The number one out of Perth headed south looks a lot like the wilds of Arizona, and occasionally like the north loop around Chicago, with the highway divided around the commuter rail down the centers. Of course the gum trees and the left hand drive separate the experience from the midwestern states, as does the fresh hibiscus laying on the dashboard.

Yellow sandy soil dotted with bleached barked scrub and foliage in every shade of dusty green line the highway with buildings thinning out the further we move from the city. Perth is the most isolated city on the planet. It’s closer to Jakarta, Indonesia than it is to it’s own capital city of Canberra. It’s a little island of civilization on the extreme west of Australia.

It’s a beautiful serendipity that we find ourselves rolling towards the National Parks that line the coast of the state of Western Australia for a week of camping and exploration. It’s a piece of the planet that we never really planned on visiting, but the best adventures are like that, aren’t they? 

We have two sets of traveling friends who just happen to be “home” in Perth at the moment:

The Going Anyway crew picked us up at the airport and has taken it upon themselves to educate us in all things Western Australian since we hit the ground. It’s been a fantastic long weekend of BBQs, riverside picnics, beach walks and home cooked food. They’re some of our very favourite travelers. Our families have a lot in common: a bunch of kids and a serious case of wanderlust. The kids have picked lemons and made lemonade to sell roadside (the moms thought they were wasting their time… they showed us! $15 is not a bad haul for an afternoon!) The teenagers have taken it in turns to teach the Baby Boy to knuckle bump, say “Yoda” and “Hot doggies!” Gabe has been dubbed, “Uncle Gabe” and pronounced by Tin Tin to be “not a kid,” which is good for Gabe’s ego. Hannah played lots of music to Sparky. The moms drank many cups of tea. The dads swapped pictures and stories. Fun was had by all.

They’ve generously donated their Toyota Hi-Ace van to our adventure, complete with “kangaroo catcher” on the front and towing capability for the little tent camper that the McNab family insisted we take for the week. We met them in Bali last week and have become instant friends, as so often happens with other travelers. Add to that bedding, a cooler, a couple of camp stoves and a heap of advice on where to go and what to see and you’ve got a recipe for a fantastic road trip!

The kids are sacked out in the back of the van.

All except for Ez who is diligently studying the landscape, hoping to bag the bounty on the first kangaroo spotted. We’ve got a buck out on the first emu. The camels we just passed netted the observer a grand total of nothing. We paid out in spades on our first camels in Africa. (Interesting side note: Australia has loads of wild camels and they wreak havoc on small towns!)

We’re enjoying a bit of reverse culture shock as we detox from Asia: The people all look like us, and we no longer enjoy a height advantage. We can read everything, understand everything, and the prices reflect Perth’s status as the world’s most isolated city.

But, there are olives and cheese, good wine, and fresh milk, so those things are all big wins in our book!