Western Australia help please?
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Western Australia help please?
My husband and I will be visiting Australia again, for approximately for 2 months, in 2019. We have spent a lot of time on the East Coast and around Darwin and Cairns, so this trip we want to spend much of our time in Western Australia. We plan to visit Margaret River area, Rottnest Island, Coorow area for the wildflowers (trip is scheduled for late September, October), a bit of time in Perth and north of Perth for the Pinnacles (using a different base than Perth so as to alleviate the driving time) and perhaps Kalbarri National Park. We do not want to spend long days in car, and prefer leisurely travel, rather than racing about. Can anyone suggest a possible route or a good way to arrange our time and travels in Western Australia? It is so vast and we realize that we can't see it all, but would like to visit the greatest places ( not necessarily the "known tourist spots") and experience the "WA" culture!! We figure on 3-4 weeks in WA, and weren't going to include the Kimberleys for this trip so no need to go that far north. Thank you for your help!!!
#2
First off, let me congratulate you for spending a reasonable amount of time in WA! It is indeed vast, and difficult to see without many hours in the car.
We lived in WA for seven years and did our best to see as much of it as possible, but barely scratched the surface.
While I ponder a few itinerary suggestions, you might get some ideas of drive distances, attractions, possible routing, etc from my various trip reports posted here on Fodor's. They're a bit dated now - you'll need to scroll down a bit, but IME things don't change very quickly in country WA.
We lived in WA for seven years and did our best to see as much of it as possible, but barely scratched the surface.
While I ponder a few itinerary suggestions, you might get some ideas of drive distances, attractions, possible routing, etc from my various trip reports posted here on Fodor's. They're a bit dated now - you'll need to scroll down a bit, but IME things don't change very quickly in country WA.
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Melnq8, thank you for your response! I enjoyed reading your trip reports....very informative and fun to read! What a wonderful experience to live in Oz for a time! The trip reports were quite helpful and gave me some ideas for various attractions that I hadn't considered. Sounds like you think Rottnest Island could be a miss? I did add Pemberton in as a stop per your advice. And I do like the idea of Norcia. I will reread the trip reports and look for others as well. I have always found the trip reports to be quite helpful in planning an itinerary. Any further thoughts you might have please do pass them on to me! Thank you so much.
#4
I think Rotto is one of those love it or leave it places. Many people love it, but damned if I know why. There are so many easily accessible beautiful beaches in WA, some of them near empty - there's just no reason to get on a ($$) rocking and rolling boat and go over there IMO. Rotto is where all the 'leavers' go to party (sort of like spring break in the US, but instead graduating high school kids). Could be an issue that time of year too with school holidays (Sept 22-Oct 7 this year, not sure of the dates for 2019.)
Are you set on Kalbarri? It wasn't a favorite of mine - not that that matters. Not a whole lot to do there unless you're a hiker (which is exactly what we did there). A long way to go too, some ~seven hours.
If you're looking for something uniquely WA (not that there's a shortage) you might enjoy the Pinnacles - I sure did. Cervantes is the closest town, and while there's not a whole lot there either, it's pretty fascinating IMO. Some people drive there as a day trip from Perth - I'd opt to stay overnight though, as the best views of the Pinnacles are at dawn and dusk - do be aware of the wallabies on the road - they're plentiful at night.
https://www.westernaustralia.com/en/...rvantes.aspx#/
New Norcia is an easy day trip from Perth and is also very unique, and you'll see wildflowers that time of year.
Any interest in Kalgoorlie? Long drive from Perth, but easy to incorporate in a long loop - unique with a capital U. From Kalgoorlie, you can drive down to Esperance - home of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen - and then work your way back to Perth via the Southwest coast - which is the gem of WA - incorporating Albany/Denmark, Pemberton, Margaret River and all the beautiful places in between.
The Drive to Kal will take about eight hours - there's a lot of nothing en route, but it will give you a nice taste of the Outback. The drive from Esperance to Albany is a long haul too - probably another eight hours - but you'd get a good taste of WA.
Here are some WA photos just to whet your appetite:
Are you set on Kalbarri? It wasn't a favorite of mine - not that that matters. Not a whole lot to do there unless you're a hiker (which is exactly what we did there). A long way to go too, some ~seven hours.
If you're looking for something uniquely WA (not that there's a shortage) you might enjoy the Pinnacles - I sure did. Cervantes is the closest town, and while there's not a whole lot there either, it's pretty fascinating IMO. Some people drive there as a day trip from Perth - I'd opt to stay overnight though, as the best views of the Pinnacles are at dawn and dusk - do be aware of the wallabies on the road - they're plentiful at night.
https://www.westernaustralia.com/en/...rvantes.aspx#/
New Norcia is an easy day trip from Perth and is also very unique, and you'll see wildflowers that time of year.
Any interest in Kalgoorlie? Long drive from Perth, but easy to incorporate in a long loop - unique with a capital U. From Kalgoorlie, you can drive down to Esperance - home of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen - and then work your way back to Perth via the Southwest coast - which is the gem of WA - incorporating Albany/Denmark, Pemberton, Margaret River and all the beautiful places in between.
The Drive to Kal will take about eight hours - there's a lot of nothing en route, but it will give you a nice taste of the Outback. The drive from Esperance to Albany is a long haul too - probably another eight hours - but you'd get a good taste of WA.
Here are some WA photos just to whet your appetite:
I suspect you'll wish you had even more time!