Welcome to this series of articles about a roadtrip in Western Australia. There is a lot of ways to do the west coast of course. We did a short roadtrip, 18 days in a campervan and from today and onwards you will be able to follow our trip through my articles and photos. This is part 1. Enjoy!
In the map below you find the other (upcoming) parts in this series of article about the roadtrip in Western Australia.
The long straight road laying in front of us surrounded by red dirt. What we see through the windscreen is just road, road and road. And som dead kangaroos.
The fridge is loaded up with a lots of food and drinks, the sunnies resting on the tip of the nose and we cruising on the highway Indian Ocean Drive with big smiles and expectations. We’ve just left the outskirts of Perth and heading north. It’s the first of many nice, beautiful, crazy and adventurous days on the road.
Photo: Patrik Enlund
A lot of people will describe Western Australia as a big nothing. In one way they are of course right – there is a lot of nothing out there but the road. But there are also something in between all that nothing. And those things is what I’m going to tell you about.
Our first stop after a couple of hours drive from the state capital is at the sand dunes outside the small town of Lancelin. They rise in the horizon like big white mountains. Walk a bit further in and you feel like you are in a big dessert. Where the road ends a guy rent out sand boards for 10 dollars from his big blue trailer. Definitely worth it. Sand boarding is, well I wouldn’t say easy, but everyone can have a go on one of the smaller dunes without problems. The boards look like snowboards besides you don’t need any boots.
It’s quite hard to walk up, good exercise for your legs and bum. Going down is even harder when it comes to balance. And even if I get sand everywhere in my jeans – yes, that was a stupid idea to sandboard in jeans – it’s really fun.
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Photo: Patrik Enlund
For us this is just a quick stop on our way north. Our main thing this day is next stop. ”The Pinnacles” in Nambung National Park. ”The Pinnacles” are limestone rocks that rising up from the sand. In this area which is called ”The Pinnacles dessert” they are everywhere. Thousands and thousands of them. The rocks look mysterious and coming in many different shapes and formations. Some of them are up to five-six meter high. Walking around among them is very cool and I cant stop think about how amazing this planet is. How mother nature could create something like this.
The little discovery center here tell us all about the history of ”The Pinnacles”. Over millons of years ago this land was a forest. The sand covered the area where the pinnacles now can be seen. The roots of the trees were of course reaching down in the ground making massive networks. Through the years these rootes turned into limestone. And by the time the forest was gone and when wind and rain moved the sand away – there they were: The Pinnacles. Limestone made by root systems.
Photo: Patrik Enlund
We arrive to the pinnacles about three hours before sunset. The afternoon sunlight make our visit even better. The red sand with the orange light helping it look even more red, the yellow looking rocks, the long shadows and the blue sky make it look very beautiful.
The little drive around The Pinnacles is easy. You don’t need a four wheel drive. With our big roof top camper van we have no problems at all.
When the dusk comes we decide to go and find our stop for the night before it get dark. We want to avoid driving around in the dark because of all the kangaroos jumping around close to the road.
Photo: Leanne Richardsson
Through a camping app in our smartphones we find a free over night camping spot next to the beach in Green Head. We have to follow a unsealed bumpy red dirt road for a short bit. When we arrive we found out this spot is quite popular because the parking area is nearly full of friendly road travelers like us. Young and old. In places like this you have friends everywhere. On the road – we are all friends.
The beach is just behind a grass covered sand dunes and the waves rolling in slowly from the Indian Ocean. It’s beautiful and peaceful. The sound of the water is easy to fall asleep to.
