Home Again ..... But For How Long?

What an adventure. 

We were away for 183 days, or two days short of 6 months. 

We travelled 25,636 kms across four states, doing two of the states twice.

We started planning way back in 2017 for 2018, but was delayed by the birth of beautiful granddaughter number 4, so we went on a central Australia trip mid year instead. 2019 was our planned Tasmania trip, and we all know what happened in 2020! No one went anywhere, and we had  four cruises cancelled!

We are lucky to live in Queensland, with the border closures to keep Queenslanders safe from the pandemic in the southern states. We were free to travel Australia from May 2020 - and we did, well we did a few Queensland trips while we waited to see what was happening in the rest of Australia. Life was pretty much normal.

Feeling it was safe to travel further afield, we decided to leave in March. Best decision ever, before the tourist season!

So what we found:- 

(briefly, with more details in the individual blogs)

Border Passes: we had no trouble getting border passes for any of the state borders we crossed. All came with in 15 minutes of us applying. NT, WA, SA, NT again, QLD. No problems what so ever.

Roads:- the WA roads are pretty good, although we had one windscreen cracked and replaced, and four chips in the windscreen, which we replaced once  we were home. All on good sealed roads. Although the roads were good, they were often narrow, hence the loose stones that flew up in our direction. We also had two flat tyres that Peter repaired.

 

Caravan Parks: most caravan parks in WA are expensive and very cramped. We did find a couple that were reasonable at $30-$35 a night, and at some places we needed to stay at a caravan park either for location or security for the van while doing day trips. The most we paid in a caravan park in WA was $65 a night for 3 of us - $50 for 2 and $15 per extra person.

 

National Parks Pass: we knew what National Parks we wanted to go to and thought it would be better to get a pass. For us, that was the wrong choice. If you enjoy hiking and long hours walking through the bush, it might be worth the money, but we don't do long walks. Some of the parks we wanted to visit were free, and we didn't realise that as the information on the website didn't list 'free' parks as it does now. We only found this out once we purchased the park pass and received a booklet. For us, we would have been better off paying as we go, although we probably would not have camped in the National Parks due to the high cost of camping without the pass - not a big problem as there were low cost or free camping nearby. We got a seniors annual pass $75 plus $10 processing, a total of $85. Entry to some parks is $15 per car or $8 concession. 

National Park Camping: we stayed at a few National Parks and they were great. Toilets, more space than a caravan park, and the nature - not to mention the peace and quiet. Cost wise it was ok, but I struggle to see how a family of four (2A 2C) would stay at a cost of $60 the first night park entry and overnight fees, and $45 per night after - no water or power. A caravan park would be better.

Free Camps:- We found some lovely free camps along the main highway north of Perth up to the Kimberley's, many provided by the WA main roads. The only issue was the long distance one needs to travel between some of the free camps.

 

Low Cost Camps:- there were a few, but not as many as on the East Coast. We were surprised that not many showgrounds provided camping facilities. Fees ranged from a donation to a set $15 per night. Some provided water, and some provided water, power, and amenities. Some were in perfect locations.

Water and fuel:- we were mindful of the locations, some far afield, and we never ran out of water or fuel. Water - We did have to pay for some water, and we did boil the water for filling up our water bottles. We did end up buying some bottled water towards the end of the trip, the first time we have ever done this, as we were just over the boiled water taste. Fuel - fuel prices varied a great deal, from the usual 135c to 199c depending where we were. It was expensive crossing the Nullarbor, but most other places we were able to use the fuel app to work out the best and cheapest place to get fuel. We did have to drive great distances in some places between fuel stops, and we did keep topping up when we found cheaper fuel. We spent $6,893 in fuel, our biggest expense.

Experiences:- Western Australia being so far away we don't know when we will be back so we chose experiences that were special, once in a lifetime experience. Yes, they were expensive and we are glad we did them, but probably won't do them again because of the coast. The best experience for us was the Kimberley Air Tours and our flight over Lake Argyle.

Bits and Pieces:- 

- such beautiful beaches along the coast;

- beautiful and different scenery in the Kimberleys and the Pillbara;

- discovered Dome cafes sadly late in the WA part of our trip;

- so much WW2 history we never knew about;

- some many unique places, both natural and man made;

- National Parks expensive;

- Kalbarri National Park was our favourite park;

- many museums free;

- learnt a lot about the mining industry;   

- didn't find a lot of good fish and chips shops until way down south of the state (and $35 for one piece of fish and some chips at Kalbarri was never going to be purchased!).

Now to plan our next adventure.