Log entry #26: On the road in Western Australia

Exmouth and the area around that "town"

As I left Germany I had in mind to travel from Perth to Broome by car. I thought I will rent a car for 14 to 20 days and just drive the 2600 kilometer north. Yes the west coast is less populated than the east coast, and yes there might be a daytour, where I am just on the road. In Perth I had enough time to plan my trip up to Broome, and I came up with a detailled route and I had already fixed places, where I want to stay over night. And because of the west coast offers plenty of great things to see and do, it wouldn't be hard to fill the days. So my last struggel was to get from A to B. I went to Hertz, Avis, Budget and all the other companies. They all told me the same. No car under 4500 dollar. And that rate was excluding fuel. That doesn't fit my tight budget.

I struggeld. Because I basically came to Australia to have a classic roadtrip. So I don't wanna miss that expirience. Instead of travelling by car I could take the bus and spend about 3 days on the road. No that is not what I wanted to do. I won't be able to explore the coast. On the other hand I could directly fly to Broome and miss the whole coast at all. At least I would win some days in Broome and Perth. But I wasn't satified with that solution either. In the end I decisided to fly half way to Exmouth and after a 7 day stay there I will take the bus up north to Broome. I rented a car straight from the airport for 7 days and this turned out to be the best thing I could do. Even though I was lucky enough and got an upgrade to a hotel room, the hostel was that cosy. And at that time of the year it was pretty calm. No tourists at all. With the car my mini road trip was possible. I explore the beautiful Camp Range National Park and all the other landscapes around Exmouth. I saw the most amazing and perfect bay in my live. Not just that it was a beautiful bay, even better there was no other human being. For about an hour I had that piece of landscape totally for my own. And you know why? Because I took my time and stay there, even Sandy Bay isn't the most popular place in Camp Range National Park. Furthermore I drove a road into the mountains and I really was lucky that my small car made it to the top. If you stay with this blog, you will see pictures of the car, that's a promise. Anyways, as I came home this evening and reflected the day, a question came to my mind: Would I ever have discovered that bay, if I followed my original plan? I don't know for sure, but on the way to Broome are more popular National Parks. A visit in Camp Range woulnd't be pretty likely. Whatever. I have no regrets about the way I did it. I even am happy that it went this way, if you see the photos, you know why :) And that's it for today. Check out the unique landscape of the area around Exmouth, WA. And you can be eager about some selfies and animal photos in the next blog.