Self Guided Motorbike Tours - Perth

Perth to Broome - Self Guided Motorcycle Tour

There's so much to see and do in each area that this tour is organised so that you ride to an area one day, explore via bike and foot the next and then move on to the next main area. A day at each of the spectacular locations on this tour is the absolute minimum each deserves and you might find yourself wanting to stay longer. We'll be happy to help arrange extra stops, accommodation or anything else you might need.

The ride from Exmouth west towards Broome includes a couple of long days in the saddle, but an optional three day extension will see you riding through the incredible Karijini National Park as an alternative to the hauntingly beautiful outback. The choice really is yours!

Perth
Perth is a modern, clean city on the banks of the majestic Swan River. The river feels more like a winding harbour really with Fremantle (‘Freo’ to the locals) at its entrance. Perth has all you’d expect from a thriving city with great shopping, restaurants and nightlife combined with superb beaches and a sublime climate.

Ranked as one of the ‘world’s most liveable cities’, Perth has charm aplenty even if you’re just visiting. A great spot to begin your ride up the coast and over to the tropical delights of Broome.

Nambung National Park and the Pinnacles Desert
Named after a local Aboriginal word for ‘winding’, referring to the Nambung River, this area is now instantly recognisable for the spectacular limestone formations that jut from the desert floor like so many ancient teeth.

The exact process by which the ‘Pinnacles’ were formed is a matter still under some debate, but what’s not up for question is the fascinating spectacle offered by such an unusual landscape. Cervantes is the nearest settlement nearby offering facilities and is a great place to base yourself whilst exploring the unusual formations of the desert.

Murchison River Gorges and Coast
Kalbarri is a lovely small town on the banks of the Murchison River where it flows into the Indian Ocean. It's uniquely blessed with a fascinating array of impressive river gorges, coastal scenery and marine landscapes, with the added bonus of year round amazing weather. A little way south of the town itself are some spectacular beaches, towering crimson coastal cliffs and amazing pink lakes.

The Kalbarri National Park can be accessed by a good condition 26km gravel road and has some incredible natural rock formations, gorges and wildlife just waiting to show themselves off! Many of the gorges are estimated to be over 400 million years in the making, but it was certainly worth the wait in our opinion! There's the 'Z-Bend', offering some in depth views into the gorges, 'the Loop' and the iconic 'Nature's Window' just begging to be explored.

This pristine area of natural wonder offers a taste of the mind boggling isolation that the Outback provides, all within easy reach of the congenial town of Kalbarri. If you'd prefer not to take the gravel road out to the national park on the bike, there are plenty of guided tours available which we can easily help you organise.

Shark Bay World Heritage Area
Rise early in the morning, stroll down to the beach and have a breakfast chat with the famous wild dolphins at Monkey Mia, just a metre or two from the beach! With one eye out of the water they are genuinely interested in who's there and what's going on. It's genuinely a fascinating experience to be able to get that close to wild dolphins, whilst staying mostly dry!

A great optional excursion at Monkey Mia is to take an informative walk with an aboriginal guide who'll explain the history of the area, show you how to find bush tucker, water and medicine in the outback and bring what initially looks like barren desert to life. It's a highly recommended experience.

Whilst the dolphins at Monkey Mia are arguably the biggest lure to get you off the north-south highway, there's more to be seen in Shark Bay than just aquatic mammals! On the way into or out of, this World Heritage listed area you can take in the panoramic views of Shark Bay itself from Eagle Bluff and crunch along Shell Beach, a beach made up of billions of tiny cockle shells as far as the eye can see. The shells reportedly reach depths of up to 10 metres, which is a lot of shells however you look at it!

There's also the incredibly ancient and fascinating Stromatolites, the earth's oldest living fossils and by-product of algal activities. They saw the dawn of life itself and are widely accepted as being responsible for making the earth suitable for more advanced forms of life. So you can probably credit them with your ability to undertake the amazing motorcycle tour in the first place!

There's only one route in and out of the Shark Bay World Heritage Area, so you don't have to stop at everything first time around. Or of course it gives you a great chance to revisit spots you've really enjoyed already, before rejoining the route north.

Ningaloo Reef & Cape Range National Park
Ningaloo is the longest fringing reef in the world and its isolated location at the top of the west coast, means that it's one of the most pristine too. You can snorkel or dive on the incredible 260km long reef simply by stepping off one of the many deserted white beaches, straight into the amazing underwater world resplendent with over 520 species of fish and 250 species of coral. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon. One minute you're riding your motorcycle along the shimmering highway, the next you're up close and personal with the spectacular shimmering fish of the Ningaloo Reef!

Forget the Great Barrier Reef, Ningaloo is remote, pristine, easily accessed right off the beach and there are good facilities to be had nearby at the tiny village of Coral Bay and the slightly larger town of Exmouth. Spot on!

There's the chance to swim with manta rays and loggerhead turtles all year round and the almost unbelievably massive whale sharks when they migrate past, generally from March through to August. It's not all aquatic antics through, there's also the chance to explore deep into the outback gorges and canyons of the Cape Range National Park. They're an amazing example of the sort of landscapes that are tucked away in the north of Western Australia, offering a cool and interesting contrast to the extremes of the outback surrounding the area.

There's a day scheduled for indulging yourself in the area around Ningaloo Reef and Cape Range, so you'll have plenty of time to soak up the best of what's on offer.

Continuing from Exmouth you'll turn north west as you angle towards Broome, this is the point where you have a choice about which route you'd prefer to take. The standard 14 day tour continues along the coast and features a couple of long days in the saddle riding through the Outback, about 550km each day in fact. Whilst it sounds a lot, distances like that make for a quintessentially Australian experience, riding through some uniquely Australian landscapes. It's a remote region of the Outback with nothing but the welcoming roadhouses and atmospheric desert scenery to add flavour to the journey.

The alternative is to include three extra days into your tour and travel through the Karijini National Park. You'll need to be comfortable riding on gravel roads, as there are very few surfaced ones inside the borders of the park, but if you can spare the time then you're in for a treat!

17 DAY TOUR ONLY Karijini National Park
The spectacular Karijini National Park is an excellent excuse to squeeze an extras three days into your itinerary. If you're going to be late back to work, it may as well be because of something like Karijini! The tropical climate and utterly stunning, rugged, crimson rock canyons and gorges filled with cool, clear water make for a fascinating contrast to the sun baked world above when you descend into them.

Make sure you take your swimming gear as there are some great gorges to swim through as a handy escape from the temperatures 'above ground'. There's an easily accessible system of walking trails throughout the park suitable for all levels of experience, plus plenty of waterfalls and pools you can plunge into when you take a break. The little settlement of Tom Price is the closest thing to real town inside the park borders, but it easily provides for anything you might need.

You'll need to be comfortable riding on gravel to get the best out of the park as there are precious few surfaced roads in the area, but you'll be rewarded with some of the most beautiful gorges and permanent waterholes in outback Western Australia. If you're willing to give it the time, Karijini will give you a slice of the Outback you'll remember forever.

Eighty Mile Beach
Famous for its endless stretches of pristine white sand fringing the sparkling turquoise ocean, Eighty Mile Beach is aptly named and ideally situated mid-way between Port Hedland and Broome, making for an excellent spot to take an overnight break. You can roam the shore hunting for shells, perhaps enjoy a spot of fishing, observe the incredible numbers of migratory birds that call past the beach or just kick back, relax and marvel at a spectacular sunset over the Indian Ocean. You can easily claim a section of the beach as exclusively your own, there's plenty to go around!

There aren't any towns nearby which adds to marvellous sense of seclusion, but the local caravan park offers great cabin accommodation, camping and any other supplies you might be hankering for to take down to the beach.

Broome
The tropical paradise of Broome finally comes into view after the long ride up the west coast, it's a welcome sight and a sparkling pearl on the shores of the Indian Ocean. It has world famous beaches, wonderful sunsets, a fascinating history intertwined with the local pearl fishermen and a fantastic climate for much of the year.

It has all the comforts of a larger holiday town but with a laid back, frontier sort of feel. It's famous for the 'Broome Time' effect. The pace of life noticeably slows when you enter Broome, you relax more, take more time to enjoy yourself and just generally mellow out. It's easy to get absorbed by Broome Time!

There's a full day in Broome with the bike as you'll need a set of wheels to visit places like Malcolm Douglas' famous crocodile park, the picturesque jetty and to get to the justifiably world famous Cable Beach. Time it right for a cocktail and watch the spectacular sunset over the ocean!

This is a wonderful tour up the un-touched western coast and through the Outback. Western Australia is larger than Europe and yet has only 1.9 million people lucky enough to call the place home. As a result it feels like a much more personal place than the much more frequented eastern coast. People will take the time chat, show some true hospitality and there's so much to see on the way that few have seen before you.

If you'd like to experience the 'real' Australia, then this is the way to 'get amongst it' and the bike is the best way to travel!

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