Sydney, NSW, by Jennifer Stephens, Sydney, Australia (B)

We drove into Sydney on the first of December. The day was dry and hot, traffic was aggressive and we were exhausted. It was a relief to arrive and spend the first night with Syd’s friend from Germany. He offered us a room, cold drinks, a shower and a place to do our clothes washing – all much-appreciated necessities!

The next morning, we spent a long time trying to find a place to park our van all day for free. It was lunch time when we eventually drove down to Clovelly Beach. Here, you could park all day and didn’t have to pay a cent. It was just a 10 minute drive to Coogee Beach and not far away from Bondi Beach too! It was also conveniently located to bus 339, which takes you straight into the heart of the city in about 40 minutes. This was a great way for us to save on parking costs and avoid having to drive in all the crazy peak hour traffic. A one-way ticket cost $3.50 each, but later, we topped up an opal card so we could tag on and off like the locals.

Our free all-day car park at Clovelly Beach (note: you are not allowed to camp overnight here in your van) ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).