A road trip north of Western Australia

The things about Australia that stuck with me the most when I came here ten years ago were the incredible and surreal landscapes, the wide-open spaces and long road trips with deserted roadhouses. Ever since I got back to Australia in October, I was longing to get back out on the road again. This Christmas, we finally had some days off to do an amazing mini road trip to the remote coastal town of Horrocks and to Kalbarri up north from Perth.

Christmas couldn’t come early enough for me. After an eventful year 2019 and with Sydney still covered in a blanket of smoke due to the bushfires in Australia, I was more than ever ready for a break. Just after enjoying a wonderful Christmas time with Liam’s family in Perth, we embarked on our journey up north with a group of friends.

Perth is the most remote big city in the world, and the beauty of that is that as soon as you leave the city, you’re literally out in the sticks. We passed through the Yanchep National Park with its bushland and wetland. This area has suffered from a large fire blast just a few weeks ago and the burnt parts of the forest still smelt like fire when I drove past. Then we took “the road less travelled” (in this case, the highway) on the way up north to make good time, since the scenic route going along the coast was rather busy over the festive period. Therefore, we decided to leave that for the way back.

Little Bay Camping in Horrocks

After around five hours of scenic driving through farmland and barren landscapes with only a few trees scattered around, we came to the scenic little coastal town of Horrocks. Right next to a stunning white beach with a diving platform and an adjacent convenience store is a very busy caravan park, but thankfully, this wasn’t our home for the night.

We continued further along the main road up north, which ultimately turned into a very sandy dirt track. We followed this track for a while, overlooking the remote, wide beach surrounded by high dunes with bushes dotted all over them and couldn’t believe the beauty of this place. The main Little Bay Campsite features a few designated spots and a toilet, but we kept continuing further along the beach until we found our friends at a truly off-grid camp spot. It only just had space for our little group for the two nights.

We set up tent at the windy beach, profiting from Gary’s beach pegs, which prevented our tent from being blown away by the strong gusts, and quickly grabbed a beer to enjoy the sunset.

The next couple of days were sheer beach bliss. We woke up in the morning and went for a swim followed by a hearty breakfast, which we cooked on the barbeque and the stove we had brought with us. Then we explored the beach a bit going up north in the 4WD. We thought that the tide would come in much later, but upon driving up the beach, we realised that the tide was already coming in a bit too close for comfort. We only just made it back to our camp spot in time with wet tyres, so we decided to head a bit further south along the beach, where the tide wouldn’t get in between us and our campsite. We found the perfect spot for swimming and fishing, with a relatively flat shore and beautifully calm, warm waters. It was like paradise. I even caught a fish! With very few people around, we just lazed around the beach for the day, fishing, swimming and chatting, until it was time to go back to our camp spot for dinner and another beautiful sunset.

The next morning we were able to explore the little natural rock pool, which Gary had discovered just the day before. I had attempted to enter the area the day before with Gary and his girlfriend Kate but the tide was already quite vicious around that time so it only turned out to be a brief visit. The pool consists of higher rocks at its back-end, shielding the area from the tide. When the tide isn’t very high, it’s perfectly possibly to get into the pool and sit in a bit of a drop right underneath these higher walls while the tide is splashing ferociously against the dark, shielding rocks. It was magical.

Camping on a farm near Kalbarri

The next day, we were sad to leave our scenic home but at the same time, excited to continue our road trip towards Kalbarri National Park. The spectacular park measures 186,000 hectares in size and features magnificent deep red and white banded gorges created by the Murchison River over the past 400 million years, stretching 80km toward the ocean. We only stopped there briefly because dogs aren’t allowed in the National Park, and then headed on to the town of Kalbarri.

Kalbarri is a very laid-back little town featuring stunning views, beaches including boat hire and off-road tracks. We swung by our hosts for the night, a lovely couple called Stan and Barbara, who own the farm south of Kalbarri (and who would be our hosts for the next two nights). And after some grocery shopping and beach times, we headed towards the farm to get set up for the night.

The farm is located somewhere between Kalbarri and Port Gregory. After turning off the main road, we entered through the farm gate and up a steep hill, where we could already enjoy the most spectacular views across the Pink Lake, properly named Hutt Lagoon. The lagoon is a salt lake measuring about 70 square kilometres in area. Salt is deposited seasonally and during the summer about 95% of the salina surface is a dry salt flat.

The farm covers a massive area of bushland and grazing land for the sheep. The farm buildings include a kitchen, a large common area, a toilet and a fire-heated rainwater shower. There a multiple dongers (bedrooms) where Stan and Barbara host friends occasionally (the farm isn’t bookable as a holiday home for visitors, just to be clear) but Liam and I decided to make full use of our tent and camped in the garden. Because we were so far remote, we could literally see the stars through the window in our tent. But it wasn’t quite bed time yet.

The sunset over the Pink Lake is spectacular, so we borrowed one of Stan’s pick up vans and drove further up the hill from where we had a better view. En route, and while standing on the back of the truck, we saw many kangaroos jumping past us in the fading daylight. The sun set over the lake, turning the sky orange and the lake into different shades of pink and purple. Around us, there was nothing but silence. We enjoyed the magic until the sun was gone and the cold set in before we went back to the farm for some dinner around the fireplace and red wine.

Because it was very windy the next day, we decided to spend the day in the town of Kalbarri where we enjoyed more off-roading and we simply took the time to relax underneath a tree right next to the beach. Despite the wind, it was very hot and it was just nice to snooze and do nothing for a little while.

When we got back to the farm, Stan and Barbara had arrived with another friend and they took us for an even more beautiful sunset viewing spot. We had brought drinks and cheeses, cold meats and crackers along and swiftly turned the back of the pickup truck into a fine dining table. What else do you need in life? It was perfect.

As if this wasn’t enough, Stan and Barbara had prepared the tastiest stew I have ever had in a clay pot on the fire for us. It had been stewing for hours; the lamb was so tender it fell off the bone and I had two massive plates full until my belly couldn’t take no more.

Liam and I only just managed to stay up until midnight to welcome the New Year before we fell into our tent, dead to the world and ready for a few stops on our 6-hour drive back to Perth.