01/11 – 31/12/2024
We had skipped visits to the southern national parks of Western Australia at the beginning due to the time of year and the corresponding weather. The slow approach of summer was therefore the best opportunity to make up for this.
But first we had to cross the Nullarbor Plain, the world’s largest arid limestone karst plain.
White Wells Cave
Great Australian Bight
Clay Dam Cave
We were stranded at Mundrabilla Roadhouse! In the morning, just as we were about to set off, the Eyre Highway, the main route here on the south coast, was completely closed in our direction. And as there is no alternative route on this 1200 kilometre stretch, we had no choice but to wait and see. When the road was reopened in the afternoon, however, it no longer made sense for us to continue our journey and so we enjoyed the rest of the day in a cosy atmosphere and chatting with new friends.
On the following day, another infrastructural speciality awaited us, the ‘90 mile straight stretch’. At 146.6 kilometres, it is the longest straight road in Australia.
Next stop, Le Grand National Park. However, this nature reserve is not only characterised by white sandy beaches surrounded by rocky bays and turquoise-coloured water, but also by the granite hills directly behind it. You can even climb one of them, and of course we didn’t want to miss out. The sometimes extremely steep climb up the 262 metre high Frenchman Peak was rewarded with a 360 degree panoramic view.
In the following park, the Fitzgerald River National Park, we visited the eastern and western sections, which have been developed for tourism. We climbed East Mount Barren and West Mount Barren, roamed 6 kilometres through the surrounding bushland and looked at various coastal shapes.
Mountain ranges now ‘suddenly’ rose up in front of us in the middle of a rather flat expanse. They belong to the Stirling Range National Park and the Porongurup National Park and we climbed four of these peaks over the next few days.
In Albany we visited the ‘Brig Amity’, a full-size replica of the sailing ship whose 45-strong crew officially founded the first British settlement in Western Australia on Christmas Day 1826.
As we travelled further along the coast, we visited the small highlights of the many national parks.
In the ‘Ancient Empire’ we walked through a forest full of hundreds of years old Red Tingle Trees, a species of Eucalyptus tree endemic to South Western Australia.
Now we headed up to the treeless granite summit of Mount Frankland, in the national park of the same name.
We have now arrived back in Perth and are enjoying the summer (sometimes up to 43 degrees) around Christmas and the turning of the year.
We hope you had a great Christmas and we wish you a Happy New Year.
