Our WA adventure spanned forests, coastlines, and the desert outback. From petting koalas and getting the perfect quokka selfie on Rottnest Island to climbing the Valley of the Giants, watching waves crash at The Gap, and visiting the lunar Pinnacles Desert. Plus, finding the famed Wave Rock!
Our Western Australia road trip began on February 8, 2020, when we flew from Singapore to Perth just before midnight. I’d heard rumours about Australia’s fierce customs rules — no food, no nonsense — but the officer waved us through with a laugh. Outside, we waited half an hour for our hotel shuttle in the cool night air, already feeling how wide open and quiet Western Australia can be.
This part of Australia had always been a mystery to us. Nicola had explored the east coast years ago, but Western Australia — with its rugged coastline, outback landscapes, and easy-going locals — called to us in a different way. We had friends to visit in Fremantle and Busselton, and a loose plan to explore forests, beaches, and small towns all the way down to Albany. No schedule, just a car, a map, and time — the best ingredients for a proper Western Australia road trip.
Why Western Australia
Nicola had explored other parts of Australia before, but Western Australia was new for both of us. We also had people to see: Rona and Colin, long-time family friends now in Fremantle, and Jen and Peter (Frostie), who we’d met on an earlier cruise and who live on a farm near Busselton.
Built-in local guides and couches to collapse on—perfect.
Fremantle – A Warm Welcome to Western Australia
We bussed and trained our way from the airport to Fremantle, sharing a carriage with very merry festival-goers. Rona and Colin scooped us up, dropped us at the weekend market, and we eased into “Freo” life with a beer, some live music, a new sign for my gazebo, and a sensibly priced SIM card. Their home felt like a hug—sun-warmed pool, outdoor shower, and home-cooked meals. After eleven months on the road, that kind of welcome lands deep.
If you’re planning a Western Australia road trip, Fremantle is a perfect soft landing: easy transit into Perth, great markets, and that salty port-town energy that makes you want to linger.
King’s Park Exhale
We picked up a rental car and celebrated the unexpected upgrade to a roomy VW. In Perth, we wandered King’s Park and Botanic Garden, spread a towel on the grass, and dozed under a big sky. Ten kilometres of walking trails later, we’d earned the nap.
Caversham Wildlife Park
Caversham was our crash course in Aussie fauna: kangaroos, wallabies, koalas, wombats, owls, dingoes, echidnas—the works. We watched the farm show, I cracked a stock whip (badly), and we queued to softly pet a koala with the back of our hands.
Feeding kangaroos was a delightful free-for-all. Australia, in fur form.
Rottnest and the Quest for a Quokka Selfie
We grabbed a ferry out of Fremantle and spent a day on Rottnest Island, home of the photogenic quokka. The trick is getting on the ground, lining up the lens, and hoping your furry co-star looks your way. It’s sillier than it sounds and twice as joyful.
Busselton & Farm Life in Western Australia
We drove south to Busselton to stay with Jen and Frostie on their farm. At dusk, the paddocks filled with red kangaroos. Unlike the park roos, these ones bolted if you blinked. Every evening, a mother and joey would slip in for a careful drink from the well—magic in work boots.
The next morning we walked the Busselton Jetty, nearly two kilometres of timber reaching into Geographe Bay. Kids launched themselves into the water like it was summer’s full-time job. If you’re mapping out things to do in Busselton on a WA itinerary, the jetty stroll at sunrise or sunset is hard to beat.
Road Trip to Margaret River: Forests, Cliffs & Wine Country
Our hosts mapped out a perfect loop through the Margaret River region: towering karri forests, the roar of the Indian Ocean, a lighthouse standing watch at the continent’s southwest corner, and a picnic under trees older than memory.
I treated myself to a wide-brim hat I’ll probably only wear for yard work back home, but it felt right there and then.
Busselton Jetty
We walked the long timber arm of Busselton Jetty, almost two kilometres into the sea. Kids launched themselves into the water like it was summer’s full-time job. A man surfaced with a bleeding head—apparently his camera had smacked him on the way down—a reminder that gravity always wins.
Emu Plums and Passionfruit
One morning, we picked emu plums with the family and their grandkids, gathering fruit that’s used to revegetate mined land and to propagate new plants. Six kilos later, we were sticky, tired, and weirdly proud.
Nicola plucked passionfruit off a vine like treasure.
Albany and the Edge of the Continent
We based ourselves in Albany and bought a five-day park pass. Torndirrup National Park put on a show: the Natural Bridge arcing over churning water, the Gap funnelling waves into a thunderous slot, blowholes whispering beneath our feet, and beaches white as bone.
Beauty and force, braided tight.
Wind and Giants
At the Albany Wind Farm, the turbines thrummed like giant metronomes—impressive, if not exactly peaceful. West of town, the Valley of the Giants Tree Top Walk suspended us forty meters up in the tingle canopy.
Back on the ground, we threaded through trunks you can literally walk inside. Humbling scale everywhere.
Detour to Denmark and a Squeaky Beach
We checked out the town of Denmark and then found a near-empty stretch of coast at West Cape Howe. The sand squeaked underfoot; the water was cold and rough, all muscle and glitter. I waded in, then let the wind dry me to salt.
Wave Rock Road Trip – Granite Wonder in the Outback
Far inland near Hyden, Wave Rock curls out of granite like a frozen breaker. We walked the rim, ducked into Mulka’s Cave to see hand stencils, and posed at Hippo’s Yawn. The flies were relentless—we saw bug-net hats for sale earlier and, reader, we should have bought them.
As a day trip add-on to a broader Western Australia itinerary, Wave Rock delivers that classic outback feel: big skies, scrubby horizons, and a geological headline act that lives up to the photos.
Back North: Mullaloo, Pinnacles, Yanchep
We spent a couple of nights in Mullaloo for a day trip to the Pinnacles. The desert there looks lunar—thousands of limestone spires rising from yellow sand. Kangaroos bounded in the heat shimmer; an emu ghosted the shrubs while Nicola chased it with her camera, swatting flies between shots.
On the return, we stopped at Yanchep National Park. Grey kangaroos grazed like lawn ornaments with opinions, and a koala boardwalk looped past sleepy eucalyptus dwellers who could not be less impressed with us.
Freo Again and Blunnies for the Fam
We circled back to Rona and Colin’s for one more swim, one more feast, and one more load of laundry. On a mission for gifts, we hunted down properly priced Blundstones. Mission accomplished; baggage now overweight by the size of two shoeboxes.
Sydney Snapshots
We flew east to Sydney, checked into a Surry Hills share house, and befriended Cam from Brisbane in the kitchen. Over four days, we walked the Royal Botanic Garden to the Opera House, admired the Harbour Bridge from every angle, baulked at the Bridge Climb price, and took a free walking tour through QVB, Hyde Park, hidden bars, and half-buried stories.
Ferries, Watson’s Bay, and Bondi
Sydney makes transit easy: tap a card and ride until the daily cap. We ferry-hopped to Watson’s Bay for cliff walks and fish and chips, then bussed to Bondi to watch surfers stitch lines into the swell. It felt like we’d stepped into a postcard and tracked sand across it.
Brisbane, Twice
On embarkation day for our long cruise home, COVID-19 had just started tugging at itineraries. We lost Vanuatu and gained an extra day in Brisbane. The ship docked at an industrial port far from the CBD, so we rode the shuttle and wandered through gardens and riverside paths.
On day two, we stayed aboard, hunched over phones, researching ports we’d never reach. A sign of the weeks to come.
Gratitude and Goodbyes
Western Australia gave us wide skies, big-hearted hosts, and landscapes that swing from ocean-smashed granite to cathedral forests to desert moonscapes. Rona and Colin, Jen and Frostie—your kindness changed our trip from itinerary to memory. We’ll be back.
Reflection
Looking back, WA felt like a masterclass in scale and generosity. We kept meeting the country in versions of “big”—big distances, big trees, big surf, big skies—and alongside that, the soft counterpoint of small daily graces: an outdoor shower after a long drive, a picnic in the shade, a borrowed washing machine, a koala’s slow blink.
Travel can be a chase for the headline moments, but here it was the ordinary stitched between the spectacular that made it whole. If the road has taught us anything, it’s that the places we love most are the ones where people open a door, pour a cup, and say, “Stay awhile.” Australia did that—and we listened.
