Hi there! My name is Sam, and I’m one of the three gap year students who are currently taking the Getaway Car on a 10 day tour up the east coast. Traveller’s Auto Barn were nice enough to lend it to us provided we write a few words about our experiences. We’re also shooting some random footage to hopefully have a video for the site at the end of it.

We left Sydney last Sunday and immediately hopped it up to Coffs Harbour, a smallish town about half way between Sydney and Brisbane. We only spent the one night there and the following morning walking around the town. It made for a very nice stop gap but we were keen to get up to Byron Bay as soon as possible, which was only a couple of hours drive away.

After staying in Byron Bay for 4 days it took a lot of effort to leave! We stayed in a hostel called “Main Beach Backpackers” and had a great time; fantastic atmosphere and a lot of other travellers to meet. We then made the 6 hour drive up from Byron Bay to Hervey Bay, near Fraser island. Hervey Bay is a lovely place, albeit a tad empty during the winter months. We’re planning to do a tour of the island tomorrow and then heading back to Byron Bay for another night the day after, perhaps stopping at Australia Zoo along the way. It’s already getting to the point where we have to think about going back to Sydney, unfortunately!

Our trip has been absolutely fantastic so far, and having a car has given us FAR more flexibility in terms of where we want to go and when- thanks again for letting us borrow it!

Sam Jones – 19 year old student