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Re: Please help me plan for a road-trip in Western Australia

Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2019 4:37 pm
by Sgallian
downunder wrote:
Wed Jan 09, 2019 10:05 am
The Lancelin sand dunes are way more fun for kids than SBay, trust me on that. Pinnacles and Jurian Bay too.

People do not kite waves down south, why would they? It is surfing mecca, top Surfing spots. Only a few spots are for kites, coz the wind elsewhere is offshore most of the time. So, no go...
Thanks for the tips on other fun activities, it's important to think for the kids also.
Well, we might just go surfing then (more so if no wind), it's been a while but I am pretty sure we can still catch some waves "the hard way".

Re: Please help me plan for a road-trip in Western Australia

Posted: Mon Apr 01, 2019 2:36 pm
by Sgallian
So... back from the trip, so I thought I would give some feedback, might be usefull for others...

For the Kiters:
Got another source of info about the kitespots in WA, very informative, I did check out only a dozen spots , but it's a good reference with precise directions to get to them:
https://www.welovetokite.com/destinatio ... australia/
The spots I visited:
- Cervantes Thirsty point (sunset, so did not feel that safe, but went anyway for my first time in WA waters)
- Geraldton Point Moore: not enough wind, looked okayish, though lots of reeds
- Denham (launch right on the campground beach, get upwind to visit the town from the sea, several sessions there)
- Denham Little Lagoon (quite gusty, shalow water, was warned to not go near the channel as there are stone fishes there...)
- Monkey Mia (offshore, did not risk it as the wind felt barely enough and gusty, also at least one of the dolphins from the area was attacked by tiger sharks, so...)
- Shell beach (offshore, wind not stable enough, would have been awesomely flat, not sure it's authorized either...)
- Pink Lake: some some photos of peole kiting on it, but as I saw it a low tide, does not feel safe
- Coronation Beach (not enough wind, so don't really see what all the fuss is about as I pictured it would be a way bigger lagoon and beach)
- Greenhead, anchorage bay (not enough wind, but looked nice)
- Lancelin main beach (no wind either, but looked good, though smelly)
- Woodman Point (wind was just picking up, but really did not look that great, choppy)
- Safety bay: OMG such a great spot!!! Had the 11m out at noon with just a few other people, then 7m in the afternoon, gusty, and more people, but great last sessions in WA.
So yeah, not so lucky with the wind, but the road trip was great!
Would go again, just for the Pond... but earlier in the season.

For the tourists:
Now, the following tips, that I'm sure are obvious for australians, but not so for us:
- DO NOT EXPECT TO DRIVE AT NIGHT, hitting a kangaroo (or even a camel ??) is a real possibility then.
- Wait for overtaking lanes, particularly if you're driving a big-ass truck, there are quite a few of them
- Best to get to camping grounds (or any other attraction) well before 5PM, as offices tend to close at that time
- Grocery stores in small towns close around that time too, and small chance of getting lunch after 2 PM…
- You’ll find these (gas) public BBQ everywhere, so use them! (bring a scrapper along to clean it after you’re done)
- better to swim than walk in the water (because of stone fishes, sting rays ... )
- if you expect to visit more than 3 National Parks, better to get a holidays pass https://shop.dbca.wa.gov.au/collections ... liday-pass otherwise it is 13$ / vehicule (and you need to pay that for the Yanchep campground for instance, and the pinnacles desert)

For the first-timer motorhomer:
What to verify upon check-in:
Explanation of how everything works (hot plate needs 2 switches, security can stay on)
How it drives (and how to avoid warnings when starting up the engine)
Waste hose, fresh water hose, power cord!!! (last was missing... fortunately, noticed it beffore heading out)
Check the shower drain (ours was so slow, we prefered to use the campground showers)
In any case, if you have any problem, even small, call the online help and make it know, you can then pretend to some refund on restitution
Note the dimensions (HEIGHT!) of the vehicule.
Be sure to understand how to properly close the drawers: we forgot to secure the dishes drawer and on the first turn, it all crashed on the floor... Could have been dangerous for the kids. Do not hang towels above the latches, so you can check them before driving.

What to expect:
Go with soft luggage, no room for hard cases, also no need to bring too many clothes (though do take warmer outfit for the nights), laundries in any powered campground (stock up on 1$ coins, bring some detergent)
You’ll have to empty toilet waste at least every 2-3 days, and really check that it is thoroughly emptied, and well secured, same for grey waste water.
Fresh water can go out pretty quickly too, do not expect to last more than 2-3 days as a self contained vehicule (at least for a family of 4 and 80L tank)
9 kg gas bottle can last 5 to 6 weeks if used for cooking and water heating (I say that because as a noob, I was afraid to run out of gas and wanted to refill in the last bigger town before heading North, only to be told that it was barely used… ) You’ll have to refill it before returning the vehicule, there is the “central caravan park” really close to THL in Perth that can do that (do not take the expensive option of fast check-out, it is worth it only if you return it without any fuel and with an empty bottle).
Campground are usually well maintained anyway, so you will use their facilities, particularly for the showers, and a container is provided so you can go wash your dishes also.
Fuel prices can really fluctuate from one station to another, when you have a 75L fuel tank, it can make a difference...
But fill-up whenever you can other long distances across the desertic areas (was running on fumes when getting to Denham)
Depending on the season, it's better to book up sites a day before, 2 days before on Week-ends, and if like us you prefer to just see how far you can go, at least call the caravan parks before 4-5PM, so they can leave keys / site numbers on the out-of-office-hours board...
For the parents: choose caravan parks with jumping pillow / playground, and ask to be placed near them if possible, the kids will stay there the whole time, so best to be able to keep an eye on them ;)


And finally, this is what our itinerary ended up to be, the stops being dictated by the kids sleeping time or running out of patience:

Tue :
morning tourism in Perth
get the motorhome, grocery shopping
get to Yanchep Henri White Oval campground (a must! no powered site - choose grass site, but clean ammenities, good kitchen, and kangaroos around at dusk and dawn)

Wed:
Get-up early to check-out the kangourous and Koalas, lunch in Yanchep
Hit the road to Jurien Bay
Checkin-in quite late (6PM), get scared by the receptionist telling us that we could hit even camels if driving at night... Could not book the sea lions for the day after...

Thu:
Pinnacles desert
Greenough "Central" Historic settlement
Kiting at Cervantes - Thirsty Point
Check-in at Belair Top Caravan Park, Geraldton (good enough, close to Point Moore)
Grocery shopping (got lucky that this was the dayof late-closing for some shops)

Fri:
Visit Geraldton
Long drive to Denham
Sunset Session, launching from the beach of Denham Seaside Caravan Park, the BEST caravan park, with new showers, laundry room, jumping pillow and play ground visible from the motorhome, and private kitespot.

Sat:
Morning session low tide = really small chop
Shark Bay Ocean Park (great! informative, awesome view from the cafe, good beer too)
Little Lagoon - lunch made on public BBQ, small kiting session

Sun:
Early start to Monkey Mia, see the dolphins
Afternoon sessions, went upwind to ride in front of the town, great way to "visit" it!

Mon:
Eagle Buff point (really nice look out)
Shell Beach
Hamelin stromatolites
Port gregory, general store closed at 5PM... , camping ground kind of "lonely", so moved on
Pink Lake
Dinner at Northampton
Sleep at Coronation Beach (arrived quite late, dropped the -small- fee at around 9PM)

Tue:
Dongara
Green head
Checked in at Jurien Bay campground

Wed:
Swim with the Sea lions tour
Lancelin: Sand dunes, Endeavour tavern
Late at Yanchep, with kangaroos around for dinner too

Thu:
Yanchep Crystal cave
Caversham Wildlike Park (feed the kangaroos, pet the wombats and koalas, etc..)
Check-in at Woodman point (good location, but tired venue)

Fri:
Early stroll to Woodman point
noon session at the Pond
Lunch at Rockingham center
sunset session at the Pond
dinner at Freemantle (not easy to drive and park a motorhome there)

Sat:
Return the motorhome
Spend afternoon in Perth before flying out the next morning

So yeah, good thing we stopped at Shark Bay (really loved the area), Denham was a good end goal, and we really took the time to enjoy there since we stayed 3 nights (the most anywhere in WA).
Drive between there and Geraldton was quite long though, good thing there are some good stops on the way.

Re: Please help me plan for a road-trip in Western Australia

Posted: Mon Apr 01, 2019 2:47 pm
by longwhitecloud
Epic trip!, the worst thing is u deal with the brown snakes, roos and red backs, then you forget all about the drop bears when walking under trees!

Re: Please help me plan for a road-trip in Western Australia

Posted: Mon Apr 01, 2019 3:20 pm
by downunder
Congrats!

Now you know why I live here :) have heaps of red backs in the garden ;)

Wel done not being too ambitious with a trip.

Trust me, down south is more spectacular and less driving.

Looks like u missed the other side of Woodman Pt, flat water. Next time...