Our Western Australia Van Trip

Recommendations for Western Australia:

Yanchep National Park
Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park (Sugarloaf Rock, Canal Rocks, Redgate Beach, Hamelin Bay, Meelup Beach, Surfers Point)
Margaret River- loved this area, super cute town with lots to do
Esperance- kangaroos on the beach, more south
Gracetown- super cute surf town
Coral Bay- very blue water
Exmouth and Ningaloo Reef- whale shark, manta ray and humpback diving
Geraldton- a great town to stop along the way to Exmouth
Cape Range National Park- insane canyons and great views of the ocean and rocks
If you get a campervan you can park it almost anywhere and there are so many apps to download that show you free camping spots for the night
Apollo Campervan- https://www.apollocamper.com/vehicles/campervans

Recommendations for Bali, Indonesia:

Airbnb for Uluwatu- (can rent moped from the airbnb for about $7 a day) https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/1204087240900268848?guests=1&c=.pi129.pkpast_trip_share_virality&s=67&unique_share_id=cf30ed75-0737-4c2c-9f29-0f74a195a448
Blue Point Beach- hidden gem, not as crowded and a great place to lay out and watch surf
Suka Espresso- one of the best places for brunch
Oakberry Acai- best acai bowls in Uluwatu
Pandang Pandang Beach- one of the most crowded beaches in Uluwatu but lots of monkeys by the temple and have surf rentals on the beach
Impossible Beach- incredible views
Dreamland Beach- baby puppies running around and also a great surf spot
Salty Coffee- great coffee and breakfast spot
Lola’s Cantina Mexicana– great place for dinner or to play pool
Hatch– great place to go out and dance
Tiny Social Club- coffee shop during the day, club at night
Grab is essential for getting around if you don’t want to rent a moped or don’t want to drive
Airbnb for Ubud- https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/1351244537114110717?guests=1&c=.pi129.pkpast_trip_share_virality&s=67&unique_share_id=456b1dc3-9a65-4382-80ba-9f27dfae8882

Our Trip!

While tanning on the beach with our friend Evelyn in Hawaii this summer, we started debating what to do with all the free time we had in August before heading back to school. We threw out a bunch of ideas on where to go and eventually landed on a van trip in Australia. The stars really aligned when we saw how cheap flights were for the dates we had in mind. Within a couple days, we had our flights booked and even added a Bali leg at the end of the trip.

When I had to leave Hawaii in June to intern in San Francisco, saying goodbye to Evelyn felt easier knowing we already had our next trip lined up. As far as planning went, we barely did any. Van rentals are super common in Australia, so we booked the cheapest camper we could find and hoped for the best. None of us had any clue how to drive on the left side of the road, much less in a massive campervan, but everyone was pretty go-with-the-flow and hopeful that we’d “just figure it out.”

On August 1st, Olivia left me in San Francisco to spend a little more time in Hawaii before flying to Perth with Evelyn. While she was there, she managed to convince our friend Kalin into spontaneously buying a ticket and joining the trip two days before we left. And just like that four girls, one van, and no plan.

While sitting in the SFO airport waiting for my flight, I started mapping out the basics. The only “real” bucket list item we had for our trip was to swim with whale sharks. Exmouth, about 13 hours north of Perth, is known for being one of the best places for whale shark diving, even though we were arriving at the tail end of the season. So Exmouth became our destination.

I could tell this was going to be a good trip when I boarded my flight to Australia and realized I had an entire row of four seats to myself. Probably the best airplane sleep I’ve ever had. But when I landed, I got a message that the girls’ flight had been canceled and they wouldn’t arrive until the next night. So I picked up the campervan, said a prayer, and went south.

Driving on the left wasn’t too bad, but hauling around a giant van was not easy. Once the sun started setting, I pulled into an empty parking lot for the night. Sleeping alone in a van in a foreign country was character building. I woke up constantly and even called my mom to share my location “just in case.” But I survived the night, woke up the next morning, and had the whole day to myself. I saw kangaroos for the first time and spent time exploring a surftown called Gracetown. Later that day, I drove back to Perth to pick the rest of the girls up from the airport.

The next day, we grabbed groceries and officially started our road trip to Exmouth. We gave ourselves plenty of time, so we split the drive up over a couple of days. Each morning started with coffee, reading, and journaling at whatever cute café we found. Then we’d hit the road early and stop anywhere that looked cool.

We ended up on tons of random side quests trying to find hidden spots the maps didn’t know about. We listened to music, played the A–Z game with songs, spotted lots of wildlife, and talked about everything under the sun. Each night we cooked dinner together, watched the sunset, and unpacked our day.

By the fourth day, we made it to Exmouth. We boarded our boat for whale shark diving at 8am and were warned that sightings weren’t guaranteed since the season was basically over. We all prayed that God would let us see one since it was one of the main reasons for the trip and He delivered. Within thirty minutes, the captain spotted a whale shark and we were in the water.

Swimming next to a whale shark felt like time stopped. Everything is quiet, and suddenly you’re beside this massive creature like it’s the most normal thing in the world. Just when we thought the day couldn’t get any better, a baby humpback whale swam right up next to us.

After we got off the boat, reality hit. Our flight to Bali was the next day, and Exmouth is a 13-hour drive from Perth. We took shifts driving through the night and eventually pulled over on the side of the road to nap for a couple hours. We dropped the van off the next morning and headed straight to the airport.

The flight from Perth to Bali was quick and easy. When we landed, we exchanged $200 USD for $3.4 million IDR and took a Grab to our Airbnb. The next morning we hopped on our moped and went to yoga. Unfortunately, we did experience one moped crash while being there. Evelyn and Olivia crashed straight into a brick wall while attempting to turn onto a busy street, luckily the locals were all so kind and only wanted to make sure we were all right. While Evelyn and Olivia lived to tell the story, the moped did not. I will say if you are ever thinking of crashing a moped somewhere Bali might be the place to do it. After paying $80 USD to repair the moped we were up and running again.

Once our workout classes were finished we would grab coffee at our favorite spot, BGS, and go home to change. Each morning we tried a different brunch spot before heading to a beach to lay out. After the beach, we’d go back to our villa to swim more before getting ready for dinner. We tried a new restaurant every night and were genuinely blown away by how good the food was in Uluwatu. On our last night, we celebrated Evelyn’s birthday by playing pool at Lola’s, salsa dancing, and running in and out of different clubs depending on the music.

Before heading home, we spent one night in Ubud at the dreamiest Airbnb. Most of our time there was spent swimming and wandering around exploring the town. On our last day, we visited the rice fields and went to a spa before getting picked up for the airport. At the airport, we all mourned going back home. We talked through our favorite moments, started planning our next adventure (as we always do), and hugged each other tight before going to our separate flights home.