Western Australia Road Trip

Pick up your vehicle in Darwin. We rented a Toyota Landcruiser 4wd with a top tent camper kit

Take a spin through Litchfield. Swim, hike, have lunch. Spend the night or push on!

Lovely Caravan Park. Stay here for the night. Ask Len to show you the Jackfruit and Charlie the Water Buffalo (from Crocadile Dundee)

Explore Katherine and the Gorge.

In the shadow of the red rocks is a dry but beautiful bush camp. Wake to the sounds of the birds and sun reflected off the rocks. Take a short walk and view aboriginal paintings.

Top off your supplies, explore this nice little town that is the gateway to The Kimberly

You could take a few days, a few weeks or a few months to see this road. We only had a few weeks for our entire vacation, so we just skimmed the surface - but this road is best sampled slowly and with gusto!

A working station, the station managers Brian and Marcia will welcome you with a cup of tea or glass of lemonade. Stay at Ringers Camp and take a swim in the billabong. Cook dinner in the stone community area on the wood barbque and imagine life for the station's ringers and other workers.

Located a short drive up a 4WD track from Mt. Barnett Roadhouse (check-in there), is a permanent swimming hole. Take a up the Gorge to the waterfall, or just laze about the swimming area. Sun yourself on the rock in the center. Spend the night at the camp, taking advantage of the clean absolution block.

This town is very popular with backpackers and young folks. We just wanted a quiet spot to sleep (note: avoid the Broome Caravan Park). If you are lucky enough to be in Broome for the full moon you can experience the famed "Stairway to the Moon". However this is a busy time for the town so book ahead! We didn't which is why we ended up at the infamous Broome Caravan Park next to a group of people who regaled us with "Danny Boy" singalongs and Janis Joplins greatest hits until late. All this whilst blasting their TV and talking on the cell phone. Yikes. Ok, feel better now.

Beautiful Beach! If you have a 4WD and are feeling brave you can drive on this beach. Or you can take a camel ride along it. The Cable Beach Resort has wonderful all-you-can-eat brekke!

The road to Cape Leveque is long and requires 4WD. When you get there, the view is something out of a postcard. The resort is nice and so is the camping. We elected to have lunch and come back down the track to Middle Lagoon because we had heard it was more remote and less populated. Good choice for us - but Cape Leveque is also great and has more amenities.

A beautiful, isolated location just past the Milargoon Aboriginal Community on the edge of Australia, south of Beagle Bay. Stay a day or a week. Rent one of the screen cabins. Swim in the lagoon at high tide, wander the flats at low. Cavort in the mild surf on the Indian Ocean beach.

The Beach is Literally 80 miles long, between Broome and Port Hedland. There are few access roads to this beautiful, pristine beach. One of the roads leads to the 80-Mile Beach Caravan Park. A lovely, clean park separated from the Indian Ocean by a sand dune. The beaches in this part of Australia have amazing tides. You can walk and walk and walk towards the water before you reach it at low tide.

Formerly known as Hamersley Range National Park, it is big and beautiful and wild. Good camping, swimming and hiking. If you are lucky enough to be there when the wildflowers are blooming, you will be amazed. One weird thing - they put the entry station where you pay the fee right on top of an ant hill. My husband didn't find it so funny but it sure looked funny to see him jumping around!

If you want to "do" Ningaloo Reef you have two main choices: Exmouth or Coral Bay. We choose Coral Bay because it is smaller. It turned out to be a wonderful choice. Most of the accomodations are right accross the road from the beach. You can hire out for tours or boats --or just walk accross the street to the beach and swim.

We were not here for whale swimming, although I would love to come back for this. We went out on a catamaran for snorkeling. We had only 15 or so people on board, which was nice. We skimmed over the reef to a place picked out by the skipper and snorkled for a half day. We saw wonderful formations, beautiful fish and got to swim with a turtle. A great lunch of sausages topped off the day.

A sweet little town, very pictuesque and a great base for exploring the Kalbarri National Park.

Stop in and visit Prince Leonard. View his collection of memorabilia and hear the story of how this one man took on the government of Australia and won.

If the time of year is right, turn inland now and head for the midlands. Mingenew is a small town with a nice pub, but it has a wildflower museum that lists where the wildflowers are blooming. Use this as your starting point and plan on zig zagging between towns and roads to see the best views.

The Pinnacles Caravan Park is right on the beach, with only a sand dune separating the two. Great facilities, beautiful beach and a great base for the Pinnacles.

Although we didn't make it here, I wish we had. We were at the end of our trip and running out of steam. I hope other folks don't let themselves miss this!!

The final stage to a perfect vacation. After roughing it for for most of the trip, spend three days and nights in luxury on the Indian Pacific back to Sydney. Gold Kangaroo service is worth the price. The cabins are efficient and comfortable and having a shower so handy is a luxury after camping. The food is marvelous.