Road trip from Sydney to the north in 3 weeks in July. Where can I go?

Noosa is very good, but legal free camping might be a challenge. There is an excellent YHA very close to the beach.

From Noosa you can take a trip to Fraser Island, saving the drive up to Hervey Bay.

There are various places where people do stop overnight for what is called free camping, national parks not being included but fees are relatively cheap and also there are limited facilities.

If you do want to use NPs and pay the fees, have a look at NSW National Parks and you will get a listing of the various ones and locations so you can then go to an information site for each one and see all details like access, facilities and fees if camping is allowed in a particular park.
There is not much by way of NPs between the NSW/Qld. border and Noosa unless you head inland.

As for actual free locations, grey nomads, backpackers and others, usually with a campervan or caravan do pull over at many wayside stops or head off from the Pacific Hwy. towards beach locations where it is possible to find some quieter beach areas with ability to park at, sometimes a toilet block and sometimes not.

For free and low cost camping the following are available –

Camps 9. Hard copy versions can be purchased at most camping equipment shops.
http://www.campsaustraliawide.com/

A good app – does cost -
http://wikicamps.com.au/

You will find popular spots (such as Byron Bay) are often quite tough on free camping in car parks etc.

Most towns have an information centre. I’ve found them very helpful with camping/caravanning spots and local things to see and do.

Also google free camping with the town name often gives useful info.

From Noosa there is a great bus day trip to Fraser Island that drives along the beach for many kilometres.

Most towns have an information centre. I’ve found them very helpful with camping/caravanning spots and local things to see and do.

Indeed ... one of the great joys of road-trips in Australia is the intelligent and helpful staff in Tourist Information Centres - the centres are located close to main roads, easily seen, and almost always have good parking (unlike in some countries I could mention).

Re the information centres, always good value often with free local and regional maps.
You do find them usually on the approach into a town, mostly on the right side of the road ( that being the left side ) for ease of pulling over off the ( Pacific ) Hwy in the past heading north.
It has changed however now with a lot of regional towns now being bypassed s newer sections of the M1 motorway and so to get to Information Centres can mean departing the M1 onto the old Pacific Hwy. and you can need to do that several and sometimes many more kilometres before a particular town.

So best to get an idea of where you might be interested in and than when driving the M1, keep eyes peeled for a turn off towards that location. Some Information centres may not be manned but you could find a selection of information outside, some smaller ones even still open if unmanned.

Well yes ... but even in the good old Pacific Highway days, you had to turn off to head into the towns that you might want to explore. In that respect little has changed, and the Information Centres are still valuable resources in many places.

as I drive the NSW coast road I see many people pulled over in the rest areas, one place not mentioned on this forum is the Bunya Mountains, http://www.southernqueenslandcountry.com.au/destinations/bunya-mountains its magic and worth the drive, and you can camp there.

Lots of people talk about a lot of places, but they are all a long way from the coast.

I think for an international traveller, doing this for the first - and possibly only - time, and with just 19 days ... it's a very brave call to direct them to anything but the coast.

The coast Sydney > Hervey Bay is superb - as good as it gets world-wide ... I think it's sufficient!

If you go a bit further north from Noosa, say about 300 to 400 km. you will find that on the coast before and near Bundaberg or on to Agnes Water there are quite a few smaller towns where you will likely find it easier to find some free or at least cheap National Park camping, there a place not too far further north called Baffle Creek and from there you could drive to what is known as Wreck Rock in Deepwater National Park, there about 10 km. of reasonable standard gravel road involved for access and it id a superb location in coastal woodlands at the back of sand dunes.

From Baffle Creek it is about 50 km. to Agnes Water which has a council run bush camping area right by a beach and not too far from the town centre and you can also do a trip to Lady Musgrave Island on the GBR from there.

If you want to also do some inland camping, I agree the Bunya Mountains offers some great places, there good roads and it is easy driving, maybe a good way to hook up with the New England Highway to bypass Brisbane either on your way up or way back and miss a lot of traffic and roadworks.

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