzas and enjoyed a few drinks around the camp fire. On Friday morning we were greeted with another glorious day and we decided to head north and spend the morning on Sandon back beach. We had to do it in two trips to ferry everyone down there but it was worthwhile and we all had a really good time enjoying the beautiful surrounds.

Saturday came around too quickly and it was time for us to pack up and get ready to head home, the weather was fantastic again which made it even harder. By mid-morning we were all packed and headed down to the beach for a final swim before eating lunch and hitting the road. We took a slightly different route via Tucabia and Tyndale on the way home which saved us 30 minutes or so and was much more scenic than going through Grafton. The trip home was uneventful and we were home and unpacking by 4.30.

We had a fantastic trip and really enjoyed ourselves, the kids made new friends and apart from a couple days of wet weather we had awesome warm weather. We really enjoy camping here and might try and camp here for a week every Easter School holidays.

Trip Distance = 840km

Total distance travelled with camper = 9253km

Total number of nights in the camper = 71