Ditching our Business Suits for Scuba Suits

The Great Walk About…

3 years into my Australian residency it was time to explore the West Coast with one of my closest friends. Kathleen came to visit in April and we hit the road to meet Quokkas, Kangaroos, Emus, Sea Lions, Dolphins, and the grand finale..Whale Sharks! A 5 hour flight from Sydney to Perth kicked off our journey with a gorgeous stay at the Ritz Carlton. (a hotel with exclusive Virtuoso benefits!)

Diving- right before we met a Freckles, a beautiful Manta Ray

Sometimes you need a COO of the trip…

I’ll be honest, for this trip I took on a more stereotypical CEO role- Where you set the strategy and the vision and you wait for all of your really smart people to execute on it. Kathleen (trip and real-life COO) took on the logistics and accommodations while I provided oversight and approval on the “must dos” (hello whale sharks) along with podcasts, playlists, and passenger wit.

Smiling and NOT Touching the Quokkas

First up was exploring Rottnest Island from Perth. Home to the very friendly and viral (internet variety) Quokkas. We took the ferry over first thing in the morning and rented bikes on the island. We wondered out loud IF we’d see the Quokkas and within about 58 seconds there was one puttering about. We saw so many of these friendly marsupials and the scenery was unreal. They come right up to you and since we respect nature we did our best to keep our distance, but you’ll see this guy wanted to be Kathleen’s pillow.

Quokka- Trying to get up close and personal

The friendly Marsupials- check out his smile

Hitting the road to jump in the Indian Ocean!

After Perth we hit the road to our first stop at Jurien Bay to swim with Sea Lions. The weather kept us to view these creatures only, but the guides were incredible sharing their knowledge of these playful animals. Did you know only 30% of babies live because the big daddies roll over them?! On the way to Jurien Bay we stopped in the desert to view the Pinnacles a phenomenon bathed in the most perfect golden light where it felt like we’d left earth.

A must see on the way to Jurien Bay- the Pinnacles

Kalbarri National Park- Incredible scenery but the flies…

Kalbarri National Park was where the red dirt cliffs met the ocean, and also where I will have nightmares about flies. Seriously, when we were researching there was no mention of the flies, so I am choosing to be completely up front and transparent about these guys! If we are planning your trip, I will be sure to get you a very fashionable fly net. It’s completely worth it for the views but man those flies were relentless and multiplying in real time.

Standing in front of Nature’s Window at Kalbarri National Park. Covered in flies but worth it

Eagles cliffs- a random stop on the way to Kalbarri

Stops along the road to Exmouth

From Kalbarri we made stops at shell beach, the pink lake, and played with the Dolphins at Monkey Mia. We ended in Exmouth with the best 7 seconds of my life, swimming right next to a majestic whale shark. Every single minute of this trip was magical and had the exact right mix of “stuff” and “not stuff”. The connection to nature, and the time we spent with each other are memories I’ll cherish forever.

Shell beach- where the acoustics made you feel like you could record a chart topper

One of the many new dolphin friends we made at Monkey Mia

The majestic gentle giants of the Ocean. Swimming with whale sharks in Exmouth

Western Australia Road trip MUSTS

Snacks- Australian faves: Snakes Alive, Tim Tams, any chip seasoned in chicken salt
A killer playlist/podcast you can reach offline; those stretches of road are not near any signals so streaming only lasts for about 10 minutes while you’re in the “town”
Stock the car with water- while we never drove more than 4 hours in a stretch things were very spread out and sparse
A road trip companion you can talk, dissect, and dream about everything with

If you’ve been wondering what to do in Australia, let’s talk!