Perth to Ningaloo reef one week

[Australianholiday]

We are doing a rd trip in a campervan from Perth to Ningaloo reef, we got 7 days to go there and back. The plan is to stop in Cervantes one night, one night in monkey mia, 3 nights ningaloo reef, then back one night in Calvary and another night not too far from Perth, one hour.

Has anyone done something similar? Any advice? Does the itinerary looks ok?

The trip is in August.

TIA

It will be a lot of driving ….wouldn’t be for me…last time we went north of Perth just for a week , we only went as far as kalbarri , then explored the area….I mean you might be fine with the driving…..but no time to really see anything….it’s not even like you can travel at night with the potential for wildlife to be jumping out on you…..if you had a couple of weeks it would be ok….but not a week

Thanks, that’s my concern but DH is keen and always a positive man. I can’t say I am looking forward to it.

I thought it didn't sound that bad until I realised you had to make the return trip.

If you were just doing it because you had to cover the distance then that's one thing but as a holiday it does not sound like an enjoyable use of your time.

Trying to persuade DH to rethink this. Not sure I can help him much with the driving either.

Does he know that it's inadvisable to drive between dawn and dusk in rural areas?

He is Australian but has not done this trip before hence me asking for advice. I think he is been very ambitious. It is not like I would be able to help with the driving. No way I want to drive a camper-van.

Trying to get him to rethink the whole thing. He is a very positive man who thinks everything is possible. This is the itinerary:

Perth to Cervantes: 1 night

Cervantes to Monkey Mia: 1 night

Monkey Mia to Exmouth: 3 nights

Exmouth to Calvary: 1 night

Calvary to a place 2 hours from Perth: 1 night

I did something similar over 12 nights, there were 2 drivers and it was a lot of driving for us. I agree with a pp, Kalbarri is probably the furthest I’d do if I had to get there and back in a week.

Thank you all; trying to rethink this but we only got a few weeks and everything is booked.

It would be great if we could leave the motorhome in Ningaloo reef and fly back,

The things we want to see are the Pinnacles, Karbarry national park and Ningaloo reef.

I think we will definitely give Monkey Mia a miss as it is a diversion.

I am thinking that perhaps do the rd trip to Kalbarri with 2 stop overs: one night in Cervantes, 2 nights in Kalbarry, then back to Perth with a night stopover perhaps.

Then flying from Perth to Ningaloo reef for 3 to 4 nights. Then fly back. Ningaloo to Perth

How does that sound for people who have done similar or visit those places,

Fly there and back from Exmouth. Even the flight time is around 4 hours from
Perth. Ditch this whole idea about driving there and back completely as you only have a week as it’s way too far to complete in such a period of time. You will end up seeing more of the steering wheel than scenery.

Thank you. Is it really 4 hours I thought it was 2?

Yes you are right. It’s two hours each way.

Thank you. I am hoping we can still do both, and extend the trip for 1 day: 4 nights rd trip Perth to Kalbarri and back to Perth. 4 nights in Ningaloo reef flying from Perth and Back.

DH is keen on seeing the pinnacles and Kalbarri national park and the rd trip.

This seem a bit more doable.

Ok, I live in Perth and have done this. If I were you, I would do the following:

Leave Perth really early on the first day and get to Cervantes mid-morning to see the Pinnacles/sand dunes. Then continue travelling and stay in Geraldton overnight...if you were committed, you could even get to Kalbarri.

Day 2 leave early and head to Kalbarri. Spend the day/night there. The national park is amazing. Z bend gorge and nature's window.

Day 3 leave early and drive to Carnarvon area or just have a long drive day all the way to Ningaloo.

Spend the rest of the time in Ningaloo and then drive all the way back to Perth on the last day. It will be a long day but definitely doable. If you can do a one way trip with the camper van and fly back that's obviously best.

Monkey Mia isn't really worth it....Exmouth/Ningaloo is a million times better.

If you can afford to fly to Ningaloo, I would. You don’t need long there.

Then, as above, leave Perth and drive to Dongara via the Pinnacles. Indian Ocean Drive is a shit road. Don’t plan a long drive on it. Next day, Dongara to Kalbarri. HMAS Sydney memorial in Geraldton on the way is very moving. Overnight in Kalbarri.

Head back to Perth. But go down the inland road - Mullewa, Morawa, Dalwallinu for the wildflowers. https://www.australiasgoldenoutback.com/see-do/outback-wildflowers/where-to-see-wildflowers#:~:text=During%20WA'S%20wildflower%20season%20%2D%20which,royal%20hakea%20in%20Fitzgerald%20River. WA does wildflowers like nowhere else in earth and we are rightly famous for it.

Stop somewhere overnight and back to Perth in the morning. You say Calvary, we say Carnarvon and it might need to be missed on this trip.

Thank you. Will send your itinerary to DH. So you think is doable in a week.

Thank you, will send this to DH too

Just look at flights and they are quite expensive; not sure we can change the whole thing this late. This is the itinerary so far:

Perth to Cervantes: couple of hours in the Pinnacles

Cervantes to Geraldton: one night there

Geraldton to Karbarri: one night there

Karbarri to Carnavon: one night

Carnavon to Exmouth: one night

3 nights in Exmouth

Exmouth to Karbarri: one night

Karbarri to Perth: one night

Fly to Sydney from Perth

I am exhausted already. Teens and I are not used to all these driving but we ate committed and everything else is booked. Hoping DH sister or brother come with us and share the driving. We have to extend it one night

We are a bit confused with this advice. Which inland rd is this?

I think it is doable...we did something similar but had 2 nights in Kalbarri. The thing about WA is that you have to be committed to getting up early and just driving as far as you can....try and get 8 hours done by mid afternoon. If you have a couple of long days driving, you will get the most out of each place overall.

Sorry if I missed this, but what month are you planning on doing this trip? This might seriously affect driving conditions/weather/wet season etc, especially between Nov and April.
Are you planning to dive/snorkel with whale sharks in Ningaloo? Its an amazing experience, but mainly between Mar and August.
Will you both be driving? Can any of your children also drive?

@Australianholiday

From Perth to Geraldton there are four roads, vaguely parallel.

1). Indian Ocean Drive, which you will do which runs parallel to the coast. All the little coastal towns are a few kms off this so not much to see. It’s the newest road, badly designed and dangerous. I won’t drive it unless I have to and it sort of starts at the end of my street. It’s your Pinnacles access.

2). Brand highway. Built well but boring. Better for speed. Bugger all to see except big machinery being transported. No access to the Pinnacles.

3). Midlands highway. Goes from small town to small town. Will get wildflowers. See my link above.

4). Great Northern Highway. The most inland of the four roads. Also goes from small town to small town and curves back to the coast. Will get wildflowers. See my link above.

You say Karbarri. We say KALbarri.

Perth to Cervantes is less than three hours. Why spend a night there?
Cervantes to Geraldton is less than two hours. Why spend a night there? Excellent museum in Geraldton with lots of Batavia shipwreck stuff, though.
Geraldton to Kalbarri is about 1.5 hours.

Kalbarri to Carnarvon is just over 4 hours. Is someone desperate to see the space museum? I don't think there is much else there from memory.
Carnarvon to Exmouth is 4 hours.

I think two of your days between Perth and Kalbarri can be condensed into one. As can Kalbarri to Exmouth.

Thank you.

We are travelling in August. We are planning to swim with whales sharks in ningaloo reef,

The stops overs are to break the trip for DH as I can drive but will be nervous to drive a campervan. Children are young teens and ca’t drive.

We are not sleeping over in Cervantes but Geraldton the first night,

We are travelling from the UK with 1 night in Singapore and 2 nights in Perth before we get the camper van and do this trip so will be jet lagged to drive long distances.

Another Aussie here. I strongly advise you to take two confident drivers. Long hours on Australian country roads are very tiring. Driver fatigue is a contributing factor in 20 - 30 per cent of serious road accidents here. The figure is higher if you discount metropolitan accidents.

Give yourselves more time if you do something like thsi again….1 night in singapore you won’t even get a taste of it…..and all that driving and being on the go in WA is gonna be exhausting….you will probs come home wondering what you’ve actually seen apart from the interior of the camper van….. the driving in Australia is very boring. But like you say all booked now so make the most of it.

you’ve only 2 nights in Perth …but take the train out to Fremantle for a few hours if you can…..weekend is best in Fremantle markets will be open