After having traveled the East Coast twice, it was time to experience the "real" Australia, as many told us having visited the more touristy East Coast.
Western Australia is definitely different. In terms of population density, marine wildlife, climate, and especially the way you have to travel the Western Australia spots. We did it in a Jeep with a roof top tent - and we can definitely recommend the way of traveling, although if you are not the typical camper guru. It was our first time in a tent, the first time we did not book any hotels or Air BnB, the first time we did not book anything in advance but our car, and therefore a special time with the feeling that it could not be any better.
Planning the route through WA is easy. From North to South, or from South to North. But take your time. We did the tour within 12 days, which is plenty enough time for an easy travel without any rush. But it was important having the possibility to quickly change your original plans and do it differently. We went to WA in November. While it is spring or early summer in the region of Perth, you may sweat in the northern part, where it is usually very hot during daytime.
We started our road trip in Exmouth, the very north of WA. The most southern destination we reached was Hamelin Bay. Have a look at our tour experiences and the spots we discovered.
We flew into Exmouth to start our journey. After picking up our camper van and a general cleaning of the whole car, we were ready to get the adventure started. When in Exmouth, you should not miss the seafood at Blue Lips Fish & Chips.
All grocery shopping should be done in Exmouth as well as there is no chance to get water or food in the National Park. You also better book all the camping grounds in advance from Exmouth as the internet coverage is not good - if available - in Cape Range.
WA is well known for its marine wildlife. Therefore, we decided to join a humpback snorkelling tour. It should be amazing to see these beautiful mammals in their natural environment. They travel the west coast until end of October. Unfortunately, they were almost through when we did the tour. We saw some, but the sea was to rough to jump into the deep blue ocean to start interaction with them. Nevertheless, we used the cruise to do some snorkelling and saw at least some sting rays, turtles and thousands of different fishes. We would do such a trip again, but we saw some places on our journey, where wildlife is even better - especially in the area of Coral Bay.
We spent two nights in the Cape Range Nationalpark. The place we staid was called Osprey Campground. It's located close to Sandy Bay and also Turquoise Bay is very close. We loved staying at the beach, doing some drift snorkeling, and also just enjoying the nature.
From Osprey campground we also went for a nice hike in the area of the Yard Creek Trail. The Yardi Creek comes from the inland and is a great source of food for wildlife - you can spot many kangaroos and much birdlife over there. We went the around 4 pm and to enjoy the late noon and sunset. The seldom rock wallabies can be spotted along the trail as well.
Depending on the tide of the river, you may or my not be able to cross the river. To exit the park, we needed to go back the whole way, which was good as we therefore found our way to the Shothole Canyon - a fun off-road drive to a spectacular landscape with the possibility of a short hike at the end of the canyon.
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