Many people say they have ‘done’ Australia without even travelling out to the west coast. Why take such a long plane journey to the land down under and then miss out the best bits? And, you really haven’t experienced the real Australia until you have travelled to ‘the west side’!
Here you will see landscape you can see nowhere else in the world and you will certainly discover just how big this country really is - you can drive for hours and hours without coming across a single house!
The lesser-travelled west coast is still served by plenty of places to stay (whether you are after hostels or campsites) and tour companies who are always more than willing to take your money.
Despite this, the west coast is a lot more remote, chilled out and 'real' than its east coast cousin.
Snorkel with whale sharks, get up close and personal with dolphins and other marine life, get totally 'gorged-out' in Western Australia and the Northern Territory’s many national parks, take a dip in crystal clear waters off WA's pristine beaches - the west coast has it all . . . and dare I say it, it's all better than the party places of the east coast.
Getting started:
The first thing to decide when considering a trip up or down the west coast is how you are going to travel around. Public transport is not as readily available in WA and the Northern Territory as it is in the other states - and tours are expensive, so most backpackers choose to drive between Perth and Darwin by either buying a car, renting one, or grabbing a lift off someone who already has a vehicle.
With no money to rent a car and no mechanical knowledge to know whether I was buying a bargain or a useless lump of metal I opted to get a lift with someone already equipped with a vehicle and camping gear. So, for a month a Toyota Corona stationwagon called Sheila became my home.
One of the first things I noticed about driving the west coast was the distances . . . and the heat, both inside and out of the vehicle. Don't expect to be travelling in style and comfort all the way – some of the bush toilets and showers can be a real experience!
The best places to look for lift offers or backpacker cars for sale are the notice boards in hostels. Many of the backpacker cars have travelled around Australia a few times so if you are looking for something newer which has been serviced a bit more frequently than your average backpacker is likely to have got done then you should try looking in the local paper.
If you do decide you would prefer to take a tour or travel by public transport then you will find plenty of information at hostels in Perth and Darwin.
The Greyhound bus ( HYPERLINK "http://www.greyhound.com.au" www.greyhound.com.au) stops at all the major destinations along the west coast and into the northern territory, but travelling in this way means you are restricted to the routes that the buses take you and it is difficult to get off the beaten track.
Life on the road:
Distances between places in Australia are huge . . . it is difficult to imagine just how big they are, so expect to spend a lot of your time on long, straight roads. But, this doesn’t necessarily mean that the journey is going to be boring.
On route you get to see some of the local wildlife (both dead and alive!) and take in the stunning scenery including termite mounds, boab trees and lots and lots of rocks. Believe it or not, even the wide-open spaces containing nothing but dust and shrubs can be interesting.
Of course, this is not always going to be the case so it’s a good idea to bring along your iPod or hope that the other people in your car have the same music taste as you!
The best times to drive are during the daylight hours – as the kangaroos tend to come out at night and hitting one of these can be fatal, not just for the roo.
Another animal to watch out for are the many free-roaming cows in the northern part of Western Australia and the Northern Territory. Some of them even like running alongside the car and then jumping in front of you when you least expect it!
From lunchtime onwards it can get very hot, especially if you don’t have air conditioning, or can’t afford to have it running, so many travellers get up early and travel in the morning, finding somewhere to stay by mid-afternoon. Of course, with the huge distances this isn’t always possible and some of the campsites are so remote that you don’t want to get there too early for fear of getting bored so you just have to put up with the heat.
Most people who drive the west coast stop at campsites. It is a good idea to get yourself a map with campsites and petrol stations marked on before you get started. As well as your usual pay campsites there are 24-hour free stopping areas – but the standard of the facilities at these can vary from nothing to a flush toilet and bbqs. Signs on the sides of the highway usually mark these sites. They are generally used by travellers with caravans, but can be useful for campers on a tight budget.
Many of the bigger towns in Western Australia and the Northern Territory have hostels, so if you are dying to spend a night in a real bed or can’t carry a tent with you then don’t panic.
Make sure you carry lots of drinking water with you. In some parts of Western Australia and the Northern Territory you can’t drink the water and the national parks don’t always have a plentiful supply – stock up whenever you can.
One advantage of travelling on a tour or public transport is that if the vehicle breaks down it is not your problem. This is not the case if you are travelling in a car.
Carrying spare petrol can be a good idea . . . just in case the reason for breaking down is only that you have run out of fuel.
Make sure you check the water and oil levels in the car regularly and keep a close eye on the car’s temperature gauge.
If you are unlucky enough to break down then don’t panic. This might be a remote area but there are always people passing along the roads so eventually you will be able to find someone to help and Australians are a helpful sort.
Sheila only broke down once while on the road (unless you count the time we had to get a jump start after using our car lights to cook by!). A passing Aussie stopped and towed us to the nearest garage, which luckily wasn’t too far as we had only just set out for that day (thanks Pete – you are a legend!)
However you are travelling, one thing you will find is that you keep on bumping into the same people over and over again . . . after all, when travelling the west coast there are only two directions to go – north or south.
Places to go - the low-down:
Just as there is with the east coast, there is a west coast 'beaten track' which most travellers coming over to this side of Australia follow. This generally takes in (from Perth to Darwin), the Pinnacles, Hutt River Province, Kalbarri National Park, Monkey Mia, Coral Bay and Exmouth, Karijini National Park, Broome through to Kununurra and Katherine and into Litchfield and Kakadu National Parks and then onto Darwin.
It is worth planning yourself a vague route, but don’t try to plan too much as you never know what is going to happen during your trip.
Perth: Perth is a great place to relax and a great place to party. It’s one of Australia’s smallest and most compact cities, which either adds to its charm or is just plain annoying, depending on which way you look at it.
To get a great view of the city and surrounding area head up to King’s Park, which also holds the city’s botanical gardens.
Or, if you fancy hitting the beaches then try Cottesloe or Scarborough Beach.
Nearby Fremantle is popular with backpackers for a night out or a place to chill out for a few days.
The Pinnacles Desert: The Pinnacles are a bit of an icon in Western Australia and you may recall the comedian Billy Connolly running naked through here as part of his World Tour of Australia TV series.
Not far from Perth, this is an area of land covered by limestone pinnacles of different sizes and heights – from a few centimetres to a few metres. Some backpackers stay nearby and get up early to watch the sunrise.
Hutt River Province: Now this is a strange place. Not many Australians (well not many of the ones I met anyway) have heard about this place. The Principality of the Hutt River Province is a separate country within. It’s about 75 square kms in size and came into being in 1970 after the Western Australian government tried to put a restriction on the amount a wheat farmer could sell. Prince Leonard found a loophole in the law and created the Hutt River Province. For more information visit www.hutt-river-province.com
Kalbarri National Park: If driving from Perth this is probably where you will come across your first set of gorges on the west coast – and trust me, these probably won’t be your last. Here you can see spectacular rock formations and gorges such as Ross Graham lookout, Nature’s Window, Z-bend, Hawk’s Head lookout and you can also do the excellent Loop Walk which takes around three hours.
There is no camping in the park itself (and the rangers will almost certainly find you, chuck you out and more than likely fine you if they catch you sleeping within the boundary) so having a car of your own is a real advantage to get to and from your accommodation.
Monkey Mia: At Monkey Mia you can get up close and personal with the dolphins that live in the surrounding waters. Contrary to what many people tell you, this is not a place where you can swim with dolphins. You can only watch the feedings (and don’t expect to be the only ones there either). They come in for a slap-up meal up to three times a day – generally all in the morning and early afternoon. There is accommodation at Monkey Mia Resort or you can stay in the nearby (ish) town of Denham.
Make sure you don’t miss out on the hot tub in Francois Perrin National Park which is on the road from Denham to Monkey Mia – it’s great for spotting shooting stars at night!
Shell Beach: This beach quite literally reflects its name. Millions and millions of tiny shells make up this beach. It is certainly worth a few pictures.
Coral Bay: This is where the Ningaloo Reef starts. From here you can swim from the beach to some fantastic snorkelling just off the shore. It can get very busy here during the high season. If you are planning on spending a few days in this area it is worth getting your own snorkel as hiring can prove to be expensive and you never know who has used the snorkel before you!
Exmouth: Between March and July giant whale sharks are in the area and you can pay to go out on a snorkelling trip with them. Exmouth is also a great place to do a boat trip out to see manta rays from. If this doesn’t tickle your fancy then head down to Cape Range National Park where you can do more fantastic snorkelling. There are a few camping and caravan spots within the park, but make sure you are up bright and early to get them! Otherwise, you can stay in Exmouth or just outside the park and drive in. There are public buses which go into the park from Exmouth. Go to the visitors centre in the town when you arrive for more information.
Karijini National Park: This park is set in the Pilbara region of Western Australia and here you will find more stunning gorges – get your walking boots on for this National Park. If you are brave enough to do the spider walk you will be rewarded with a cooling swim in Kermit Pool. You can also walk to Joffre Gorge Lookout, Handcock Gorge, Knox Gorge Lookout, Fern Pool and Circular Pool and Fortescue Falls among many others – although watch out for the freezing cold water in some of the pools which rarely see any sunlight.
It is possible to camp in the national park at Dales Gorge, Joffre Falls and Weano Gorge – although these are all pretty basic camping sites. There is also accommodation at Wittenoon.
This was definitely one of my highlights and should not be missed.
Eighty Mile Beach: Australians flock here for the excellent fishing and long sandy beach. The sunsets here are pretty amazing.
Broome: You will hear backpackers all over the west coast talking about Cable Beach at Broome (you will probably have seen pictures in the Lonely Planet . . . it’s the one with all the camels walking across it at sunset). Travellers gather in Broome for all sorts of reasons . . . to chill out on the beach, to work for a while before continuing their journey, some start or finish their journey here, while others visit Broome for Staircase to the Moon (a natural phenomenon which happens monthly between March to October where the reflection of the moon on mudflats creates the effect of a staircase reaching the full moon – it is truly phenomenal).
This is the biggest town on the journey between Perth and Darwin so if you have been missing a few creature comforts then this is a good place to stop, recharge for a while and exchange stories with fellow backpackers.
Windjana National Park: You can get to Windjana by driving along a section of the infamous Gibb River Road. This is not for the faint-hearted, and could result in you blowing a few tyres, but you might consider Windjana to be worth it!
Here you can see hundreds and hundreds of freshwater crocodiles sunning themselves along the banks of the river, and if you are brave enough you can even get an up-close-and-personal picture with one of the reptiles.
Kununurra: If you are looking for work while on the west coast then this could be a good place for you to stop and do some fruit picking. Kununurra is also home to the ‘mini-Bungle Bungles’. Take a track from the back of the Hidden Valley Caravan Park to the lookout point, although it can be a little confusing at times and involves some climbing.
Lake Argyle: This lake is the largest inland freshwater lake in Australia at 800 square kilometres. It’s holds a lot more water than Sydney Harbour, but how much more depends on who you are talking to! The lake really is a spectacular sight.
Katherine: You are now in the Northern Territory so don’t forget to change your clocks. The most famous thing about Katherine is its gorge…..in fact 13 of them! Known as Nitmiluk National Park you can hire a canoe for a few hours or even a few days and paddle your way around the gorges. This is not necessarily as easy as it looks! If you don’t fancy taking to the water then take one of the gorge hiking trails or even a scenic flight.
Litchfield National Park: Litchfield is the lesser known of the two major national parks up in the northern end. Here you will find waterfalls, pools and beautiful walks. Many of the roads require you to have a 4WD but it is possible to get to some of the attractions without one (we managed it in Sheila), although it can be painfully slow at times! Attractions you can reach with your average backpacker car include Buley rockhole where you can take a refreshing dip, Florence falls, Tolmer Falls and Wangi Falls and magnetic termite mounds.
Kakadu National Park: The best time to view the waterfalls in this national park are just after the wet season (November to April) when they are positively wet. Like Litchfield you will need a 4WD to get around much of the park and many people tend to take organised tours from Darwin for a few days. During the dry season (May to October) many of the waterfalls dry up but at this time of year the park is easier to yet around.
Some of the things you can do in the park include taking a river cruise, visiting Nourlangie rock and Ubirr Rock art sites, visiting Twin Falls, Jim Jim Falls, Gunlom and Barramundi Gorges.
Darwin: It’s hot all year round in this part of Australia.
Every Sunday and Thursday the city has the famous sunset Mindil Beach markets where street entertainers and market stall holders take over the area just behind the beach. Here you can buy loads of local arts and crafts, we well as many which have been imported from nearby Indonesia.
The city’s museum is home to an exhibition on Cyclone Tracy which practically wiped out the city in 1974 and huge stuffed crocodile called sweetie - definitely worth a look.
Darwin is a great place to head south to Ayres Rock from. |
