Roadtrippin in WA...

I just did pretty much everything you want to do a month ago, I think 5 nights in coral bay is too long, 2 nights would be enough, I was a little dissapointed. there is nothing there apart from real nice beach to relax etc. Monkey mia is great! and so is denham. There is a little place on the way to denham called nanga bay which is an old resort which is worth a stop over. They have three powered sites which are literally on the beach and are absolutely amazing! request one of those! The free camp called whale bone betweennanga bay and denham is good as well as the other one I think it is called fowlers camp?? both free and very nice! You have to register with the ranger before camping but doesnt cost anything, he came around one night we were there and was checking number plates! We stayed at coral bay and they cram so many people into the caravan park that it feels stressful! In denham you should go to Francos perein national park and camp in there! At the entrance they have a compressor station where you let your tyres down and its a sandy track all the way to the top, takes a few hours in 4wd and very sandy in some spots but even rav 4's seemed to get through it.. on the rocks you can scrape fresh oysters.. We would love to camp there next time but we had the caravan on our last trip but will be taking the landcruiser and roof top tent next time and camp in the nat park for a few days! It is amazing! Get all your fuel and groceries from denham..

Hi Scottee,

Sounds like a great trip and we can't make comment on your timeline query.

If you are going out to Denham, Monkey Mia and Francios Peron, two MUST DOs are the trip out to Steep Point and some time in the hot tub at the homestead.

Have a great trip.

Regards,
Wayne & Sally.

Hi Scottee
Timing is not far out. Will you be towing a van? We live in northern suburbs of Perth and our friends live in Tom Price. They do our place to Tom Price in 15 hours. Benno says he sits on about 120 though most of the way. You then have to add about 35 mins to get to Karajini from TP.
Its a great trip and we've done it as you've planned other than stopping at Canarvon. We had intended to stop at the Blowholes but in the end we carried onto Kalbarri to give us an extra night there.
Personally we love Coral Bay but I would agree with the other member it can be a bit of a fish tin at times as they really do cram you in. Fortunately for us it has always been about the company we've been in. I'd probably also recommend having less time at Coral Bay and then think about grabbing sometime further south. Again, we've not stayed at Nanga Bay but one of my best mates other half likes to camp there all the time so it must be ok. It is a shame you don't have a bit more time as we'd highly recommend Millstream, which is slightly more north of Karajini. That was our only other difference to your trip as we went from Karajini to Millstream to Coral Bay.
Have a great time.

hi scottee
sounds about right time wise and agree 2 days at coral bay is enough but dont think it will be as crowded in october as it is earlier because the oldies have usually gone back south by then as it hotting up
millstream is nice but doesnt take long to see whats there
be aware that the water in the karajini gorges is very cold and even at that time of the year because your body is hot
so its very easy to get cramp or even hyperthermia in a short time depending on which pools you go in some are quiet deep so never warm up
some are shaded most of the day

cheers

Scottee : If your going as far as coral day ( 5 night ?) you might as well go to exmouth & ningaloo reef it's twice as good and a lot more thing to do .

100k's south of coral day is Warroora station stay a very nice spot but is bush camping and must have chemical toilet.

warroora

so many nice places to see !!

Monkey Mia/Sharks Bay over rated IMO

Have you had a look at some of the blogs on this site regards to this subject ?

cheers nick

Hey Guys n Gals!!

Thanks heaps for all your replies :-) im still getting used to how this forum works so bare with me.. Was hoping it would show all of the replies when I wanted to reply so I could cross reference some things that was mentioned but looks like that doesnt happen!!

So after reading everyones replies the main impression I got was Coral Bay is cool, but there is alot of better places to go check out. I spoke to a couple of the camping grounds in Coral Bay and they said that time of the year wont require pre booking so hopefully it shouldnt be too busy. Basically all we are wanting to do is relax, swim, fish, see some awesome county side and meet some nice people. We are planning on staying in caravan/camping grounds and not bush camping it this time as my partner is new to camping so just starting off easy.

So the plan was to spend 12 days roadtrippin and on the 1st day burn straight up from Perth to Karijini, but after some discussion we think that 16/17 hrs driving on the 1st day is pretty hardcore and we might stop off at a roadhouse somewhere along the Great Northern Hwy for a night to break up the drive. Is there anywhere along the way to stop that wont be like a scene from Wolfcreek?? Hehe...

Still thinking 4 nights Karijini, but after everyone saying only a couple of night in Coral Bay is required maybe we will just head straight to Exmouth instead.... Hmmmmmm too many places to choose from!!!

Anyways I'll check out the blogs and explore this forum more to see what is said :-)

Many thanks for all your replies!!

Cheers
Scottee

Yep... Awesome trip you've got coming up!
You can't really go wrong on the route youre travelling! I did a similar trip about 2 years ago, but in reverse. Up the coast, and down the inland road. My stops were (No. of nights) ... Murchison River (1), Red Bluff (2), Exmouth (1) camping out near Yardys Creek (3), Karratha (3) Dampier Peninsula pass the Jump Up (3), Karijini (2), Newman (3) Walga Rock near Cue (aboriginal drawings) (1).
All up about 6000 km in my petrol/gas 60 series. Only car problem was a flat tyre on the last night! I spent time in the major centres mainly to catch up with some old friends.
Highlights, and there were many, were camping out near Yardys Creek, Karijini, and exploring around Newman with a Geoligist mate who knows it very well.
Cheers,
Wazza

Good on you Scottee, get out there!

Great Northern Highway is very busy, and at times slower, with all the mega loads heading North. You may find it hard to achieve a straight up trip to Karijini without a break. I'd suggest an overnight free camp stop at Bilyuin Pool some 80km north of Meekatharra. It's well off the road and real peaceful. Details are on this website.
Slow it down and have some fun, Cash.