Australia's West Coast highlights
A drive from Perth to Exmouth contains great sights
Taking in the Pinnacles, Shark Bay, Monkey Mia, Kalbarri National Park and the Ningaloo Reef, a coastal trip in Western Australia has a lot to offer.
The east and west coast of Australia couldn’t really be any more different. Well, OK, the sea on the west coast could be made of custard, but apart from that, the differences are staggering.
The east coast is rapidly turning into a big, sprawling development, and it has widely advertised tourist attractions seemingly every couple of miles.
On the west, it’s a completely different story. You can drive for miles and miles and miles without a flashy neon light blinding you, and every mildly pretty piece of grass is not billed as an absolute must-see tourist attraction. Subsequently, there are far fewer tourists out this way.
And that, my friends, is very much their problem, and not yours. The west coast has some stunning spots to visit, and because they’re not invaded as much by camera-wielding tour groups, you can enjoy them a hell of a lot more.
The first major spot north of Perth is Lancelin, which is to windsurfers what Texas is to chubby-chasers. If yanking up a great sail isn’t for you, then there are the sand dunes, which are a bit of a four wheel drive playground. You can go quad biking over them, sandboarding down them, or hop into a ridiculously-oversized monster truck which will take you bombing down great big drops.
Slightly further up the road (in West Australian terms anyway – it’s still a fair old drive), is the Nambung National Park. This is home to the Pinnacles, a massive collection of rocks just peeking out of the ground. The whole place is like an alien planet, with the red dirt floor, and hills full of these weird-shaped objects, some of which look like rabbits, turtles, and for the smutty amongst you, pork swords.
Right, now you’ve taken your piccies of rocks, it’s time to get back in the car and drive again. Woo-hoo! The next major stop is the Kalbarri National Park, which is crammed full of winding rivers, stunning gorges, excellent bushwalks, and opportunities to go abseiling down steep rock faces. Oh yeah, and flies as well, but if you’re scared of a little fly or two, you’re really not going to go far on this great adventure you set out on.
After that, it’s the Shark Bay World Heritage Area, which is notable for two major things. The first of them is the stromatolites in Hamelin Pools. These are the oldest example of life on this planet which is still living today. They are over three billion years older – yes, even older than the surviving members of the Dad’s Army cast – and whilst they’re not exactly playful beasts, without them, we wouldn’t be on this planet. I’ll spare you the science, but they put oxygen into the atmosphere and help us breathe.
If more exciting animals are your thing, then Monkey Mia, also in Shark Bay, is an obligatory stop off. Every morning here, dolphins swim up to the beach to be hand fed by volunteers, little Japanese school kids and, if you’re very lucky, you. If that’s not enough for you, you can go out on a cruise while the dolphins swim around your boat, and dugongs (big sea cows) play about in the sea. One word of warning, however – this area is called Shark Bay for a reason, so don’t get any ideas about leaping in to join them.
After yet more driving, you’ll arrive at the Ningaloo Reef. Quite frankly, it’s just as good as the Great Barrier Reef, but far less crowded, so dive, snorkel and gape in wonderment to your heart’s content. The main town around these parts is Exmouth – an ideal spot to book snorkelling and diving trips.
