Perth to Karijini National Park - Britz

Seven nights and 3,000 kilometres from Perth to Karijini in a campervan, up the Coral Coast and then inland into the Pilbara.

Geraldton comes first, then Denham on Shark Bay, with Francois Peron National Park on the peninsula above it, where red cliffs meet white beach and turquoise water, and Monkey Mia, where wild dolphins come into the shallows and have done for decades.

Carnarvon and Exmouth follow on Ningaloo Reef, where the coral starts a short swim from the beach and whale sharks pass through in the autumn. The route then turns inland to Cheela Plains, a working cattle station that takes campers and supplies two nights of station life, and Tom Price, a mining town and the gateway to Karijini, where the gorges cut hundreds of metres into the Hamersley Ranges and the pools at the bottom are reached by scrambling and ladders.

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. Eight days for three thousand kilometres means long driving days, and Karijini at the end deserves rather more time than the schedule gives it. Several gorge trails there are classified for experienced walkers only and some require a guide. Dry season is the window, and Pilbara heat from October onwards makes the walks unwise. The station nights at Cheela Plains are the unexpected part of this itinerary: a working cattle lease the size of an English county, with a campground, a cooked breakfast and no other traffic.