I love lighthouses and with a coastline as huge as Australia we have a lot to discover. I am drawn to their resilience and purpose, not to mention the incredibly stunning views they afford from their locations. No lighthouses are manned in Australia these days, they are all automated, but in some cases weather readings and other information are still taken from their locations.
Touring Tips
Learn from the Locals
I love preparing for a holiday by researching a destination. The internet, magazines, friends and social media can tell you a lot about where you are going. This is great if you want the facts and figures, the must see and do’s, best places to stay and experiences to try. Even being armed with all of that, there is still one ingredient that can make a holiday tip over into the ‘best experience ever’ category. That extra something is…ask a local!
A room with a (different) view every night
One of the things I love about caravanning road trips is having a different view out of the window every day or so. No day is ever the same and even if you’re staying in one spot the view can change dramatically from day to night. What can look quite bland during the middle of the day can look completely different with a spectacular sunrise or sunset, casting a whole new light, literally, on your camp site.
Signs that you’re road tripping in Australia
Some of the signs you see on a road trip are obvious, it seems in Australia we have more than our fair share of animals that can run out or leap in front of you in the vast stretches of open country we have to travel. And soon enough, now that you know what to look out for, you will probaly spot what you’ve been warned about.
Let’s check the Stats.
The road trip that we have just completed allowed us to see just a snapshot of Western Australia but we packed in as much as time, money, road conditions and weather would allow us to. Our plan from the beginning had been to see Western Australia, a state we hadn’t been to before and basically hug the coastline from bottom to top, before heading into the Northern Territory and scooting back home down the middle.
We had around three months of touring time up our sleeves from start to finish, not a lot of time when you consider that WA makes up one third of the landmass of Australia. So here are just some of the interesting statistics from our touring.
The end of the road…for now
Our first night back in South Australia was an overnight stop at Marla Travellers Rest, a good old reliable spot to camp with fuel, food, power and amenities all together. It’s far enough off the highway not to hear too much road noise and spaces fill up the later it gets in the day.
Heading down the track.
The homeward stretch began as we left Darwin behind with its coldest day on record, struggling to get above 21 degrees all day. Too cold here, time to head south (Ha Ha, that’s one for our Darwin friends).
We stayed one night in Katherine then moved on to stay the next at Bitter Springs, Mataranka. There were noticeably more caravans and campers on the road as it got closer to the Easter weekend. Still we could pull up wherever we liked and the sites were big enough to stay hitched on to the car for a quick take-off the next day. Continue reading
The Jewel of the Kimberley
I could be talking about the rare and exquisite pink diamonds which are mined in this Lake Argyle area but I found another jewel a bit more accessible and affordable for everyone!
We only moved 70 kilometres from our last stay but this destination was on our must do list and it was one that had a reputation for being a place to stay for a while.
Exmouth Encounters with Wildlife.
Our next leg of the journey took us to Exmouth, where we started seeing huge termite mounds followed by sheep crossing the road about 30kms before town and then emus greeting us on the way in.
