The South West Edge in 5 Days - Britz

Four nights and 760 kilometres in a loop from Perth in a campervan, south to Margaret River and the karri forest and back.

Harvey and Bunbury come first on the way down, then Busselton with its jetty, which runs almost two kilometres out into Geographe Bay, is the longest timber-piled jetty in the southern hemisphere and has an underwater observatory at the end of it.

Dunsborough and Margaret River follow, where the vineyards sit a few minutes from the surf breaks and the limestone ridge underneath is riddled with caves, several of them open to walk through. Pemberton comes next in the karri forest, where the Gloucester Tree has pegs spiralling up it to a fire lookout sixty metres above the ground, and Walpole holds the tingle trees, which grow nowhere else and are hollow enough at the base to stand inside.

Britz supply the camper and the day-by-day plan, and the hire is priced live per vehicle rather than per person; campsites, fuel, ferries, park fees and activities are all extra, with a nil-excess insurance pack available at booking. Five days is tight for 760 kilometres with this much to stop for, so something usually gets left out, and the caves and the tree climbs both take longer than expected. Spring brings the wildflowers and autumn the vintage, and either is a better bet than the summer crowds along this coast. Margaret River itself is compact enough that a camper can be parked up for two nights and the vineyards reached by taxi, which solves the usual problem with a wine region.