AUSTRALIA TRAVEL TIPS
Make sure you apply for your visa before travelling down under. Travel agents can usually arrange this for you for around £20 or you can go direct and obtain online at www.eta.immi.gov.au
Life down under is a bit less luxury than what you might score in Cape Town since most of the time on a windsurfing trip here you are not staying in a house but normally in a small van traveling from spot to spot. In exchange, the Australian beaches are far less crowded!
ON THE ROAD
The best way to get to W.A. is to fly to Perth and for travelling around, either rent a van or maybe buy one if you are staying six weeks or longer. Many vans can be found on gumtree.com as it is a common place to buy and sell vehicles in Australia for backpackers. Be sure to watch some YouTube videos on what to check for when buying second hand cars as some of them are in pretty bad shape due to the fact that as long you pay the registration fee, you don’t have to take them over the pits for inspections. Otherwise you can choose to rent a motorhome with a kitchen and all the ‘mod cons’ in it or rent an empty van from Hertz, fix a bed in it and save your dollars. In general shopping prices are quite equal to the North of Europe, with only beer being significantly more expensive, so if you like beer, be sure to work that cost into your budget as icy colds are not as cheap as back home!
MAIN SPOTS
The base camp for most visiting sailors in W.A. is Geraldton. “Gerro” is the place where you get the most wind and most time on the water and is “only” a 7-hour drive up to the famous waves of Gnaraloo. You can camp on the beach in Coronation beach for 7 dollars a night per person or stay in Geraldton at the Sunset campsite with quite a bit more luxury for normally 30 dollars a night. If you are a big group you usually can work a deal out with them if you stay for a few nights. Free camping is possible as well but not on any of the beaches and best to move spots every second night as the rangers can chase you away but always have to give you a warning the first time they catch you and in general they are pretty friendly.
Lancelin is 90 minutes from Perth, a small fishing town with a great mix of waves and flat water inside the reef. It’s normally less windy than Geraldton but there’s a friendly windsurfing community and beautiful beaches all around with good surfing too. There’s a wide range of accommodation from hotels to hostels, chalets and camping. In Margaret River the waves are quite a lot bigger but the wind kicks in a lot later making you either wait most of the day or at least score a surf every morning! Margaret River is a big tourist destination with plenty to see and do and boutique hotels, gourmet restaurants and wineries.
Laid back Esperance is one of the most beautiful parts of W.A., famed for its turquoise water colours. It is a bit more of a mission to reach, so make sure your vehicle is in decent shape and is not prone to overheating and capable of a long journey. Some stretches between gas stations are quite far apart, so it is worthwhile filling up at every opportunity just to be safe, especially at night. The sailing is everything from flat water to some of the best beach breaks in the world and even if there is no wind, the beauty of Esperance will keep you entertained.
EATING OUT
Food is not cheap in Australia and expect to pay at least $20 for a meal in a pub as well as $6 to $10 for a beer. Eating out for breakfast, lunch, water and snacks on the road can also dig into your budget. Without too much effort you can easily blow $100 a day on food if you are not careful. If you are living in the van, then shopping at supermarkets and buying a good cool box to store food in on the road is the way to go if you want to hang onto your dollars!
“ With a few windless days to kill during the event, comic creativity was called for ”