Hear about travel to Western Australia as the Amateur Traveler talks to Erica Carrico from ericacarrico.com about her trip to the wild and surprising Pilbara region.
Erica says, “generally when people travel to Australia they tend to do the most touristy spots, which is amazing, which is great because they are beautiful. Of course, I have been to them as well. But we’re going to talk about the Pilbara today. It’s a really special place. It’s the true Australian Outback. It has the best Australian beaches without all the crowds. It’s really, I believe, Australia’s best-kept secret. The Pilbara is really for people who are looking for off the beaten track where most people never see.”
She lays out an itinerary that goes from Perth to Newman to Coral Bay to Exmouth. Along the way, Erica highlights 3 Australia national parks: Karijini National Park, Nambung National Park, and Kalbarri National Park.
Karijini National Park is our first big stop with its red rocks, gorges, hidden pools, and waterfalls in the Australian desert. “It’s about the waterfalls, watering holes to go and swim in. If you like vast expansive spaces, it’s a beautiful soulful place to be. There’re stars from horizon to horizon. The different rock and landscape formations are more than 2 billion years old so it’s an ancient landscape.”
Nambung National Park has hundreds of termite mounds. It has a sandy landscape with these mounds of dirt sticking up 8-10 feet. It has another planet kind of look.
Kalbarri National Park is only 4-5 hours north of Perth. A lot of people go up from Perth. “There’s great fishing, more beaches, lots of camping. The landscape is not that red anymore.
Along the way, both the Ningaloo Coast and Monkey Mia are UNESCO sites. Ningaloo Coast has Australia’s second-biggest reef which is much closer to shore than the Great Barrier Reef. On excursions out of Exmouth, you can swim with whale sharks in the area. At Monkey Mia, you can swim in the wild with bottlenose dolphins under the watchful eye of park rangers.
Erica also suggests stopping at Coral Bay with its beautiful uncrowded white-sand beaches. “When we got to Coral Bay we were trying to figure out how could we stay there, how could we live there.”
Come take a virtual tour off the beaten path with Erica to these unusual Australian destinations.
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Show Notes
Erica Carrico
Western Australia
Western Australia Tourism
Pilbara
Perth
Newman
Coral Bay
Karijini National Park
Newman Visitor Centre
Exmouth
Ningaloo Coast
Bayview Coral Bay
Ningaloo Reef Resort
People’s Park Coral Bay
Monkey Mia
Kalbarri National Park
Carnarvon
Nambung National Park
Cervantes
Coral Bay
Karijini National Park
Nomadic Matt – Western Australia
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by Chris Christensen
Chris Christensen is the creator of the Amateur Traveler blog and podcast. He has been a travel creator since 2005 and has won awards including being named the "Best Independent Travel Journalist" by Travel+Leisure Magazine.+Chris Christensen | @chris2x | facebook
4 Responses to “Travel to Western Australia – Episode 618”
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Tags: audio travel podcast, australia, kalbarri national park, karijini national park, nambung national park, podcast, road trip, western australia
Stephen Mitchell
Says:August 10th, 2018 at 4:42 am
One comment on this interview.
I travel to Exmouth regularly for work.
Contrary to what was said in the interview, there is a definite high and low season.
Australian winter is high season and Exmouth is very pleasant at this time. In high season, accomodation may be in short supply and the town population will double.
Low season is unpleasant and there is not a tourist in sight. Temperatures can sit in the mid 40c range for weeks at a time. Tour operators close for the summer. Restaurants operate on summer time tables, some only opening every other day. Qantas cut back flights etc. Only a masichist would travel to Exmouth in the summer.
Also note that late summer is hurricane season and Exmouth does experience hurricanes (called cyclones in Australia). Exmouth has been hit by quite a few severe storms including Vance (Mar 99) which was one of the most powerful storms ever to hit mainland Australia .. so factor in this risk when making plans.
Finally, most tourists fly into Learmonth (50km from Exmouth), not Newman.
I hope that helps.
Steve
chris2x
Says:August 10th, 2018 at 6:22 am
Thanks Steve!
Nathan Todd
Says:March 6th, 2019 at 4:12 am
Some other places to check out on your trip down the coast from exmouth would be the hutt river province, geraldton, lancelin if you like wind/kite surfing, and never forget to get your iconic photo at natures window when visiting kalbarri.
P.s. rum drinkers will want to pass through dongara and visit the multi award winning illegal tender distillery.
Chris Christensen
Says:March 6th, 2019 at 8:23 am
Thanks Nathan!