Lismore to Gold Coast drive: Distance, time & road trip stops
Lismore to Gold Coast drive: Tweed Coast
It’s another 45 minutes from Byron Bay to Tweed Heads, the most northerly town on the New South Wales coast. You’ll go past Belongil Beach and the Tyagarah Nature Reserve on the connection back to the Pacific Motorway.
Here’s why you should stay in Brunswick Heads – four fantastic experiences
- Take a snorkelling tour to the protected subtropical paradise – at the marine life-packed Julian Rocks.
- Take an eco-cruise through the rainforest – in the day time or on a sunset cruise.
- Watch migrating humpback whales between June and October – on a whale-watching cruise with a marine biologist guide.
- Take a nature kayaking tour along the river – choose from sunrise, daytime and sunset tours.
Brunswick Heads is arguably the best beach stop before the Queensland border. Here, you can kayak or cruise along the Brunswick River or take a snorkelling tour to Julian Rocks.
For Brunswick Heads accommodation, plump for the stylish Brunswick or the pool-centric Sails Motel.
Other options for a stop include Mooball National Park to the west of the highway, or Pottsville, Hastings Point and Cabarita Beach along the coast.
Alternatively, try the farm tour at Tropical Fruit World in Duranbah and rum-tasting at the Husk Distillery in Tumbulgum. You can also hire out kayaks from Watersports Guru in Kingscliff.
Top Kingscliff accommodation options
The best places to stay in Kingscliff are:
- For a Balinese-style resort: Oaks Santai Casuarina Resort.
- For a kid-friendly holiday park: Ingenia Holidays Kingscliff.
- For suites with a lagoon pool: Mantra on Salt Beach.
- For good value by the beach: The Blue Water.
Five fabulous Tweed Coast experiences to at least consider booking
- Tweed River lunch cruise – with wildlife viewing in the rainforest.
- Crab-catching tour in Tweed Heads.
- Farm tour at Tropical Fruit World – with wildlife spotting cruise.
- Progressive four course meal across four top Kingscliff restaurants.
- Husk Distillers distillery tour – with tastings.
Things to do in Tweed Heads when you get there include crab-catching experiences and Tweed River cruises.
Tweed Heads accommodation choices include the highly-rated Tweed Heads Vegas Motel and Arabella Motor Inn.
Click through for the next section: Gold Coast.