DianneH68

Hi all,
As part of my planned three-month trip to Oz this year, I'm quite keen to fly from Carnarvon in WA to either Darwin or Alice Springs/Uluru, but can't seem to find any flights that go from their at all.
Anyone know if any companies do run such flights?
Thanks,
Dianne

Siren & Brian

Carnarvon is a country town. Only small aircraft will to and from there. Why would you want to go there in the first place?

DianneH68

Don't want to go their specifically, but we will be driving up the coast from perth and would like to go to Monkey Mia and Shark Bay near there but don't really fancy continuing the drive any further up the coast or it will take forever and I've heard there's not much more to see beyond there.
So to save time a flight from carnarvon to our next port of call would have been easier.
Ah well, maybe have to think again
Thanks for the help

Stormz

I`d base yourself in Perth, take a few days to go to Monkey Mia or wherever. Then fly (or take the train) from Perth to Uluru. Personally I don`t see the attraction of a big red rock in the middle of nowhere, but.......

Travelling down the south-west of W.A. to Albany is much more interesting if you have to stay in W.A.

DianneH68

yeah I think that might be the best idea. I hadn't thought of the train though, I'll look into it.
We can then go Perth - Uluru - Darwin - east coast.
I'm not sure what I'll make of the rock but seeing as we have the opportunity to go we might as well take it.
I'm keen to go to the north because at that time of year it's going to be the warmest place to go, and it's the dry season up there so it's the best time to do that area.
It's a nightmare trying to plan everything, without actually making too many definite plans so we can see what takes our fancy when we get there...
Thanks for your help

Stormz

Well just don`t go swimming anywhere ok.... the Crocs`ll have ya.

JAJ

There's no train to Ayers Rock, you'll need to get alternative transport from Alice Springs. As far as I'm aware, it's a 5 hours drive to the Rock.

Jeremy

DianneH68

Cheers. I don't mind that bit of the journey. Going into Alice would give us a few more options and a bit more flexibility.
Might even go on an organised trip from Alice to the Rock

Caroline G

We drove from Perth to Exmouth to dive with whale sharks. We took in the sites along the way e.g. Monkey Mia, Pinicles, Carnaevon Banana Plantation, blow holes, red bluff, Kilbari etc. & ate some good lobster at Geraldton. We really enjoyed the trip even though there are long periods of driving through not alot. You could hire a car for a one way trip dropping it off at Broome & fly off from there. The Bungle Bungle mountain range looks interesting.

Quinkana

Miss out if you don't "do" the Pilbara. Fly out of Port Hedland.

owieb

Monkey Mia is very "over-rated", continue your trip up the coast to the Cape Range and the Ningaloo Reef.

If you time your trip well you should be able to see the Whale Sharks; a totally amazing experience.

JayDeee

I agree monkey Mia is overrated but the area around, Francis Peron National Park and the whole of Shark bay is absolutely beautifull and well worth a visit Personally I would stay in Denham and take a trip to Monkey Mia rather than stay at Monkey Mia. Carnavon is from what I have been told a bit crap, I run a backpackers in Geraldton and have never heard a good word about the place but have heard many a whinge.

If you only want to go as far as Shark Bay, In my opinion the Stops I would take from Perth would be

Cervantes to see the Pinacles, try and stay the night so you can see them at sun set,
Geraldton, as stated we have great Lobster, and I live here he he, and from here you ca get to the next stop
Abrolhos Islands, a day trip is $200, you get a flight out to the islands snorkling, morning tea, lunch a walk round the islands and well worth every penny, People have done that and Ningaloo and the Great Barrier reef and said thet The islands is better, more colourfull, this is probably because at the moment is is very well protected
Kalbarri, I just love the place, the gorges are fantastic, you can go horse riding, take a evening cruise up the river, it honestly is great.
Denham, Shark Bay as I saiid above it is beautifull

With the above trip you are looking at about a 2-3 hr drive between each town so you dont get too knackered.

Rather than drive back to Perth from Shark Bay Keep goin to Carnavon you can fly from there to Exmouth then on to Broom then on to Darwin on Sky west, http://www.skywest.com.au/ this gives you the chance to see the other places north of Monkey Mia but with out having to do the drive.

Also remember that one way car hires are very very expensive goin north as you are very unlikely to relocation. A good way to do the West coast because of the Vast distances is a Backpackers Tour http://www.easyridertours.com.au/easyrider/default.aspx or the greyhound http://www.greyhound.com.au/

Anyway have fun
Kala

Ialibu

Well said. A friend of mine from ES (and living in "Gero" you will know what that means :-) asked about what to see in WA when he retired in a couple of months. I wrote out basically what you have. I now live in Melbourne but form memory you could see dolphins in Bunbury also, with much less hassle. But to whet your appetite here is a photo of Shark Bay that I took mid last year. The resolution is a bit crappy as I had to compress it. That's if it gets through!!!

SunshineGirl

I saw the dolphins in Bunbury only a few weeks ago. They frolic in the inland rivers and come right to the shore. Just beautiful.

DianneH68

thanks for all your help everyone. I now haven't a clue what to do for the best!
Had changed my mind about driving north of Preth and thought we could just get the train/fly from Perth to Uluru/Alice then up to Darwin, but now I reckon I'd miss out on loads of stuff if we do that!
The problem is my boyfriend - he really isn't keen on much driving, so I'm trying to keep that to a minimum while still seeing as much as poss!
Will definitely check out the flights along the west coast - that could be a good compromise.
Thaks agin - now off to check out all the vrey useful links everyone's given me!