I set out on Thursday 25th June 2020 from my long-term lodgings Empire Vale near Ballina NSW.

My post-retirement drive around Australia has been code named ‘The Bus 2020’. My original post-retirement plan was to go to Asia for an extended holiday but Covid-19 forced a change of plan.

The immediate plan was to escape the NSW winter by driving straight to Bowen Qld in four stages, Gympie-Caliope River-Clareview-Bowen.

The Qld border was still closed to interstate travellers so I had my A Pass displayed on the windscreen. It was a anxious border crossing all the same as I am not comfortable with this level of surveillance. As it turned out I was simply waved through.

I stopped at Burleigh Heads on the Gold Coast to pick up a kayak trolley and new foam mattress and drove on to the Five Mile Rest Stop south of Gympie.

Note: The ‘drive around Australia’ plan is contingent on state borders being open due to covid-19. At the time of writing  (25-09-2020) the WA border was still closed and likely to remain that way at least until 2021. All other states have agreed in principle to open there borders by Christmas 2020.