Perth is the worlds most remote capital city - it's nearest neighbor is Adelaide (the capital of South Australia) is 2500km away. With a population of around 1.8 million people there are plenty of things provided for in town, but also within a short drive in most directions you can find even more to do. For this reason it is best that you get a car when visiting, in fact it is better to get a campervan or motorhome, this way you can drift from place to place as you see fit and spend the night wherever you want.
Heading south of Perth will bring you to the wonderful wine region of Margaret River. It's world renowned for the quality of the wines it makes but it will also delightfully surprise you with its fresh and diverse foods, coffee, chocolates and other boutique nibbles that you can find in the region. In addition to this you will find amazing surf and stunning beaches. There is even one beach where stingrays regularly sweep up and down the shoreline looking for leftover morsels from the morning fisherman. They come so close to the shore that you can stand in the water knee deep and wait to see if they will glide up against your legs like a cat waiting to be fed. If you are looking for a place to park a campervan overnight, there is a great little sheep farm that you can stay at that has a friendly communal kitchen and camp fire to share travel stories with fellow travellers. This place, along with all good camp sites, can be found in an iPhone app called Campee. Its free.
Only a couple of hours north of Perth is the well known sandstone stalagmite national park of The Pinnacles. Following the coast road, the Pinnacles are in close proximity to the town of Cervantes which is a great place to stay overnight. However, something to look out for on the way there, is the the township of Lancelin. This town in the home of dune surfing in Western Australia and sand 4WDriving. It is a great place to stop for a few hours and really tear up some energy. There are few shops in town that rent sand surfing boards on the cheap, it's best to only get one for a few hours as sand surfing can really burn energy. If you've got a 4WD you can drive right up to whicever dune you choose to surf, but if you've got a 2WD, it's probably best to park on the road outside and walk in. If you've got the 4WD it is also a great place to really let loose with it and really tear it up on the sand. Most of the area the sand is pretty solid so unless you are really doing crazy things you are unlikely to bogged. The sand boards are pretty much the same as snowboards and are pretty easy to master, but if you've never boarded before, you will find it even more fun as you innevitably find yourself tumbling down a sand dune rather than surfing it. Anyway, after you finished and are covered in sand it is only a short trip to the beach to wash it all off and continue on to Cervantes.
There are tons of things to try in Perth itself and Tourism Western Australia has recently produced a brand new promotional video clip featuring some of the stuff you can get up to there. There is a also a cool listing of things to do on Trip Advisor called "77 things to do in Perth" - as you might be able to guess, it lists, um, 77 things to do in Perth.
Perth and Western Australia are a beautiful and amazing part of Australia. It truly is massive and divergent in every manner so the ultimate way to see it is with a rented campervan or motorhome which allows you to determine your own schedule, stay where you wish, get up when you want and get going when you wish.
Heading south of Perth will bring you to the wonderful wine region of Margaret River. It's world renowned for the quality of the wines it makes but it will also delightfully surprise you with its fresh and diverse foods, coffee, chocolates and other boutique nibbles that you can find in the region. In addition to this you will find amazing surf and stunning beaches. There is even one beach where stingrays regularly sweep up and down the shoreline looking for leftover morsels from the morning fisherman. They come so close to the shore that you can stand in the water knee deep and wait to see if they will glide up against your legs like a cat waiting to be fed. If you are looking for a place to park a campervan overnight, there is a great little sheep farm that you can stay at that has a friendly communal kitchen and camp fire to share travel stories with fellow travellers. This place, along with all good camp sites, can be found in an iPhone app called Campee. Its free.
Only a couple of hours north of Perth is the well known sandstone stalagmite national park of The Pinnacles. Following the coast road, the Pinnacles are in close proximity to the town of Cervantes which is a great place to stay overnight. However, something to look out for on the way there, is the the township of Lancelin. This town in the home of dune surfing in Western Australia and sand 4WDriving. It is a great place to stop for a few hours and really tear up some energy. There are few shops in town that rent sand surfing boards on the cheap, it's best to only get one for a few hours as sand surfing can really burn energy. If you've got a 4WD you can drive right up to whicever dune you choose to surf, but if you've got a 2WD, it's probably best to park on the road outside and walk in. If you've got the 4WD it is also a great place to really let loose with it and really tear it up on the sand. Most of the area the sand is pretty solid so unless you are really doing crazy things you are unlikely to bogged. The sand boards are pretty much the same as snowboards and are pretty easy to master, but if you've never boarded before, you will find it even more fun as you innevitably find yourself tumbling down a sand dune rather than surfing it. Anyway, after you finished and are covered in sand it is only a short trip to the beach to wash it all off and continue on to Cervantes.
There are tons of things to try in Perth itself and Tourism Western Australia has recently produced a brand new promotional video clip featuring some of the stuff you can get up to there. There is a also a cool listing of things to do on Trip Advisor called "77 things to do in Perth" - as you might be able to guess, it lists, um, 77 things to do in Perth.
Perth and Western Australia are a beautiful and amazing part of Australia. It truly is massive and divergent in every manner so the ultimate way to see it is with a rented campervan or motorhome which allows you to determine your own schedule, stay where you wish, get up when you want and get going when you wish.
About the Author:
Tim Ahern has over 5 years of traveling the world under his belt with over a year spent in a 4 wheel drive motorhome around Australia. It is no wonder that motorhome hire in Australia is his preferred method of transportation for check outors. If you are looking for motorhome hire in Perth you should check out his motorhome review site to find out who the best companies are.