Campgrounds on this Tour

Rating: 1 = great ...... 6 = poor

• Southern Cross Caravan Park Southern Cross - 2
  Nice and tidy place, very friendly wardens. campfire near ablution blocks in the evenings. Barbecues AUD 1,-- (AUD 18,--)

• Prospector Holiday Park, Kalgoorlie - 2
  Big park with lots of residents, has a small shop at the reception (AUD 20,--)

• Esperance Seafront Holidaypark - 2
  place with a very nice view to the sea. a long sandy beach is only 50 meters away. Ablutions blocks older but clean and tidy. (AUD 20,--)

• Cape Le Grand Lucky Bay Campground - 3
  Nationalpark Campground with less comfort but in a very nice location above the fabulous Lucky Bay. Showers and toilets available. (AUD 15,--) (AUD 15,--)

• Middleton Beach Holiday Park, Albany - 1
  Very nice and tidy site with very clean restrooms. Located directly at the sandy beach of Middleton Beach, about 3 km outside of town centre (AUD 21,--)

• Turner Caravanpark, Augusta - 4
  Not a nice place with old restrooms, untidy and cold. Located at the end of Augusta towards Cape Leuwin, at the riverfront.

• Mandalay Beach Resort, Busselton - 1+
  The most clean and tidy caravan park we stayed so far in Australia Quite big, appartements available. Large Shop. About 150 meters from the beach. (AUD 22,--)

• Woodmanpoint Holidaypark, Fremantle - 2
  Very nice and tidy place. bus stop to the city right in front of the park. Beach is a 10 minutes walk away. (AUD 19,--)

• Pinnacles Caravanpark, Cervantes - 5
  Not nice, untidy, big and old restrooms. Very unfriendly personel. Occupied mainly by resident campers with boats. (AUD 20,--)

Sehenswürdigkeiten auf dieser Tour

Southwest Australia

Perth - Fremantle:

Perth, the major city of Western Australia is not comparable with Sydney or Melbourne. Watches are moving slower here, you won't find the rush of other big citys. Perth is located at the banks of the swan river which looks more like a lake here and which divides Perth into a North and a South part. The city center with it's shopping mall, the night district of Northbridge and the Kingspark are located in the northern city part.

The following sights we liked most:

• The Kingspark: Absolutely a highlight of Perth, as it provides a breathtaking view of the cities skyline and the swan river. You can reach it by bus (free inside city centre) or by a nice walk.

• Swan River South shore: Again a nice place to look at the skyline which reslects itself on the river. Ferries leave every 20 minutes from barrack street jetty. On the south bank a nive walking trail runs along the river. Especially at sunset, when the lights are turned on this is a wonderful place to be.

• The city centre: Small and nice. It has a nice walking district with all the shops around you may be looking for.

• Northbridge: Ashort walk (you can take the car as well) over the horseshoe bridge brings you to the northbridge district which is most interesting in the evenings. There are many bars, restaurants, Pubs, dancing clubs and night clubs around. Our personal favorite is the Brass Monkey Hotel, a true australian pub with a nice atmosphere. It has several rooms and a nice garden to sit and drink your beer.

Fremantle, the harbour city of perth you should not miss as well. There is mediterranen flair around on the Capuccino strip where many cafes and restaurants serve you outside. The waterfront with it's seafood restaurants is quite nice as well. Best way from Perth to Fremantle are the ferries which bring you from Barrack Streeet Jetty to Fremantle in less than an hour. Much quicker and cheaper but not so nice is taking the train from central station. We took the boat for the trip to Freo and the train back to the city.

The airport of perth is a bit north of the city centre (about 8 kms). Most car hiring acompanies and motohome rentals have their office near the airport.

Goldfields:

The town of kalgoorlie and the land around it, is called the "Goldfields".

Gold was and is still produced there. The most impressive example therefore is the huge Superpit mine, just a few minutes out of Kalgoorlie. Even people not interested in technics should put a view on this spectacular hole and its huge technical equipment. The lookout point into the mine is loacated about 4 kms south of the Kalgoorlie town centre.

Kalgoorlie-Boulder, a twin city, is worth a visit with its historical buildings and its wide main street where many nice, traditional, australian pubs are located. As we heard, it is as well recommendable to visit the tourist mine. which is loacated at the end of the main street, but we did not visit it ourselves.

Esperance - Cape Le Grand:

Esperance is a nice coast town, where lots of (western) Australians spend their holidays. So everything atourist needs is around. There is a beautiful, stretching sandy beach and the vie to the coastal islands is simply a dream.

A short drive to the east (approx. 30 kms) there is the Cape le Grand Nationalpark, famous for its wonderfull bays and granite rocks. The chance to see emus and kangaroos there is quite high. Especially nice is the Lucky Bay with its turquoise coloured water and its fine sand, which I heared is even named in the Guiness book of records, for its fine grain. Quite above the beach there is a nice campground. There are many hiking trails in the park along the beaches and although a famous one is the one that brings you to the top of frenchman peak.

Albany:

The town of Albany is the oldest settlement in the southwestern part of Australia. It is located at the shores of the calm Princess Royal Harbour. During the whale season hundrets of whales come here to give birth to their calfs.

A highlight for coast fans is the wild coast of Torndirrup Nationalpark with its famous rock formations called "The Gap" and "Natural Bridge".

But be careful, this coast is as well famous for its freak waves. They built up far out in the sea and reach up to 15 meters. Every year people lose their life because one of this waves takes them out into the sea from top of the cliffs. So if you see warnings, take them serious, because those waves can appear even on nice days with calm sea.

Cape Leeuwin and Cape Naturaliste:

The capes, the souther Cape leeuwin and the northern Cape Naturaliste, in the southwest of Australia bear beautiful land- and seascapes. Like everywhere, where different oceans meet each other, there may be strong winds here and a heavy surf.

There is a trail, called Cape to Cape trail, which connects the two capes on a 135 kms long walking track.

Quite near to the Capes, there is the wine region around Margret Reiver where many wineries invite you for tasting and buying the wonderful wines.

Nambung NP - Pinnacles:

Another Highlight of the southwest is the Pinnacle Dessert in the Nambung Nationalpark near Cervantes. On a relatively small area you will find thousands of these stone pillars standing in the ochre-yellow sand like gravestones. You can drive a gravelroad circle through the area, but better you walk around, as it is much more impressive than driving.

Cervantes is located at the coast and has a long sandy beach which is most used by fishing men to lower their boats into the sea.

All about driving in Australia

Vehicle and Driving:

Generally there is the possibility to use a motorhome or to hire a car and stay in Hotels/Motels. If you decide the one or the other should be driven by your intentions, because there is no price difference. One likes Camping/Motohome one doesn't.

Advantages of Motorhome/Camper against car/Hotel-Motel:

• You do not have to pack your bags every day

• lots of nice campgrounds located at beautyful spot

Disadvantages:

• slightly more expensive

• slower travelspeed

• probably parking problems when using larger motorhomes (not really a problem in Australia)

• restrooms and showers are not allways (but most times) clean and tidy

Tip for selecting a Campervan or Motorhome:

• The selection of a type depends mainly on the following preferences. own expectations regarding space, expected Weather, daily amount of driven km's.

• The smaller the vehicle is, the fast you get on with it. The Hightop Camper for example is nearly as fast as a normal car.

• Larger Motorhomes, espacially with Diesel engines and cabover beds are slower. The Maui Spirit 4 which we had in 2000 for example did not drive much faster than 110 km/h.

• The expected weathe is important, because the more time you have to spend inside the vehicle the bigger it should be. If you are travelling in a region, where it should be warm and dry, so you can sit outside most of the time, a small Hightop Camper can be big enough.

Driving in Australia:

• Driving in Australia is not a problem at all

• You get used to driving on left side very soon and outside of the big cities there isn' much traffic.

• A really important advice is to not drive at night, as there are many animals like Kangaroos, Koalas, snakes and lizards on the streets.

Photography:

• Especially around noon (10 AM to 2 PM), I allways used a Pola filter, to get higher color saturation.

• For sunset and sunrise I often used a Cokin greyscale filter to lower the contrast.

• Films are availabel in AUS but more expensive than in Germany. Slidefilms are hard to get.

• Who wants to do snorkeling or diving, should bring an underwater Singleuse Camera with him. I had to pay 35 AUS$ for a camera which would have cost about 10 € in Germany

Dining and Shopping:

• All common Fastfood restaurants are available in Australia. We have only tasted Mc D's once. Tasted the same as everywhere in the world.

• In Sydney the variety of restaurants is very big. Especially nice ones are located in "The Rocks", but they are more high priced.

• In Melbourne there is a street in towncentre where many Greek and italian restaurants are.

• I can recommend the selfservice restaurants of "Tims Surf and Turf" which are availabe in some Cities on the eastcoast. The seafood platter for one normally lasts for two persons, is very cheap and tastes fantastic.

• The price level for shopping is generally the same as for example in Germany. But there is allways somewhere SALE where you could make a bargain.

• Digeridoos can be bought nearly everywhere. Who doesn't want to get one "Made in Indonesia" better goes to an Aboriginal Shop or a specialist shop. Genuine Digeridoos made by Aborigines cost from 120 AUS$. We found a very good selection in Kuranda.

• You should at least once try out the typical australian BYO Bring your own, where you can bring your own bottle of wine to the restaurant.

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I appreciate any feedback and additional information.

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