Day 1. Cottesloe to Cervantes (300 km)
Go rent some wheels.. if you don’t have them yet! The wide open roads and mind-blowing distances in WA are perfect for a good old grungy road trip. There’s nothing like the freedom of having your own motor and going where ever the mood takes you, windows down, music on and wind in your hair.
It’s Wednesday noon on Cottesloe Beach. We’ve just done the laundry and are waiting for Tobias to come back from Perth.. with a rental car that will take us up to Broome. And there he is.. with a rental car. And if you’re now imagining an old 4-wheeler that is friends with the WA’s outback, then you’re wrong, ‘cause our wheels are from 2007! A brand new Hyandai. Good choice, mate! So we say goodbye to Christiane, and hope to see her on the Great Barrier Reef in July.
The first day takes us to Scarborough Beach, Pinnacles Desert in Nambung National Park, and as the sun sets, we stop for an overnight stay in Cervantes. The Cervantes Lodge/Pinnacle Beach Backpackers is a great place, and probably the only one in the tiny town of 480 inhabitants, where mobile phones belong to the far future. Vodafone is out! But Pinnacles are in! :) These limestone formations made up of thousands of peculiar pillars resembling termite nests that stand out of the desert floor like so many soldiers, some towering up to 5 m, are just a short drive from the town. Dawn and dusk, when crowds are low, the heat is bearable, and purple and orange colours provide great photographic conditions, are the best times to visit. And that’s when we are there, right before the sunset to play with the shadows and perform some Aboriginal dances. And Tobias’s professional photo camera has definitely become our second best mate on the West Coast’s road trip.. after Mr Four Wheels, of course :)
Day 2. Cervantes to Kalbarri (400 km)
We leave the cozy hostel at 10 in the morning to head north. A newish road runs straight up the coast from Cervantes, passing through the small coastal towns of Jurien Bay, Green Head and Leeman on the way to Dongara-Port Denison and Geraldton, the midwest’s major town with a beautiful St Francis Xavier Cathedral that will catch your eye on the way into town. By the way, it’s the first church that I’ve seen open for public in Australia so far, so I can’t resist taking a look inside and spending a few quite moments all by myself in a calming silence while Ann and Tobias find the next-door sculptures in front of the city library more inviting. Geraldton is our base for some grocery shopping before we drive on to Kalbarri along the scenic drive on the coast. The highlights of the day are the superb coastal gorges just off the road to the town centre. Island Rock, Eagle Gorge and… look awesome on another clear sunset that welcomes us in the picture-perfect town of Kalbarri. A town that doesn’t really have a low season – it’s always popular. We stay overnight at the YHA and have some BBQ chicken and a bottle of Devil’s Lair Fifth Leg for dinner. It looks very quiet till a bunch of other backpackers invade the hostel. It’s the Easy Rider Hop on Hop Off tour that runs from Perth to Exmouth and Broome. The tour that we would’ve taken if we hadn’t met Tobias. And we are all very happy we did because our tour is the best tour :) With our own route, own car, own time, own decisions and choices, and most of all – our own FUN! Don’t think we’ve missed anything, rather gained the freedom to do whatever whenever wherever. And although, I love it more and more every day traveling with my cute little backbag, I guess I’m still a little spoilt backpacker touring with all the best amenities.
Go rent some wheels.. if you don’t have them yet! The wide open roads and mind-blowing distances in WA are perfect for a good old grungy road trip. There’s nothing like the freedom of having your own motor and going where ever the mood takes you, windows down, music on and wind in your hair.It’s Wednesday noon on Cottesloe Beach. We’ve just done the laundry and are waiting for Tobias to come back from Perth.. with a rental car that will take us up to Broome. And there he is.. with a rental car. And if you’re now imagining an old 4-wheeler that is friends with the WA’s outback, then you’re wrong, ‘cause our wheels are from 2007! A brand new Hyandai. Good choice, mate! So we say goodbye to Christiane, and hope to see her on the Great Barrier Reef in July.
The first day takes us to Scarborough Beach, Pinnacles Desert in Nambung National Park, and as the sun sets, we stop for an overnight stay in Cervantes. The Cervantes Lodge/Pinnacle Beach Backpackers is a great place, and probably the only one in the tiny town of 480 inhabitants, where mobile phones belong to the far future. Vodafone is out! But Pinnacles are in! :) These limestone formations made up of thousands of peculiar pillars resembling termite nests that stand out of the desert floor like so many soldiers, some towering up to 5 m, are just a short drive from the town. Dawn and dusk, when crowds are low, the heat is bearable, and purple and orange colours provide great photographic conditions, are the best times to visit. And that’s when we are there, right before the sunset to play with the shadows and perform some Aboriginal dances. And Tobias’s professional photo camera has definitely become our second best mate on the West Coast’s road trip.. after Mr Four Wheels, of course :)
Day 2. Cervantes to Kalbarri (400 km)
We leave the cozy hostel at 10 in the morning to head north. A newish road runs straight up the coast from Cervantes, passing through the small coastal towns of Jurien Bay, Green Head and Leeman on the way to Dongara-Port Denison and Geraldton, the midwest’s major town with a beautiful St Francis Xavier Cathedral that will catch your eye on the way into town. By the way, it’s the first church that I’ve seen open for public in Australia so far, so I can’t resist taking a look inside and spending a few quite moments all by myself in a calming silence while Ann and Tobias find the next-door sculptures in front of the city library more inviting. Geraldton is our base for some grocery shopping before we drive on to Kalbarri along the scenic drive on the coast. The highlights of the day are the superb coastal gorges just off the road to the town centre. Island Rock, Eagle Gorge and… look awesome on another clear sunset that welcomes us in the picture-perfect town of Kalbarri. A town that doesn’t really have a low season – it’s always popular. We stay overnight at the YHA and have some BBQ chicken and a bottle of Devil’s Lair Fifth Leg for dinner. It looks very quiet till a bunch of other backpackers invade the hostel. It’s the Easy Rider Hop on Hop Off tour that runs from Perth to Exmouth and Broome. The tour that we would’ve taken if we hadn’t met Tobias. And we are all very happy we did because our tour is the best tour :) With our own route, own car, own time, own decisions and choices, and most of all – our own FUN! Don’t think we’ve missed anything, rather gained the freedom to do whatever whenever wherever. And although, I love it more and more every day traveling with my cute little backbag, I guess I’m still a little spoilt backpacker touring with all the best amenities.
posted by kairike at 12:52 AM
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