If you drive north of Sydney for about 4 hours & then head to the coast, you will reach one of Australia’s hidden camping gems, Diamond Head. A typical Australian national park, Diamond Head is accessible by a dirt road but you don’t necessarily need a 4WD. However, a lot of the beaches are 4WD access, so it helps if you have one! You’ll need a permit to drive on the beaches, which you can get at a couple of places nearby.
If you’re into glamping & prefer a bit of power and a nice toilet block, Diamond Head camping is your place. However, if you’re like us and love a bit of seclusion and getting back to nature, Kylie’s Beach campground just down the road is quieter & has less amenities. However we’re at the stage now where we pretty much BYO everything (Wally even tried to make expresso coffee plugged into the Hilux) so this is more our style. There are some clean & basic compost toilets and outdoor-esque cold showers. But the really amazing thing about this site is the wildlife.
We were surrounded by kangaroos each morning, one with a joey. There were 3 goannas constantly stalking Plover nests around our site. It was better than TV – watching them being dive-bombed by magpies & plovers trying to protect their eggs.
We woke in the morning to a cacophony of black cockatoos, a rare Australian beauty, surrounding our tents. Like their white bros, they tend to make a lot of noise & mess and have a call like a screaming child, but there’s something about them that’s so amazing to watch. Maybe their size, or the fact that they’re a little on the shy side so to see them in a group of 20 or so is really a site to see. I wasn’t able to photograph them so here’s a photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
Image courtesy Wikipedia
Our totally secluded campsite. Complete with goannas, kangaroos & black cockatoos
Our friends for the weekend
If you have a 4WD you’ll have the whole beach to yourself. Bar from a couple of Hawks.
This was my first time driving on sand with our Hilux and it proved to be pretty easy. Knowing the basic concepts of sand driving (i.e. keeping momentum, wide turning circles, etc), we managed to get most of the way. I think the conditions were particularly good though, flat, hard sand banks. We set up our lunch spot in the most sheltered place we could find and the surfers took the opportunity to test the swell, failing miserably due to ‘fat waves’. But the droning conditions proved to be perfect! So here’s a video of our expedition:
2 thoughts on “Diamond Head – an Aussie wildlife gem”
This is sooooo cool. Definitely want to visit this beach. I have been to Diamond Head caravan park, but perhaps off the beaten track to Kylies would be better. Great shots!!!
Depends what you’re after. Diamond Head is still really lovely in comparison to a lot of other caravan parks. And the beach access is off here too, so easier to 4WD. I personally just loved the wildlife @ Kylies, you don’t see that every day!
The Sporadic Expedition 
This is sooooo cool. Definitely want to visit this beach. I have been to Diamond Head caravan park, but perhaps off the beaten track to Kylies would be better. Great shots!!!
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Depends what you’re after. Diamond Head is still really lovely in comparison to a lot of other caravan parks. And the beach access is off here too, so easier to 4WD. I personally just loved the wildlife @ Kylies, you don’t see that every day!
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