Video Transcript
Welcome to Wout of the World. In this episode, I’ll take you to the southwest region of Australia. This behind me is Esperance, but there’s way more to see while we drive along the south coast. We’ll be making this road trip with an awesome four-wheel drive camper van with two rooftop tents by WA Experts. Check it.
And this is actually the last bit of the big lap. Recently, you saw us driving the east coast full of wonders.
And from Melbourne, we drove the Great Ocean Road. Through the state of South Australia, we drove another 2,000 kilometres, and now we got you all up to speed.
Unfortunately, we left South Australia, but we welcomed a new state, Western Australia. It’s actually the state where we started this road trip in the first place because from Broome, we now went all the way to Darwin, along the east coast, down to Melbourne, and now through the south, all the way, almost to Perth. So what do you think, guys? Free campsite in the middle of Norseman. Over here, we’re going to have some good times in the sun and with some flies, but that’s Western Australia.
So I thought, let me show you the major site here in Norseman. It’s some scrap iron used to make camels. How awesome is that?
I also still wanted to show you the awesome drive-through bottle shops. They come in handy when you drive around with the camper. Jens is always excited to see a playground. And while Norsemen seems like a bit of a ghost town, they have an awesome one. We actually see more cockatoos than humans in the small town of only 600 people. There is a really nice and big free campsite, though, and the sunsets are incredible.
Good morning. The sun is shining, and today we drive to Esperance. Let’s go. But first… Coffee.
We exit the town to see yet another beautiful mural painting, and we make the drive to Esperance.
All over Western Australia, I’ve seen some coloured lakes, like pink ones, blue ones. But over here, driving through Esperance, we see this greenish, bluish, yellowish. I don’t know what the colour is, but it’s called Lake Stevenson, and it’s incredible. Look at this.
We will never get used to driving through these otherworldly landscapes, and I can I assure you that plenty more of this is waiting at the coast.
Esperance is a beautiful coastal town in a region called Goldfield Esperance in Western Australia. It’s known for its incredible beaches and a stunning coastline. We’re here in the RAC Holiday Park, just north of town, to explore this entire region.
We check into the campsite with the best location near the beach.
It turned out to be one of the best we had in all of Australia, actually.
And Jens totally agrees.
Already some weeks ago, we drove the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, and Esperance has got something similar. It’s a 40 km long Great Ocean Drive, and along the way you’ll see the most stunning beaches, rocky cliffs, small bays, and hidden the natural pools.
We start here at West Beach and get overwhelmed by the blue waters that surround Esperance.
But there is much more to explore.
There are some incredible beaches on the way, and the first one that we passed is called Blue Haven, and I don’t think the name needs any more explaining.
Just as beautiful as the Bay is the peninsula over there called Blue Haven Rock. The next beaches we visit are Twilight Beach and Salmon Beach. The Twilight Bay is famous for the stunning rock formations in the crystal clear waters.
We move on as the landscape seems to get rockier and the coastline even more dramatic.
When we drive further along the coast on our little loop drive, we’ll find some lagoons, and they have beautiful original names.
Like Nine Mile Lagoon, Ten Mile Lagoon, Eleven Mile Lagoon, and so on. There are natural pools created by the barriers with the bluest water, and you’re supposed to be able to do some good snorkelling here. But as you can imagine, it’s a little bit windy today, and it’s hard enough as it is standing right here. But they are incredible.
At the end of the loop drive, we come across Esperance’s Pink Lake. But due to the seasonal changes, the Salt Lake isn’t always brightly pink. It’s still nice, though.
The Dutch came over here all the way from Europe in Esperance in 1627.
But it actually got a French name because later, when the French came here, they got caught in a storm. In 1792, they went on land to seek shelter, and they named it Esperance, after their ship, which means hope. So Esperance is actually named after a French ship.
When the British came to Esperance in 1802, the town mainly revolved around mining. In 1890 a harbour was built after the discovery of gold in the region.
Nowadays, they’re still mininglot, a lot of agriculture, and of course, tourism. We drive east to National Park, Cape Le Grand, a must visit on the big lap for the best beaches in Australia.
So we drove all the to the south of Cape Le Grand National Park. Over here, we find some incredible blue bays with super white beaches. The first one that we visit is at Whistle Rock, and it’s called Thistle Cove. I’ll show you the rock and this beach, which are incredibly beautiful.
It’s hard to imagine a beach more stunning than this one, but yet there is one officially prettier.
This beach is insane.
You will find the most incredible beach of Cape Le Grand at the Lucky Bay. And this beach has often been awarded the name Most Beautiful Beach in Australia and even the whitest beach in the world. And if you’re lucky, like the name says, you can even spot some kangaroos on this beach.
In 2023, Lucky Bay was crowned World’s Best Beach by a panel of over 2000 travel professionals. More recently, it was also named the country’s Best Beach by Australia Tourism.
Well, this all means nothing to us, of course. We let Jens be the judge. There isn’t a swimming pool on Earth cleaner and brighter than this Bay. We are simply blown away.
So we’re leaving, and I must say this might be the most incredible beach that I’ve visited in my life, and especially because it’s not crowded at all. Look at this. Where are all the people? This is so incredible.
So normally, you can actually be able to see kangaroos on the beach here. Maybe it’s a little bit crowded today because we didn’t see them over there, but I walked a little bit around the area and I did manage to find one, so it never hurts to look around. So awesome.
We conclude our trip in Cape La Grand with one last bay, and this is Hellfire Bay. And because of the massive rocks on both sides, it’s the most stunning beach to go fly with the drone. I’ll show you.
You can easily spend multiple days in Cape Le Grand, as there are so many nice spots, and there is a campsite as well. I just have to warn you, all beaches that you’ll visit in your life after these ones will be ugly as hell.
As we’re driving back to Esperance, we see kangaroos all over the place. So we stopped here alongside the road, and they’re everywhere in the meadows over here. Wow.
We even see one with a baby in the pouch.
As we drive back to Esperance, we drive through England. Okay, we’re still in Australia, but they do have Stonehenge. Really.
Back in town, we noticed some cool street art around Esperance. We enjoyed the awesome campsite that felt like a home away from home.
It was so sad that we had to leave Esperance, but we’re still on our way making the road trip all the way to Perth. Within three hours, we reach this bush camp site. We’ll be putting up camp right over there with the two rooftop tents, and it’s just one more hour to Albany, our next destination in Western Australia. Love it.
Near the town of Jerramungup, we have a little outback party with beers and hot dogs.
At the Pallinup River we couldn’t get any more into the wild, and that’s still why we love Australia so much. From here, it’s only one and a half hour to Albany through green hills and pine forests. And how is this for a campsite?
So we’ve reached a town called Albany, and from here it’s only 400 kilometres left to Perth on the beautiful south coast. It sounds like nothing, but it’s actually still more than my entire country is big. I do realise that. But in Australian terms, only 400 kilometres, but we couldn’t skip Albany. We’re here in the woods next to the King River, a beautiful place also for the kids, and we’ll be doing the spectacular sites, the cliffs, the beaches of Albany.
It’s a kanagroo paradise again, guys. Five of them over there.
The city of Albany is located in a beautiful area with some bays, rocky peninsulas, islands, and beaches. Today we’re going to make a drive along the most beautiful sites, and I hope we’re going to get some sun because the weather is not all that, and we start at Emu Point.
We see straight away that Albany has the most beautiful bus stops. And many playgrounds, too.
Emu Point has clear and shallow water and is therefore great for swimming and heading out for a picnic. It’s a narrow strait connecting Oyster Harbour and King George Sound.
We continue our drive towards the city centre where you find Middleton Beach and also the ruins of an old lighthouse. It’s a perfect spot for droning.
Across the water, we can already see Vancouver Peninsula, and this here is Shoal Bay.
The lush nature we’ll be exploring next. The industrial town of Albany has about 40,000 people, and it’s your typical WA coastal town.
It’s the history as a whaling and fishing town and the nearby coastal National Park that make this town so unique and popular with tourists.
From the city of Albany, we drove across the water, and over there we find Torndirrup National Park. And in that National Park, there are incredible bays and beaches like the one behind me. And this is the peninsula called Bald Head. And over there, you’ll find beaches like this one called Salmon Beach, and the water is incredible.
From July to January, this coast is full of salmon. Before they head west to breed in the Indian Ocean. The tropical current flowing around the Southwest Cape helps to spread the eggs all over the Southern coastline of Australia and therefore helps spread the salmon.
The drive through Torndirrup National Park is short but breathtaking, with a completely different landscape around every corner.
We drove to the other side of Bald Head, that beautiful peninsula over there, and you’ll find the Murray boat ramp. There’s this spectacular little beach with big rocks, and just behind there is Misery Beach, which is the whitest beach of the area. Torndirrup National Park is incredibly beautiful, guys.
Who on Earth named this place Misery Beach? This pure and untouched corner of Australia is one of the most stunning natural places we have seen on the big lap.
On the same peninsula, we pass a site with some historic significance because from 1800 until 1978, there used to be a whaling station here in Albany.
And not just a whaling station, it was actually the last one to close and stop hunting for whales in 1987. So for 178 years, people would go out here and kill whales. And now you can just see the boat where this used to happen and the entire area and the station. Yeah, and it’s a beautiful place.
It’s hard to imagine such a tragic history of killing, in a setting like this. The connecting beach with that insane blue painting in the water is called Whaling Cove Beach. And on that beach is one of the ships responsible for catching over a thousand humpback whales and nearly 15,000 sperm whales since 1952. I like it better as a museum.
Just one more beach to go. This here is Frenchmans Beach, named after Frenchmans Bay. That’s the entire area, the entire water in front of us. It’s a really white beach, and it’s insanely beautiful again.
Frenchman Bay Beach is probably your best pick for spending a day at the beach near Albany. It’s easily accessible, has some facilities, and shallow waters for swimming.
Here in Albany, we find another major site. It’s the cheapest diesel that we found in all of Australia. The highest diesel price that we paid was about 230, and over here it’s 163.8, which is the cheapest in the entire country that we’ve seen so far. Smiling.
After so many kilometres on expensive gas, you can imagine our happiness. But the animals that are hopping around here make our day even better. It’s the golden hour again, and I don’t mean the sun is going down. Yeah, that too. But we also see a lot of kangaroos everywhere in the meadows. There’s two over here that I’m going to show you.
So we camped out here in an area that can only be described as Kangaroo paradise. After we saw those guys, we slept here under the stars in a beautiful place called Camp Kennedy, which is in the middle between Albany and Denmark. And this place is actually a Christian youth camp, but it’s open for visitors, and we paid next to nothing to sleep next to the incredible beach, the blue waters. And there’s a camp kitchen where we did some games, some puzzles. So it’s really relaxed over here before we go to Denmark, and I’ll show you this place and the beach.
We stumbled upon this place by accident when a lot of campsites near Denmark were fully booked. However, it turned out to be a great choice.
We have this peaceful nature spot all to ourselves, and they had superb Starlink Internet.
It’s movie night, and we’re watching Moana because we went to Fiji, and this movie is exactly like our experience there.
We love Moana, right, Jens? Yeah. And you love Maui, don’t you? Really awesome. It’s like our holiday, exactly.
In the morning, we find the high-quality kitchen. Ahh Coffee.
It’s only a 30-metre walk from the car to the beach, and I’ll show you why this place is truly paradise.
Only in Western Australia, you’ll find beaches like this with not a single soul insight. The beach is pristine and white, while the view of the ocean is breathtaking. The name is Perkins Beach.
With the drone, we see the remote location of Camp Kennedy in the purest nature.
So what can we do here all day? Well…
He’s been in almost 70 countries. Seventy? You are only six years old. Yeah.
Three puzzles in a day. I think that’s about it for today because I’m tired.
Happy birthday to Mum. Happy birthday to Mum. Happy birthday, dear Susie. Happy birthday to you.
Thanks, guys.
So let’s go to a winery and drink some wine. Yes.
Okay, maybe later, since it’s only 9 in the morning.
The town of Denmark is very well known in Australia. Well, it’s not even that big. It only has 5,000 inhabitants, but the greater area with the beautiful beaches and blue bays is very popular as a holiday destination. So we’ll be exploring the town, but also the greater area.
In 1826, the British explorer Thomas Braidwood Wilson named the town after his colleague Alexander Denmark. We go straight to its top site, Greens Pool.
Greens Pool is situated on the edge of the William Bay National Park, and it’s famous because of its turquoise greenish waters and large granite boulders. It’s seriously one of the most beautiful places in all of Western Australia.
The coastal park with all those rocks looks like a natural water theme park.
From Greens Pool is just a short walk to the Elephant Rocks. Over there, the name says it all, because with the right angle, it really looks like a family of elephants chilling in the shallow waters.
Here you see best what they mean. It’s always stunning to see how these places are pieces of art formed by nature. Got some coffee.
The South of Western Australia is famous for the great wineries. From here all the way to Perth, you’ll find them along the way, and we stopped at one called Singlefile Winery. Not only because it’s something you cannot skip when you’re here in Denmark, but also because it’s Susie’s birthday.
And if there’s someone that really likes wine, it’s Susie.
So we’re going to have a great day. Taste some wines, buy a bottle or two. Let’s go.
WA has 20 wine regions with a total of 412 wineries. We drive to one of the very best ones as the landscape already turns into that of a fairytale.
As a surprise, I took Susie to this place to celebrate her 35th birthday, and it turned out to be a good decision, as we were welcomed with open arms in a really charming setting.
The champagne first.
We get to taste all sorts of wine: sparkling, white, red. They say it’s somewhere in a bottle. It is.
And they even throw in some free cheese and crackers for our little birthday party. And of course, I bought Susie some birthday presents as well.
Wow, I can honestly say that this was one terrific experience. I’ve been to some wineries before and some wine tastings, but over here they really took the time. We could taste everything that we liked. It was all free. And of course, they hope that you buy a bottle or two at the end, which we did, a red and a white, the best ones that we tasted, but so relaxed and so friendly, and I didn’t drink too much because I still have to drive just nipping. But Suus, she had some. She has a great birthday, all drunk.
We drive back to the coast where Thomas Braidwood Wilson discovered this place, now known as Wilson’s Inlet. It reminds us a bit of Hill Inlet on the other side of Australia at the Whitsunday Islands. Do you see what I mean?
The most popular beach in Denmark is Ocean Beach. It’s just a few kilometres down south, and you get to this beautiful view. The water is swirly with blue and white. It’s perfect for swimming and also for surfing. It’s amazing.
After the coastal wonders we witnessed in Esperance in Albany, Denmark totally delivered again. I think this is actually the number one view on the south coast of Australia. It’s like an artist’s palette, where the blue and white paint have been playfully swirled around. At night, we would like to celebrate with a birthday dinner, but in Denmark, all restaurants are closed on Mondays.
In the next village, we do find a little place and decide for that matter that tonight… it’s pizza time.
We did it all. We drove the west coast, the north coast, the east coast, and now the south coast, all the way to, almost in Bunbury, where we started the last time, just beneath Perth. We slept here next to this old train station in Bridgetown. We had a lovely night here, and we’re almost leaving.
But I wouldn’t want to rob you from the final part of our big lap as we drive on to Bunbury. Here we go.
We have a proper birthday dinner for Susie. It’s taco time.
And we camp on the exact same spot that marked the beginning of our big lap, ages ago.
On our way to deliver the campervan back in Perth, we end up at a really special free campsite at an old train station, which is something like an open air museum full of old trains.
Stay tuned because I now take you over to the start of the big lap when we visited Margaret River.
Now we are in Perth, and this is where the adventure starts.
We slept in this little hotel last night, only for one night, because now we’re going to pick up our 4×4 camper van with a rooftop tent and start our trip in West Australia.
First, we take a taxi to the big city of Perth, because over there, Brendon gives us an extensive briefing about this amazing new Toyota Hilux with literally everything you need.
How cool are those rooftop tents?
On our way to the south, we first do some shopping, and then we look for the perfect spot to spend the night. This, guys, is Bunbury Beach, where we enjoy our first Australian sunset.
Here we go, guys, for the first night. What an adventure. The first time in the rooftop sleeper on the camper. Loving it. Good night. Good night.
Our first night in the rooftop sleeper was superb. And even though it’s a little bit colder outside, there’s no sun. Inside the tent, it was really warm. The three of us, we laid close together and was really romantic.
So now we’re going to have some breakfast and drive on, this is Bunbury. You already saw some nice images here off the beach. And we’re going to drive on to Margaret which will be the most southern point of our trip along the west coast.
From the town of Bunbury, we drove about a half an hour to an hour more south.
Over there, we find Busselton, and here begins our one a wonderful trip in Margaret River, the most southwestern point of the entire Australia. I wanted to show you one thing first, this awesome feature of my camper while we’re set in camp in the woods here at a beautiful place. Look at this. I have a dry spot. Let it rain.
If you go camping Sipping in Australia, the WikiCamps app is indispensable. They got all the campsites on the map, but also free spots in nature like this one.
In the forest, we see many Australian magpies, and also these ring-neck parrots. Oh, how we love the great outdoors. This place is almost too relaxed to leave behind, but Southwest Australia’s most beautiful beaches are waiting.
One of the most beautiful spots that you can find in Margaret River, and that we’re going to explore today, is called Meelup Regional Park. It’s a nice natural our area along the coast with some beautiful beaches, boulders on the beaches, and pretty views. And the rock at the end is called Castle Rock, and this is Castle Rock Beach for a nice walk towards a nice view.
We drove just a little bit further in Mealup Regional Park, and these blue bays are amazing. I’m standing on Point Picquet, and this is the view. Oh my God.
Off the shores, you can spot whales here. And in the bushes, I spot this blue-tongued skink. What a cool animal.
This route along the coast to Margaret River is one of the most beautiful road trips in all of Australia. A little bit further, we drive along the famous Eagle Bay.
What a perfect day guys. Well, it’s almost perfect because when the sun is shining, I’m in the mood for an ice cold beer. I think we found them, a lot of them. We’re at Eagle Bay Brewing Company for some craft beers from this region.
For 16 Aussie dollars, we get this tray of beers.
They’re all from inside the brewery, different craft beers. I’m starting with Kölsch. Amazing. We got some food to go with it. I think it’s very cheap, right? Like $10 US.
At most places in West Australia, it’s easy to find a free campsite, either one at the roadside or in the wild, like yesterday in the beautiful woods. But today in Margot River, it’s a bit different with all the vineyards and the private properties. So we had to get a paid one for about 30 Aussie dollars, which is about 20 US bucks. And you get a really big campsite, a playground for him, and a shower for us.
What I always love about Australia is all the wild animals around us. Even on the campsite, We saw a lot already this morning. I woke up from the sound of a kookaburra, which is an amazing sound like you’re in the middle of the jungle. And on the way to the toilets, I saw a ringtailed possum in the trees, which is very rare during the day.
A bizarre sound, right? And we even see several kookaburras this morning. And we also spot this ringtailed possum during the day.
We enjoyed those craft beers yesterday, but today it’s time to meet the real treat of Margaret River because it’s famous for the wines. You’ll see so many vineyards driving these beautiful country roads. And today we’re going to team up with some friends that we met earlier in Thailand, Leonard and Marieke, and we’re going to have a little wine tasting at the oldest vineyard in the entire area. It’s Vasse Felix, so let’s have some wine.
The wine tasting is completely free, in the hope, of course, that you will take one of the delicious local wines home afterwards.
And we’re just moving on to the next one. And then we drive into town at Margaret River to look for a cosy diner.
These lucky bastards are driving the same beautiful route back to Perth, where the next adventure awaits us.
Wow guys, what a start of the day. We’re heading towards Perth with the camper, and on the way, I saw about 100 kangaroos hopping by into the farms and in the meadows. So I went up close to film them. And on the way, I already saw some pelicans, some black cockatoos. It’s an animal paradise and a lot of flies here. Wow.
In the next episode, watch us discover Perth and then sail to Rottnest Island in search of the cutest animals on the planet.
So subscribe follow us on this epic journey.
Ciao.
Wout of the World
Online travel show in Dutch and English with World traveler and actor Wout of the World. In dozens of episodes Wout takes you out for adventure all over the world, always in the most budget-friendly way. Enjoy over 120 countries from your couch, phone or the computer.