West Australia Campervan Road Trip from Perth to Albany
This trip happened only because I came across a promotional ticket on Scoot via trip.com and it was only $300+ from Singapore to Perth, such a steal! It wasn’t entirely planned but since the ticket prices dipped, I decided to jump on it!
Doing my many firsts with my daughter and this time around, it's campervan-ing in West Australia! Honestly, we barely scraped through the best of WA as my destination was Albany in 6 days so this itinerary has quite some drive and pretty rushed. Something I'd change for my future adventure and that means either a longer trip or lesser destinations. It was also winter so the sun sets at 5.30pm with last light at about 6.30pm. We have to reach our accommodation by then and although that means lesser destinations to see, I thoroughly enjoyed the long nights in the campervan with my daughter as we spent a lot of time bonding over cooking and cleaning, showering and warming up in bed for card games and bed time.
Tips for first timers:
Choose a powered site so you can turn on the heater/aircon at night, get to charge your electronics, use the microwave and hairdryer!
If you're a city dweller, I'd recommend looking out for Big 4 in Australia as their holiday parks are very organised and well maintained. All the Big 4 parks we visited had WiFi and others didn’t - something I enjoyed too.
Remember to get your partner to spot you as you reverse park.
Rent from a company with 24/7 support and we did so with Apollo Campervan. You don’t want to risk not getting help if your vehicle gets wonky if you rent from a community based camper van rental website
Download maps and save locations offline. 90% of Australia has no mobile coverage and if you get lost, follow directions to the next town to look for mobile signal to re route.
Our arrival into Perth was about 8.30pm so there's hardly anything to do on the first day. We checked into Vetroblu Airport Apartments due to its proximity to Apollo Campervan Office (5 minute walk) and its complimentary airport pick up service. If you use agoda or booking.com theres a small fee of $5 per pax which is also very reasonable considering the expensive cab fares in Australia.
Campervan Pickup, Freo Farmers Market @ Fremantle, Good Things Fremantle, Big 4 Busselton
The office opens at 9am and I'd recommend you reach at that time or earlier just so you won't be in the queue. We spent about 1.5hrs including a 30 minute wait for a consultant to attend to us for administrative work and introduction of the campervan. We drove the campervan back to Vetroblu Airport Apartments, loaded up and drove to Freo Farmers Market, about 25 minutes away. Unfortunately, we didn't get much of the market as it was almost closing time but it has plenty of food stalls and a big lawn for kids and pets alike to run around. Spread your mat on Sunday mornings! We went on have brunch at Good Things Fremantle and Coles to get all the food and water supplies for the week which totalled about AUD 360. They include some microwaveable food, soup, marinated meats, pasta/sauce for lunches and dinners. Eggs, sausages and juice for breakfasts. Nuts and muesli bars, yoghurt packs and lots of fruits to snack on the way.
Our drive to Big 4 Busselton, where we'd spend our first night took us 2.5 hrs, arriving about 6pm for dinner and rest. We were lucky to get a parking spot right in front of the bathrooms and that made visits to the toilet very convenient. Although I chose to shower in the campervan, we have never once take a dump or pee in the campervan toilet as we do not want to clear our dumps nor risk a stench.
Dinner was a whole chicken from the rotisserie in the supermarket and Dari's soup - my go to soup in Australia.
Big 4 Busselton - AU$42 a night for powered site
Augusta Whale Watch, Rare Foods, Abalone, Cape Leeuwin, Hamelin Bay Beach and Campsite
Whale watching is a must when visiting WA and there are tours departing from Augusta from May to August, Busselton and Dunsborough from September to December. Tickets will have to be purchased prior to the tour and I got mine from Klook as it offers free cancellation up till 24 hours before the tour and there are loyalty discounts of up to 5%. I booked the morning slot so my time for the afternoon is flexible and that also means I didn’t have the luxury of time to enjoy my breakfast. I got up at 7am, showered, made breakfast and left in a huff, 1.5hrs later to get to the Augusta Boat Harbour by 10.15am. The operator behind Klook’s whale watching tour is All Sea Charters and they guarantee the sightings of whales else, there would be a money back guarantee so of course we spotted Southern Right whales and Humpback whales playing in the waters, and out.
Beside Augusta harbour is an abalone restaurant/shop called Rare Food which we stumbled into and ordered abalone sets - nothing filling, just simple stir fry abalone and a beverage. Cape Leeuwin is only an 8 minute drive away so that’s where we went right after our abalone snack. There’s a 30 minute lighthouse tour every hour but the minimum age is 4 years old and my daughter is a year shy so we bought regular entry tickets.
The rest of the day was meant to be spent on Hamelin Beach, hoping to spot some sting rays but the weather unfortunately was uncooperative. As Hamelin Bay Holiday Park doesn’t have WiFi nor mobile reception, I highly recommend you to complete what you need to research or work on near Karridale Tavern before driving into Hamelin Bay. I enjoyed that one and only night that would be my favourite of the entire trip, disconnected, cooking salmon pasta and grilled beef at the camp kitchen, playing card games with my daughter.
Augusta Whale Watch - Adult @ S$84; Child @ S$48.50
Cape Leeuwin - Adult @ AU$7.50; Child @ AU$3.50
Hamelin Bay Holiday Park - AU$45 for powered site
Pemberton Tramway, Wild at Heart Cafe, Valley of the Giant Tree Top Walk, Big 4 Denmark
This was the last of the tours that we booked for the trip and I’m glad it was as the past 3 days had lotsa of sun chasing and tour catching driving. We booked the 10.30am ride and again, had to cook and have our breakfast in a rush for our 1.20hr drive to Pemberton Tramway Company. This ride is a must do for toddlers and young kids. My daughter’s eyes sparkled with curiosity as the antique train clattered along the old timber railway, surrounded by towering karri trees. We stopped at a part of the forest for about 30 minutes, where steps led us down to picturesque cascading waterfall and river and returned on the same railway, crossing bridges and roads. Lunch was at Wild at Heart Cafe in town, serving burgers, wraps, dessert and smoothies.
1.40hr away is Valley of the Giant Treetop Walk where you are suspended 40m above the forest grounds on top of the tall tingle trees. The gentle, undulating 500m pathway is safe and accessible for toddlers, making it a breeze to navigate with a stroller if needed. The admission fee includes the entrance to The Ancient Empire where you'll be on the grounds of the tingle forest manoeuvring through the hollow roots of the trees. My daughter had no fear, ran through the elevated pathway and thoroughly enjoyed herself walking through the roots of the tingle trees.
Our Holiday Park for the night was Big 4 Denmark and that is where we finally get to interact with the kangaroos. They are wild but also friendly. There were also hares and ducks strolling on the ground of the park.
Pemberton Tram Ride - Adult @ S$30; Child @ S$15
Valley of the Giant Treetop Walk - Adult @ AU$21; Child below 4 is free
Big 4 Denmark - AU$45 for a powered site
Prawn Rock Channel, Ocean Beach Lookout, Green Pool, Elephant Rock, Waterfall Beach, Big 4 Emu
Just a short drive out of Big 4 Denmark was the Prawn Rock Channel which we chanced upon without plan. We walked across the floating bridge to Prawn Rock Channel, part of Wilson Inlet and was led to a landscape for the little one to play hide and seek in, with low shrubs and plants that stretched out to sandy beaches. This is a good place for picnic and swim as the water is calm and there were plenty of species of birds. We caught on the road to the Ocean Beach Lookout that oversees the entire grounds we were on.
Today is the day for the much anticipated Denmark-Albany beaches and we first drove to Green Pool and Elephant Rock. The turqouise water sparkling under the sun at Green Pool was absolutely stunning. We managed to walk on the gentle rock formations but please, only if you’re adventurous enough. We walked over to view the Elephant Rock, which is a formation of rocks that look like the back of the elephants.
There are many view points around the area and you can explore without the map as there will be directory along the roads and we came to Waterfall Beach. It is here where we found a perfect spot to cook our lunch and enjoy the gorgeous ocean view. This afternoon was one of the loveliest the entire trip. To finally enjoy the campervaning, cooking as we stop wherever we liked. We did spend a bit of time soaking in the vibes and went on straight to Big 4 Emu after reading about its activities within the park.
This was the holiday park that we managed to reach before sunset and it is worth spending time here as there is a an indoor recreational centre with a toddler playground (perfect for 2-5 yo), arcade games, table tennis and pool table thats so new, the bathroom was 5 star worthy.
Big 4 Emu Beach Holiday Park - AU$65 for powered site
Burrata Wood Fire Cafe, Torndirrup National Park, The Gap and Natural Wonders, Salmon Hole, Blowhole, Jimmy Newells, Frenchman Bay, Wind Farm, King River Campsite
This was the only (and best) morning through our trip where we saw bright sunshine so we decided to set our table, cook and enjoy our breakfast. Big 4 Emu Beach is the most expensive of all the stays and its no wonder why. The playground and jumping pillow were new and my daughter had lots of fun there, we rented a pedal kart and rode to Emu beach and played golf at the mini golf course before leaving slightly after noon for lunch at Burrata Wood Fire. The pizza had a good balance of golden crispy chewy crust and a soft gooey layer of cheese and its rice balls were to die for. It was unfortunate that their burrata was sold out by the time we arrive as I’m sure it would not disappoint either.
We set off to The Gap viewpoint located within the Torndirrup National Park and the waves crash dramatically against the rugged cliff rocks displaying the sheer power of nature beneath your feet. It was so powerful and at the same time scary that I held onto my daughter very tightly, stay within the designated viewing area and didn’t manage to get any pictures. Just around the area, we explored Salmon Hole, Blowhole, Frenchman Bay (good spot to park for lunch in a campervan), Whaling Station and ended our day with a short hike around Albany Wind Farm, settling our final night at King River Palm Caravan Park. The facilities were clean and the owner live in the park so you can drive in anytime for check in. The park seem to have quite a bit of permanent campers and houses and had a tad of solemnity to it. It is right beside a main road so it’s also noisy especially when heavy vehicles drove past so it didn’t make me feel very relaxed like the other holiday parks.
King River Palm Caravan Park - AU$40 for powered site
5 hour drive from Albany to Perth
This marks the end of our trip when we drove 5 hours straight through to Perth on Albany Highway. There were a couple of big towns along the way like Konjunup and whats worthy for a stop along this drive is Williams Woolshed a drive through coffee and cafe at the caravan park in Williams Town.