We're heading to Western Australia in April May and would like to spend a few days trekking, hiking and camping. The South sounds lovely, green, oceanside forests -- our kind of thing. But our fear (perhaps misguided) is that it may be too wet and cold.<BR>The North sounds a little too barren for our tatse.<BR>Kalbarri has been suggested, but there doesn't seem to be much to do beside look at gorges and &quot;rock formations.&quot;<BR>Pilbarra sounds much better, but we may stumble upon &quot;The Wet.&quot; And then, there's the distance.<BR>What to do, what to do?<BR>Any advide will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Head for the Bungle Bungles and that area. Broom is wonderful as well and you could start there I should think and perhaps go around to Darwin.<BR>The south 'could' be wet and cool ( not cold) and the north will be into the dry season by then. There is a fantastic cattle station ( can't remember the name ) on a river which I have always thought of spending time at and which if I was over in the N.W I would go to as a start to that N.W area - I am sure that others will come up with its name - its a 5 star experience.

First of all the wet will be over by April /May unless some thing really strange starts happening with the weather.<BR>I was in Kalbarri late last year. <BR>I did some sand boarding which was fun and some abseiling which was also very good fun. They are suffering a little over there from the down turn in Tourism as lots of places in Australia are. So you will not have any problems booking into any thing. However it is always smart to book into some of these more remote places early just in case the operators are doing some thing else to survive at that time of the year. Like out fishing for instance. Don't laugh, many of them have to do that to keep the wolves from the door during quite periods. Because of the huge distances many people fly the West Coast stopping off at all the good spots along the way. Like a day at the Pinnacles, Kallbarri, The Pillbarra , The Gascoyne Region, Mount Augustus , Carnarvon and the Kennedy Range National Park, Shark Bay, Denham, Exmouth and the whale sharks,,, now thats an experience. Then you have the Hammersley Ranges, great rock art in there , and of course the Karijini National Park more rock art and beautiful gorges. Broome ,,, well Broome is nice for two days. I go there often as well. Broome is a pretty town, lots of history from the pearling days. You can buy marvellous Pearls in Broome. You will also find the Cable beach club not far out of the township. This place is exquisite. The buildings and furnishings are 1st class. The position opposite Cable Beach is one the best positions on the coast to see the sunsets. I think Broome has the second most beautiful Sunsets in Australia.<BR>You can take a camel ride to see the sun set or a ride in an lld Pearl Lugger or just sit on the beach with a beer. Derby is not far from Broome and boasts Australia's largest tides , you can also see the prison Boab Tree at Derby, Western Australia is huge. Dont forget that , the distances are enormous. The state stretches from about 36 degrees latitude to 14 degrees latitude. That equates to about 1400 Nautical Miles. You can see why they use aeroplanes to take the kids to school. There are some very good hiking trails South of Perth as well. Check out places like Cape Leeuwin, Cape Naturaliste, both of these places are close to the famous Margaret River wine growing area. If you fly North from Broome over the King Leonpold Ranges you will enter a really really beautiful part of Australia called the Kimberleys. This part of the country is incredibly beautiful, with Gorges, huge rivers, waterfalls, massive cliffs, 30 thousand year old rock art, lots of wild life and lots of history. If you are looking for drop dead bring tears to your eyes beauty which mother nature has carved out over millions of years the Kimberley's has it all. The Bungle Bungles are on the Southern Edge of the Kimberleys. The Bungles are amazing,you are better to access them from Kununurra rather from Broome. <BR>Hope this helps a little with your planning.<BR>[email protected] <BR>

Thanks a lot, Liz and Pete. This is really good stuff and we'll be sure to use it. Greatly appreciated!

El Questro is the name of the Cattle Station with accommodation on the bend in the river up that way - really, really nice. Here is the web site for it with some links as well I think to other things.<BR>http://www.discoverwest.com.au/elquest.html<BR>Might give you some idea of what that area is about too. <BR>HTH Liz<BR>

Hello again jfmp, I stay at El Questro several times a year. No matter what else you do on your holiday to Australia, you must go to Emma Gorge. Emma Gorge is part of El Questro. The accomodation at Emma Gorge ( tented cabins)is about a 45 min walk from the actual gorge and water fall. You can choose between ensuites or not. They have a wonderful little restaurant at Emma Gorge. The meals are SO GOOD. They push Kimberley Beef through the steak house and its just WOW!!! Every thing in the Kimberley's is just like the steak. WOW!!! When you walk up to the Gorge and see this beautiful water fall you will not want to leave. It is one of the worlds most serine, pristine, and incredibly beautiful places. At the bottom of this magic water fall is a pool of freezing cold water. I like to go up there early in the morn when there will be no one else there, spend some time in the pool and try to photograph the falls, (very difficult)then come back down to the village for a great lunch, then go to the Zebedee springs for the afternoon. Plan a minimum of 3 days at El Questro. The accommodation ranges from around $800.00 per night for the HOMESTEAD, TO around $80.00 pp at the Emma Gorge Tented Cabins, to around $80.00 or $90.00 pp at the Bungalows. All of this accommodation is miles and miles apart so dont get the impression you will be crowded in. In fact we use an aeroplane to go from Emma Gorge to the Steak house at the center of El Questro. The property is around 1 million acres. You can find diamond mines close by, Argyle Diamonds are famous through out the world, thats a great day trip from El Questro, Barramundi fishing close by, canoeing, hikeing, thermal springs, chopper flights to amazing rock art sites, called the Bradshaws. My first trip into the Kimberleys starts in about a month. I cant wait !!!!!! They have had some good rain over in the North West and lots more is falling riight now. The Kimberleys will be just beautiful this year.<BR>[email protected]