Perth → BroomeOne-way campervan hire

The plan, stop by stop

Paced for 17 days. Got less time? Merge two stops. Got more? Stay longer wherever you like it; it's your van. Drive times and distances are approximate, from road-routing data, without stops.

1. 1

   Day 1

   Perth

   

   Collect the van and stock up properly, as supermarkets thin out fast heading north. Watch the sunset over the city from Kings Park, or spend the afternoon in Fremantle.

   +10,000ft Rottnest Island Tandem Skydive· from $489
2. 2

   Day 2

   Cervantes & the Pinnacles

   2.5 hrs · 200 km

   

   Thousands of limestone pillars rising out of yellow sand in Nambung National Park. Drive the loop at sunset, when the shadows are longest, then sleep in Cervantes.

3. 3

   Day 3–4

   Kalbarri

   4.5 hrs · 380 km via Geraldton

   

   Look through Nature's Window and stand on the Kalbarri Skywalk, out over the Murchison River gorge. On the way in, stop at Hutt Lagoon, the bubblegum-pink lake near Port Gregory.

4. 4

   Day 5–6

   Shark Bay & Monkey Mia

   4.5 hrs · 400 km

   

   Wild bottlenose dolphins swim into the shallows at Monkey Mia most mornings. Walk Shell Beach, which is made entirely of tiny cockle shells, and see the stromatolites at Hamelin Pool, among the oldest life forms on Earth.

5. 5

   Day 7–8

   Coral Bay

   6.5 hrs · 580 km via Carnarvon

   

   Walk off the sand and snorkel straight onto Ningaloo Reef. The coral starts metres from the beach. Manta ray boat tours run year-round.

6. 6

   Day 9–10

   Exmouth & Cape Range

   2 hrs · 150 km

   

   Drift-snorkel the current at Turquoise Bay and spot black-footed rock wallabies in Yardie Creek gorge. From March to July, this is the place to swim with whale sharks.

7. 7

   Day 11–13

   Karijini

   9 hrs · 680 km (the long one: break it at Nanutarra or Paraburdoo)

   

   Red gorges with cold, clear swimming holes: Fern Pool, Circular Pool and the Dales Gorge rim walk. Dales Gorge is sealed all the way; some gorges, such as Weano, are on gravel roads, so check your hire terms.

8. 8

   Day 14–15

   Port Hedland → Eighty Mile Beach

   4 hrs · 340 km, then 3.5 hrs · 250 km to Eighty Mile Beach

   

   Break the long run north with a night in Port Hedland, then camp at Eighty Mile Beach: 220 km of empty sand, with shorebirds and some of the best sunsets in the country.

9. 9

   Day 16–17

   Broome

   4.5 hrs · 380 km

   

   A camel ride along Cable Beach at sunset, dinosaur footprints at Gantheaume Point at low tide, and, on full-moon nights from March to October, the Staircase to the Moon over Roebuck Bay. Return the van in Broome.