7 DAYS Join the campervan club...
In splendid isolation, MARGARET CARRAGHER goes campervanningp g in Western Australia alia
A round trip from Southampton, ports of call include Madeira, La Gomera, Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura, Lanzarote, Agadir, Lisbon and La Coruna.
To book, visit pocruises.com, call 0843 373 0111 or see your local travel agent.
WITH its epic landscapes, wide open roads and endless diversity, Western Australia is a campervanner’s dream.
Despite its state capital’s status as the most remote city on earth, you can fly from the UK to Perth in around 18 hours – that’s four hours less than the shortest flight to Sydney.
Moreover, with Western Australia just seven hours ahead of the UK in winter, or eight in summer, jet-lag isn’t the big deal you might imagine.
Indeed, having slept soundly on our Emirates flight here, the good man and I are ready to hit the ground running on arrival.
With so much ground to hit in a state equal in size to all of Western Europe, and comprising one-third of the country’s entire landmass, a realistic game plan is essential.
They don’t measure distance here in miles or kilometres so much as in chunks of time – it can be hours, sometimes even days between settlements.
With hotels equally few and far between in its isolated backwoods, a campervan is the only way to get around if hot showers and cold drinks are sacrosanct. And so to Britz.
With outlets nationwide and vehicles to suit all comers, Britz is Australia’s leading supplier of campervans, motorhomes and off-road 4WDs. Our Venturer campervan comes with toilet and shower facilities, linen and bedding, a fridgefreezer, gas stove, microwave, exterior slide-out barbecue, flatscreen TV and DVD player.
Fly to Perth aboard Emirates A380, the world’s biggest passenger airliner
It might seem obvious, but in such a vast and sparsely populated land the importance of stocking up judiciously before hitting the road cannot be overstated. You don’t want to be running out of water – or worse, wine – in the back of beyond.
So, after filling the fridge from Woolworths it’s time to join the ranks of Australia’s grey nomads.
A growing phenomenon Down Under, the grey nomad brigade comprises folk of a certain age who’ve traded the security of bricks and mortar for a chilled-out life on the open road. In a country as big as theirs, sight-seeing is forever a work in progress – and nice work, too, if you can get it. Relaxing by a campfire, deep in the Outback
To subsidise such an enviable lifestyle,lif Greys often follow the trailstra blazed by young working holidaymakersho seeking regional employmentem in farms and vineyards.vin Thus you’ll find young and old alike reaping grape and grain in the agricultural heartland of WA’s Beautiful South.
In the vineyards of Margaret River, about three hours south of Perth, we discover a community abuzz with wayfaring workers harvesting grapes in quantities sufficient to produce more than 20% of the nation’s premium wines. By any measure such a return would be impressive. Given that there wasn’t a single vine grown in Margaret River until 1967, the output here is epic.
As, indeed, is the atmosphere. On a pub crawl of its eponymous town we find party animals in their droves toasting the harvest with heroic amounts of its yield.
“Is it always like this?” I ask a fellow Grey, as around us a conga of revellers weaves its merry way to a raucous rendition of Beyonce’s Drunk in Love.
“Only during the week,” comes the reply. “The fun doesn’t really start until the weekend.”
Oh, to stick around until the weekend. But with a wish list crammed with things to do and places to see, it’s back on the open road.
With almost 13,000 miles of coastline featuring soaring cliffs, wide sandy beaches and legendary surf, WA’s coastal drives are not for trippers in a hurry. With towns and villages en route almost without exception worthy of a stop-off, we decide to scrap our half-baked plans and just go with the flow.
And so to Augusta. Located on the most south-westerly point of Australia, this delightful little town, founded in 1830, became WA’s third settlement, placing it in the premier league of historic landmarks nationwide.
In a state almost defined by superlatives, Augusta’s many distinctions include Jewel Cave, WA’s largest tourist cave featuring one of the world’s longest stalactites.
There’s Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse, the loftiest of its kind on mainland Australia; there’s Boranup Karri Forest, home to one of the tallest tree species on Earth.
There’s also Augusta’s unassailable position – writ large in its tourist bumf – as the last fish’n’chip outpost this side of the Antarctic. There’s no disputing that.