advice for our SW WA trip

IdahOz,
It appears from your post that you are going to do it all in about a week.

That does not give much time to see anything, perhaps a little less travelling and more looking may be worth considering.

As an example Hyden to Esperance is about 300Ks just to spend one night there, then it's about 450Ks back to Albany.
That doesn't leave much time for sightseeing and doing all the touristy things in Esperance, and believe me there's plenty.

For what it's worth, this is what I suggest; Bunbury to Narrogin (O/Night at Narrogin), Narrogin to Hyden/Wave Rock (O/Night at Hyden), Hyden to Albany (2 Nights in Albany, there's plenty to see and do), Albany to Walpole, stopping in Denmark for an hour or two, do the treetop walk near Walpole and overnight in Walpole, Walpole to Pemberton/Manjimup (O/Night Pemberton) andthen Pemberton-Augusta-Margaret River-Busselton-Bunbury on your final day.

A distance of around 400-500Ks a day is about the maximum you can do safely and without cooping the littlies up for too long.

Hope this gives you some help

Disco.

Yep re much of Disco's comment above - seems to me you are going too far east if you want the troops to get quality for those days away, without exhausting hours staring out the car windows. On Hyden - Wave Rock has 'some interest', but we were passing through and continuing east - going there especially could be a let down for some. A trip no further east than Bremer Bay might be a plan (but you could have trouble getting the troops away from there :-o)... we stayed at the CP (very good).... plenty of bream in the estuary too. You could then access quality experiences coming back along the coast - if you are interested in the natural environment more than the towns, Cheyne beach, Denmark, Walpole, etc. all have great walks.... the tourist info offices all have plenty of good first hand info in these places. For example, there is a great little walk just behind the tourist info office at Walpole - there are other longer walks for example near the Shannon Campground by the Shannon River..... the Valley of Giants / treetop walks are great too of course......whatever..... it won't be hard to have a good time down there.....oh, and the whaling station tour at Albany was good for us, because we knew nothing at all about whaling as an industry..... the kids could have a great time there, especially with a real ship to climb all over.

Why travel so far? You can exhaust yourselves by going to Margaret River via the coast road -tall trees, vineyards, cattle - Augusta a very early settlement, the waterwheel and the lighthouse. Stay the night and then to Walpole via Nannup along the river. Stay Denmark and then follow the coast to Albany. Stay the night and sightsee the following day.
Less driving and more looking. Sounds better to me. I have done this route several times and still find more to see.

Regarding the second part of your question. I live in Albany and know the coastline well from east of Bremmer Bay to Denmark. What sort of camping are you looking for? National park camp sites, Council Camps or bush camps?

Steve

Morning IdahOz
have a look at my profile and send me an Email with your phone number,as i live in Eaton opposit The Eaton Tavern.....Cheers for now...William H...Bunbury...WA.