Road trip: Coral Coast

As you hit the road, leaving the outskirts of Perth city in the dust, veer onto Indian Ocean Highway. Wind through the sand dunes of Lancelin before turning off towards the Nambung National Park in Cervantes. This arid landscape is home to the Pinnacles Desert, a collection of towering limestone pillars that date back millions of years. At sunset, they light up in an otherworldly scene straight out of Mad Max.

There’s plenty more to explore in this coastal plain, from secluded beaches to explosions of native wildflowers. But for a quintessentially Australian experience, make sure to swing past Kangaroo Point. It’s a tranquil beach where you can be lucky and find marsupials basking on the shore at dawn and dusk.

As you leave Cervantes, take a short cruise up to Jurien Bay, a popular fishing town. There are several jetties for you to cast out a line – and, with a bit of luck, reel in a pink snapper or Spanish mackerel to cook for lunch. You can also sandboard the dunes at Sandy Cape or hire a Segway to zip around town. Adventure seeker? Skydiving is a must. Freefalling over the spectacular Turquoise Coast is the stuff lifelong memories are made of.

A bit further inland is Leseur National Park. In wildflower season – late winter and spring – it transforms into a botanical wonderland, with more than 900 plant species springing up from the heathland. And just 20 minutes further along the Indian Ocean Drive is Green Head, where a colony of excitable sea lions frolic.

Get up bright and early for a big day of driving, starting with a two hour cruise north to Kalbarri. In the Kalbarri National Park you can walk along 400 million year old river gorge, and behold spectacular wind weathered rock formations (Nature’s Window makes for a great photo op). If you’re not content with admiring the craggy coastal canyons, go abseiling down them with a local guide.

Then hop back in the car and return to the North West Coastal Highway for a two and a half hour stretch north. Eventually, you’ll hit Shark Bay, a UNESCO World Heritage listed site. It’s almost a bit barren on first glance, but there are pockets of pure wonder. Instead of sand, Shell Beach’s shores are made up of billions of tiny cockleshells, making it one of just two beaches of this kind in the world. And under pristine lagoons, you’ll find marine species as varied as fluorescent sea snakes, dugongs, dolphins and tiger sharks.

After waving goodbye to the dolphins, wind back to the highway and journey up to Carnarvon, a tropical pit stop known as WA’s fruit bowl. You’ll find papaw plantations, strawberry fields and ripe mangoes fallen by the roadsides. Don’t leave without stopping by Bumbak’s for a frozen chocolate dipped banana.

A further two and a half hours north is Coral Bay, a coastal settlement so tiny that residents walk rather than drive, and often go barefoot. Have lunch at the chilled out Bill’s Tavern, which has had a recent facelift (the tasty seafood remains).