This trip was the fourth visit to Australia for us and the first for our son, we spend ten weeks on a tour through the South of Western Australia. Starting from Perth we went slowly up the coast via Francois-Peron-National Park till Carnarvon to see the former NASA station. From there we headed inland for the Outback: Kennedy Range and Mount Augustus. After some days at an Outback Station – 4000km², 10.000 cattle and very hospitable company – we went back to the coast for some fishing, star gazing and turtle observation in the Cape Range National Park. From there we turned again eastward to the mining towns of Tom Price and Newman. In the Karijini NP we spend only one night as the temperatures were already unbearable 47°C in the shade and we drove south for more moderate climate. We visited the gold mine at Kalgoorlie an reached our most eastern point at the Thomas River Camp in the Cape Arid National Park. There we had some very memorable days at the incredible long and empty beaches with excellent fishing. After some more fishing at Fitzgerald NP and Bremer Bay we did some hiking on the Stirling Range and spend Christmas in an Old Inn in the Porongurup NP. Now we turned to the forest area around Walpole und Warren NP. A 4WD track brought us back to the coast at the Black Point Camp in D'Entrecasteaux National Park for some pretty good Salmon fishing. After two nights in Nannup we reached the last point of the tour, Leeuwin Naturaliste NP for caving and some more beach life. Concluding our trip in Perth we had driven 8926km in 70 days.
The route, clockwise starting from Perth – if you look at the complete map of Australia, nearly 9000km covers not even a quarter of the continent.
