Info about the Wild West

AFAIK mostly closed due to it being a major catchment area. The Famous powerlines is still open but quite frankly i reckon once youve done it once.
Avon Vally NP near Toodjay but while nice there is only one campsite down the bottom of a hill that 4wd can be of assistance.
If your a bit sneaky Not far up Toddjay road from the Roe highway has a few tracks.
I live in the Foothills and visit them a fair bit (Lesmurdie falls NP, Kalamunda NP, Gooseberry hill etc) But more for the walking tracks and nice scenery than the 4wding)

There are still places to go but there getting less all the time. Toodyay and Gin Gin are nice in the cooler weather but very dry and brown over the summer.

Julimar forrest is nice out that way. Closser to the coast there is Wilbinga (busy nowa days)

Then there is the powerlines that goes upto Gin Gin via the pine forrest, lots of sand but not very pretty.

I guess it will depend on where your work is. at the end of the day that is where you will be travelling to the most. Toodyay, Gin Gin and such places are lovely but a fair way out of the CBD. A little closer to town (for Hills living is places such as Mundaring, Darlington, Kalamunda, Lesmurdie,(our choice) and going further along is Roleystone plus others. You can get a book on daily/ weekend 4WD treks from the city which I believe are great. All in all if you do decide to come over to our lovely WA (I migrated over from SA with my parents many moons ago) Welcome!!!!

Cheers

D

I grew up in Northam - 15 mins east of Toodyay. Not a bad area to live. About 45 mins to Midland along Toodyay Rd. There is a 4WD Club in Toodyay so they should be able to help you out.

Just watch out for the 'dueling banjoes' up in the hills - some of the locals are too closely related for my liking (similar to Taswegians) :-))))

It's a great state - you love it.

Karl

Just what we need, another Eastern States blow-in. Soon everyone here will be from somewhere else. Yes, and before you ask, 4th generation local.

Toodyay is a bit far out of town if you are working anywhere near the CBD.I would look around Mundaring or Kalamunda.

7 years in the glorious west - we travelled over 100k in the trusty Toyotas (Hilux and then a 60) We lived in Helena Valley just out of Midland, 20 minutes through the Swan Valley (yum - wine) to get to Pearce (Bullsbrook) and easy for the train to CBD from Midland.

Distance starts to become irrelevant. We'd do 1000ks in a weekend just to visit a nice spot on the south coast or head of north east to check out the wildflowers. Great country up north, just a lot of nothing in bertween the nice spots.

Margaret River, Dwellingup, Esperance, Kalbarri, Albany.....

WA - Land of Sand. Wet sand, dry sand, hard sand, sand with razor sharp limestone ridges......

Try Bindoon.

Great scenery, great people, 5 acre + blocks with good modern houses about the same price as a 4 bed on 600sq m block in outer Perth suburbs.

Sufficiently far from Perth to have a real country town community spirit, lots of clubs/associations etc and some great 4wding/wilderness experiences in the winter in the Julimar Forest if you know where to look, and shorter travelling time ( ~ 1 hour) to Perth CBD than Toodyay.

I spend every weekend there renewing my soul on my hobby farm with 80 Murray Grey cows overlooking the lakes - work in the bull dust during the week, and play in the bull bleep on the weekend - heaven on earth.

Cheers

G'day,
We're also looking at moving out that way again, maybe at the end of this year and if not then the next. My husband is a West Aussie boy & hard to keep him over east for long.

Unlike yourself we'll be in the renting game, doesn't seem to be much available in places like Mundaring etc so we'll probably have a look over Quinns Rocks way, heaps of affordable homes for rent out that way.

What do you West Aussies reckon of Quinns Rocks? It's close to Joondalup and on the edge of the city so sounds about right for us. Only downside is having to drive all the way to the hills if I want to go for a good mountain bike ride. Hubby will be flying in and out for work so the only commute will be getting to the airport, and I'll take whatever work I can get.

The property market has really skyrocketed over the last few years if you're planning to buy there may be still some good growth left, or it could slow down and stay steady, hard to say.