1st week on the road - West coast

Early to bed, early to rise. After a quick breakfast, we hit the road again towards Geraldton. No phone reception again, so we used the time to catch up on social media. We were at the beach, but it was still too cold to go swimming. We bought a pack of ice cream on sale at the supermarket. It's much cheaper than buying individual ice creams, so everyone gets 2. It's like replacing lunch. Eating healthy is not easy on a road trip, haha.
Since there are no showers at the campsites, we always look for free showers in the towns. Luckily, we found one. It feels so much better to be freshly showered. Then we drove directly to the next campground. This time, it was by a river, very beautiful. Flies are constantly with us now, so we had to make friends with them. But once the sun goes down, they suddenly disappear.
Since we usually drive 3 hours from the campground to the next town, and then another 3 hours to the next campground, not much happened on this day.

On Thursday, we went to Kalbarri National Park. It started raining in the morning, but the further we drove into the national park, the nicer the weather got. There was a lookout (Z-Bend) that overlooked the whole gorge. Another trail led down to the water. But it wasn't a normal trail, we had to climb over rocks and sometimes didn't know where to go. But we made it down and of course took photos. After a short break, we went to the famous Nature's Window. We had to hike a bit again, but this time not over as many rocks. And of course, we took the iconic photo.
The road out of the national park was also unpaved, and after a while, the engine started overheating. So we had to keep stopping and waiting. Once we were back on a paved road, everything was fine again and we could drive to the campground. The roads were exactly what you would imagine in Australia. Red dirt on both sides and beautiful trees. Magnificent with the sun just setting. We had dinner at the campground while enjoying the sunset. I could do this every evening.

On Friday, we headed to Denham. On the way there, we stopped at a lookout over the Stromatolites and a Shell Beach. The whole beach was covered in small white shells, and it was so bright that we couldn't take off our sunglasses. We sat down for a short break. In Denham, we went swimming in a small lake called 'Little Lagoon'. By now, it was warm enough and the cool water felt refreshing. We wanted to dry off at the beach, but the sandflies found us. So we quickly changed and got back in the car. In the town, we used the free showers again and walked around a bit. On the way to the next campground, we saw kangaroos, emus, goats, and sheep on the side of the road. After a small dinner, it was time to go to bed, this time in shorts and a tank top.

We woke up early on Saturday because it was getting hot in the car, and we were already awake between 6-7 am. In Carnarvon, the next big town, we did some shopping, refueled, and of course bought another pack of ice cream. Prices in small towns are quite expensive, so we're always happy to find a bigger town with Coles or Woolworths, the big supermarket chains. Dominik also checked the car's coolant and other things. By noon, it was already around 38 degrees Celsius, so we sought refuge in the library. There, we could use the Wi-Fi and charge our camera batteries, laptop, etc. In every town, there are free taps with drinking water where we fill our water containers. The water tastes much better than the chlorinated water in the big cities. After refueling, we drove to the campground. It was really in the middle of nowhere, with nothing to see in sight, not even trees. We planned our day for tomorrow and then followed our typical routine: eat, wash dishes, and go to sleep.

We were supposed to drive directly to Coral Bay early on Sunday, but we turned off the alarms and stayed in bed a bit longer because we didn't sleep well at night. The car started overheating again on the way, so in Coral Bay, we bought a new fuse because one had blown. Then we headed to the beach. There's a coral reef (Ningaloo Reef) right on the beach in Coral Bay. So we went into the water and went snorkeling. We could see fish right away, and I wanted to record everything with my GoPro, but it didn't turn on at that moment, of course. In the late afternoon, we wanted to continue driving to our campground, but the car overheated again. However, there's only one mechanic in Coral Bay, and he was still busy. So we waited and waited. He still wasn't finished by 5:00 pm, and we had nowhere to sleep tonight. Luckily, there was a hostel in town, where we checked in later since the mechanic wouldn't be available until tomorrow. So tonight, we finally have a real bed, a shower, and most importantly, air conditioning.

The next morning, we waited for the mechanic. He didn't come to the hostel as agreed at 10:00 am, so we extended our stay at the hostel for another night. I was calm the whole time because it's not my car, and I could have taken a bus back to Perth from Coral Bay. But Dominik was naturally nervous and had a thousand thoughts. Fortunately, the mechanic arrived soon, and the problem was quickly fixed. That meant we could continue driving tomorrow. We spent the afternoon at the beach and participated in feeding the fish for free. It was nice to stay in one place for a bit longer, we had enough time.

On Tuesday, we went to Exmouth. There's a national park (Cape Range) with many snorkeling spots there. But it was very windy, and we didn't feel like snorkeling in that weather. So we just walked along the beaches. There was also a small turtle center with information boards about different turtles and their life cycles. After refueling and checking the car, we drove to our campground. On the way, we saw many emus and cattle crossing the road, or sometimes just standing in the middle of the road. The cattle always notice us very late and then run away scared. The ground here is slowly turning into that dark red color you imagine in the Outback.

So, the first week of the road trip is over. There was so much to see, and the further north we went, the warmer it got. Now we're heading more into the Outback, so no more coast for a while. But sleeping in the car doesn't bother me, except for the heat at night. But I'm sure you would appreciate some warmth, so I won't complain here.