22 day Darwin to Perth Ultimate Overland Adventure
Day 1: Darwin to the Katherine Region
This overland adventure kicks off from the Northern Territory’s tropical capital with a drive south to Nitmiluk National Park (Katherine Gorges). Depending on the season, your adventure will get underway with a swim in the natural pool by the base of Edith Falls or cruise through the croc-filled waters of Katherine Gorge. After lunch it’s on to our private campsite on the edge of Nitmiluk, where you have the option of spending the night in a permanent tent or snuggled up in a swag (an Aussie bedroll).
Note: Total driving time today is around four hours. Total walking distance is approximately two kilometres.
Accommodation – Permanent tented camp with shared facilities
Meals – Lunch / Dinner
Day 2: Lake Argle
The Outback of the Kimberley region, which spreads across the northern region of Western Australia, is not as flat, dry and barren as many first expect. Today we’ll visit enormous Lake Argyle, which looks perfectly at home despite being entirely man-made. Native fauna has settled here in huge numbers – try to spy crocs, wallabies and rare birds on a walk along the lake’s shores. Soak up the backdrop of mountains-turned-islands, then turn into camp under some seriously starry skies.
Note: Total driving time today is around six-and-a-half hours. Total walking distance is approximately 2-4 kilometres.
Accommodation – Camping with facilities
Included Activities – Lake Argyle
Optional Activities – Lake Argyle Sunset Cruise – AUD40
Meals – Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner
Day 3: Purnululu National Park (Bungle Bungle Ranges)
The distinctive sandstone towers of the Bungle Bungle Range only became known to wider Australia when a group of documentary filmmakers stumbled across them in 1982. Travelling by both foot and vehicle, we’ll take you through the craggy gorges, past unique rock formations, and to hidden waterholes. The day closes with a stunning Kimberley sunset witnessed from this evening’s bush camp.
Note: Total driving today is around five-and-a-half hours. Total walking distance is approximately five kilometres.
Accommodation – Camping with basic facilities
Meals – Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner
Day 4: The Bungle Bungles
Today’s all about getting to know the Bungle Bungles properly. First stop for the day is the ever-narrowing gap of Echidna Chasm. Formed over millions of years by water flowing through an opening in the sandstone, the path winds through palm-filled gorges up to 200 metres high though in parts only 1-2 metres wide. Next, trade the tight spaces of Echidna Chasm for the wide-open natural amphitheatre of Cathedral Gorge. Feeling dwarfed by these giant rock structures, get a very different perspective with a helicopter flight over the Bungle Bungles. Though an optional activity at extra cost, this is definitely an experience worth shelling out for.
Note: Total driving time today is around one hour. Total walking distance is approximately five kilometres.
Accommodation – Camping with basic facilities
Included Activities – Cathedral Gorge Walk (Bungle Bungle) / Echidna Chasm Walk
Optional Activities – Helicopter Flight – Bungle Bungles – from – AUD350
Meals – Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner
Day 5: Bungle Bungles and El Questro
Hit the road again, this time passing Warmun (Turkey Creek) and the Durack Ranges on the way to El Questro. Not too long ago, it was mostly cattle that got to enjoy the million-acre sprawl of El Questro. Thankfully for the rest of us, the owners recognised the beauty of their land and turned it into a wilderness park in 1991. Arriving at our campsite, there’ll be time for a beer or two at the Swinging Arm Bar before dinner.
Note: Total driving time today is around three hours. Total walking distance is approximately six kilometres.
Accommodation – Camping with facilities
Meals – Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner
Day 6: El Questro Station
At more than one and a half times the size of the UK, there are plenty of scenic spots to explore in El Questro. On the drive in, you will have got some clue as to the huge cliffs, deep gorges, waterfalls and swimming holes contained in the Cockburn Ranges, but now you’ll be exploring them on foot. Walk to Emma Gorge, cool off in a waterfall-fed subtropical pool and bliss out in the thermal springs of Zebedee.
Note: Total driving time today is around 45 minutes. Total walking distance is up to seven kilometres.
Accommodation – Camping with facilities
Meals – Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner
Day 7: Gibb River Road
Fording rivers and weaving through gorges, travel by 4WD along the wild Gibb River Road – a 600-kilometre stretch that winds right through the heart of the Kimberley. We’ve got a fair bit of ground to cover today, so there is a fair bit of drive time, but we’ll be breaking the journey up with lunch and at a few stop-offs along the way. Tonight’s camp is at Mt Barnett station located very close to Manning Gorge.
Note: Total driving time today is around five hours. Total walking distance is approximately two kilometres.
Accommodation – Camping with basic facilities
Included Activities – Gibb River Road / Manning Gorge
Meals – Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner
Day 8: Manning Gorge and Windjana Gorge
We spend the morning exploring the stunning Manning Gorge and enjoy a swim in the pools under Manning Falls. Depending on the season, post-lunch we spend the afternoon exploring Adcock or Galvans Gorge before making our way to Silent Grove and setting up camp for the night.
Note: Total driving time today is around two hours. Total walking distance is approximately 6-8 kilometres.
Accommodation – Camping with basic facilities
Included Activities – Windjana Gorge
Meals – Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner
Day 9: Bell Gorge
The western Kimberley region is full of endless stunning gorges that have to be explored and this morning is no exception. After breakfast we adventure to Bell Gorge, home to a stunning cascade of water flowing from the previous wet season rains that fall in the King Leopold Ranges. The afternoon sees us head to Windjana Gorge, a segment of 375 million-year-old reef that was once underwater. Cut through by the Lennard River, which runs during the wet season then breaks up into little billabongs during the dry, this gorge attracts many species of bird and is a great spot to see wild freshwater crocodiles.
Note: Total driving time today is around 2.5 hours. Total walking distance is
approximately four to six kilometres.
Accommodation – Camping with basic facilities
Included Activities – Tunnel Creek exploration walk
Meals – Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner
Day 10: Broome
After breakfast, the drive to your next destination of Broome will take around five hours. On arrival into Broome, enjoy an idyllic sunset, which the town is famous for. Tonight, check into your accommodation ahead of two free days in this beautiful city.
Accommodation – Hostel
Meals – Breakfast / Lunch
Day 11: Broome
Located at what often feels like the ends of the earth, with the ocean on one side and desert the other, Broome is a great place to chill out in for a few days. And that’s exactly what we do. With no scheduled activities for the next two days, how you spend your time here is completely up to you. Potter down to Chinatown, check out the Staircase Night Market, bask yourself on Roebuck Bay and perhaps sign up for a sunset camel safari along Cable Beach.
Accommodation – Hostel
Day 12: Broome
Broome may well be beautiful, but it has a pretty dark side too. The pearling industry, which made the town its fortune, was one largely built on the practice of ‘blackbirding’, in which enslaved indigenous people were forced to dive for the shells. When slavery was abolished, the Japanese took up the work, and the town’s Japanese cemetery contains more than 900 headstones commemorating the lives lost. In 2010 a memorial was also established in honour of the Indigenous Female Pearl Divers. Learn more about the town’s history at the Broome Historical Museum, then perhaps catch a flick at the world’s longest-running outdoor cinema.
Accommodation – Hostel
Day 13: Broome to the Pilbara Region
Leaving Broome in the dust, we kick-start the second part of our adventure with a drive across part of Western Australia’s Great Sandy Desert. At an area of roughly 285,000 sq km, this is Australia’s second largest desert. And while certainly very sandy, the terrain also consists of dune fields, spinifex grasslands and salt lakes. After a bit of driving we’ll make a stop at Eighty Mile Beach. Aside from being a pretty lovely spot for a beach stroll, this coast is a major nesting area for flatback turtles – a species found only in Australia. Tonight, we stay at an outback cattle station.
Note: Total driving time today is around six hours. Total walking distance is approximately one kilometre.
Accommodation – Cabin
Meals – Lunch / Dinner
Day 14: Pilbara Region to Karijini National Park
This morning we head toward Karijini National Park with a quick stop in Port Headland to check out the iron ore mecca of Australia. If time permits, we may duck into one of the Gorge’s this afternoon. If not, we’ll set up camp in the National Park and get a good night’s rest before we head in for a full day of exploring tomorrow.
Note: Total driving time today is around six hours. Total walking distance can be up to three kilometres, come sections may be through water.
Accommodation – Camping with facilities)
Meals – Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner
Day 15: Karijini National Park
This, without any doubt, is one of Australia’s most magnificent national parks (and it’s not like Australia has any shortage of them). Freshwater springs trickle through chasms to form translucent rock pools, walking trails weave between dramatic rock ravines. A visit to the Karijini Cultural Centre will introduce you to the many sights you can expect to see here over the three days. Spend a full day exploring the gorges, gullies and secluded swimming spots of Karijini. Weano Gorge, Hancock Gorge, Dales Gorge and Oxers Lookout are just some of the better-known sites we’ll get to.
Note: Total driving time today is one hour. Total walking distance is approximately six kilometres, some sections may be through water.
Accommodation – Camping with facilities
Included Activities – Karijini National Park Entrance
Meals – Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner
Day 16: Karijini National Park
Enjoy another day searching out Karijini’s natural treasures or head back for more time spent at your favourite spots.
Note: Total driving time today is around an hour. Total walking distance is approximately six kilometres.
Accommodation – Camping with facilities
Meals – Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner
Day 17: Karijini to Exmouth
Jump back in the truck for a drive through classic outback terrain to Cape Range National Park. Extending inland from the Indian Ocean across the North West Cape peninsula, this protected landmass feels like a patch of the outback relocated seaside. Here we have an exclusive campsite, so it’s here that we stay the night.
Note: Today is a long day of driving, about 8 hours with rest stops.
Accommodation – Permanent safari camp with shared facilities
Meals – Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner
Day 18: Exmouth
Today’s yours to spend how you wish. Become acquainted with the region’s underwater inhabitants on a snorkeling or diving excursion, set out by boat tour in search of whale sharks (seasonal) or just while the day away on the flawless sands of Turquoise Bay. Take in the panoramic views of the ocean from the Vlaming Head Lighthouse. In the afternoon we travel on to Coral Bay.
Note: Total driving time today is around two hours. Total walking distance is approximately one kilometre.
Accommodation – Hostel
Included Activities – Ningaloo Reef Marine Park
Optional Activities – Snorkel with the Whalesharks (April to July only) from – AUD350
Meals – Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner
Day 19: Coral Bay
If you didn’t squeeze a snorkel in yesterday, today you get to or, if you did, you get another opportunity…everyone wins. Ningaloo Reef is one of the world’s largest fringing reefs, meaning that it starts practically from the water’s edge. You just swim out from shore and suddenly you’re in a world of coral, fish, turtles and manta rays. Swimming above these enormous majestic creatures is really something else, they might even put on an acrobatics show for you! Not much of a swimmer? There’s also the option of taking in the scene on a glass bottom boat tour, along with many other optional activities. We’ll introduce you to the friendly staff at Coral Bay Eco Tours
Note: There is no driving today, just a short walk to Coral Bay Eco Tours and water activities.
Accommodation – Hostel
Optional Activities – Glass Bottom Boat Cruises from – AUD37 / Whale Watching (seasonal) from – AUD85 / Snorkel with Manta Rays – half day trip – AUD165
Meals – Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner
Day 20: Coral Bay to Denham
Today we cross over the Tropic of Capricorn. You probably won’t notice it, but what crossing this latitude means is that from here on south the sun will never be directly above you. You should still wear a hat though. Main stop for the day is Shell Beach which, much as name would suggest, is a beach made of shells. What’s quite incredible about the place however is the amount of shells there are. Locals have been using them in various industries for years, yet they still cover a stretch 60 km long and up to 7 metres deep. Tonight, we stay in the small seaside town of Denham, in the Shark Bay world heritage area.
Note: Total driving time today is around six and a half hours. Total walking distance is approximately one kilometres.
Accommodation – Hostel
Meals – Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner
Day 21: Monkey Mia to Kalbarri
Moving on, we arrive in Monkey Mia, where bottlenose dolphins have been showing up every day for a free feed going on forty years. These are probably the tamest wild dolphins you’ll ever meet. Up early this morning for a short drive across the Eastern Peninsula. See stromatolites, the oldest living organisms in the world, then continue south for Kalbarri. Time permitting, there’ll be a stop-off along the way at Murchison Gorge, where there’s the opportunity to admire the landscape through Nature’s Window.
Note: Total driving time today is around five and a half hours. Total walking distance is approximately five kilometres.
Accommodation – Hostel
Included Activities – Kalbarri National Park Entrance / Monkey Mia Dolphins
Meals – Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner
Day 22: Nambung National Park to Perth
Cruising through the coastal gorges of Kalbarri National Park, we come to the quaint coastal town of Dongara, sitting at the head of the Irwin River. Anyone keen to give sandboarding a shot will get the chance at Sandy Cape/Lancelin, a vast sand desert peopled by the strange limestone structures of the Pinnacles Nambung National Park. After a walk around here it’s to Perth, where we farewell our new friends.
Note: Today’s driving will take approximately 6.5 hours (with about two kilometres of walking). There are no more activities planned for today so you’re free head to your accommodation for the night or meet at Grand Lane Fish House for your farewell dinner (own expense).
Included Activities – Nambung National Park (Pinnacles) Entrance
Meals – Breakfast / Lunch
