Travel to Western Australia – Episode 618

by Chris Christensen

categories: australia travel tags: audio travel podcast, australia, kalbarri national park, karijini national park, nambung national park, podcast, road trip, western australia

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

Community

Hello Chris!

I recently returned from a two month trip abroad that took me to Africa and Europe, where I visited or traveled through 14 countries and three continents (had a layover in Asia), and what an experience it was!

I am currently studying biology at Purdue University, and as such I applied for and was accepted to a trip with the university to teach in Tanzania and Kenya for the month of May. For most of the month I was working in a school north of Tanga, Tanzania called Zingibari Secondary where I taught biology to many of the school’s students. When not teaching, I was able to participate in a variety of activities at the resort where I stayed, Fish Eagle Point. These activities included; kayaking in the mangroves, scuba diving the reefs of the Indian Ocean, and watching green sea turtles hatch, as well as taking a class in learning Swahili. Of course, when I finished teaching there was plenty of time left to take a safari in the Serengethi and the Ngorongoro Crater.

Being on that side of the world I decided I could not let an opportunity pass me by, so I decided to travel for a month in Europe along with my brother and cousin. We started in Athens, Greece and worked our way west traveling through Budapest, Vienna, Munich, Rome, Paris, and London, just to name a few places, taking the train for most of the trip. Taking the train was an incredible experience as I loved seeing the beautiful European countryside, not to mention it made travel between cities easy and simple. Also, by taking the train and staying in Airbnb’s it made seeing these destinations quite affordable.

My time abroad was unforgettable, and I appreciate the help and advise I received through listing to your many episodes of Amateur Traveler on the places before I left. Amateur Traveler has helped me in the past plan my trips and it continues to be my go-to podcast for all things travel. I am looking forward to a trip to Dubai and Muscat in March, and I will be using your podcasts on the UAE and Oman to help plan my trip to the region.

Thank you again for making a great podcast and giving me inspiration on where to go next. I look forward to many more Amateur Travelers to come.

Sincerely,

Caleb

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Amateur Traveler Trips
Amateur Traveler Trip – 2018 – to Prague, Krakow and Budapest
Amateur Traveler Trip – 2019 – Africa, Kruger to Victoria Falls

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”

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!

Tags: audio travel podcast, australia, kalbarri national park, karijini national park, nambung national park, podcast, road trip, western australia

Travel to Western Australia – Episode 618

Show Notes