WA by Campervan

Leave Perth early on the Indian Ocean Drive (coastal route through Lancelin. Far better than the inland highway). Stop at Lancelin for the sand dunes and a swim. Arrive Cervantes by early afternoon for the Pinnacles Desert. The best light is late afternoon when the limestone columns cast long shadows. Stay in Cervantes.

North through Dongara (fuel) and Geraldton (fuel, supplies, good coffee). Fill up in Geraldton. Fuel in Kalbarri is significantly more expensive. Arrive Kalbarri by early afternoon with time for the coastal cliffs at Red Bluff before sunset.

Morning: Nature's Window early (best light, fewer people), then drive to the Skywalk, have coffee at the cafe with the gorge view. Afternoon: coastal cliff walk south along George Grey Drive. Pot Alley and the Natural Bridge are worth the short walks. Wildflowers in season (August-October) line every trail.

North to the Overlander Roadhouse, then west on the Shark Bay Road. Note: no fuel for 260km on this road after the Overlander. Ensure you have enough. Arrive Monkey Mia / Denham in the afternoon. Walk the dolphin beach before dinner. Stay at Monkey Mia Dolphin Resort if budget allows. The location advantage in the morning is significant.

Be at the dolphin beach for the 7:45am ranger briefing, morning: Hamelin Pool stromatolites (100km south, allow 2 hours return). Afternoon: Shell Beach swimming and lunch. If you have a 4WD, late afternoon in Francois Peron National Park for the red cliffs and Cape Peron views. If not, Eagle Bluff lookout for dugong and ray spotting.

Long drive day north through Carnarvon (fuel, fresh fruit from the roadside stalls. Carnarvon is WA's banana capital). Arrive Exmouth late afternoon. Sunset at Vlamingh Head Lighthouse. Excellent whale watching June-November on this drive.

Drive into Cape Range National Park. 65km south to Turquoise Bay. Arrive before 9am for the drift snorkel (enter at south end, current carries you north over the reef. 15 minutes of extraordinary snorkelling). Afternoon: Oyster Stacks at high tide for marine life. Return via Mandu Mandu Gorge walk. Late: Yardie Creek for rock wallabies.

Option A (March-July): Book a whale shark swim. The world's best wildlife encounter. Full day departure from Exmouth marina. Option B: Morning snorkel at Bundegi Beach (reef directly from shore), afternoon drive north to Coral Bay (150km south, spectacular reef snorkelling from the beach). Option C: Begin driving north toward Broome. Long days ahead.

Long stretch of the North West Coastal Highway. Flat, straight, remote. Fuel in Nanutarra Roadhouse and Karratha. This is genuine outback highway driving; start early and carry extra water. Port Hedland is an industrial port city. Stay one night, fuel up, stock up.

Final stretch of the Coral Coast drive. The landscape changes here. Red pindan soil, boab trees appearing from around Roebuck Plains. Arrive Broome with the afternoon free for Cable Beach. The Indian Ocean at sunset, and if the timing is right, the Staircase to the Moon.

South on the Kwinana Freeway, west to the Indian Ocean at Mandurah, then the coastal route through Bunbury (fuel) to Dunsborough. Afternoon: Meelup Beach and Eagle Bay. The best swimming in the South West. Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse walk for whale watching May-December.

Drive the cave road south from Dunsborough: Lake Cave (underground lake. Spectacular), Mammoth Cave (self-guided). Then Margaret River town for lunch. Afternoon: Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse at the meeting point of two oceans. The south-westernmost tip of Australia. Dinner and overnight in Margaret River town.

Morning: two or three winery visits (book tastings ahead for smaller producers). Lunch at a winery. Afternoon drive to Pemberton through tall karri forest. Some of the largest trees in Australia. Walk the Cascades trail or the Gloucester Tree. A 61-metre fire lookout tree with pegs for climbing (not for the faint-hearted). Overnight Pemberton.

East through Northcliffe to Denmark. Greens Pool is a must (sheltered granite boulder pool with emerald water, one of WA's best swimming spots). The Valley of the Giants Tree Top Walk near Walpole (60-metre-high walkway through ancient tingle forest). Arrive Albany late afternoon. The most historically significant town in WA (first European settlement, 1826). Check into accommodation, walk the foreshore.

Morning: The Gap and Natural Bridge (waves through granite arches. Spectacular in heavy swell). Whale World museum (former whaling station. Surprisingly moving). Afternoon: Stirling Range National Park day trip if time allows. Bluff Knoll summit walk (3 hours return, sometimes snow in winter). Or: the Torndirrup coastal walk for the blowholes and Jimmy Newhills Harbour. Return to Perth the next day (430km, 4.5 hours).