With international travel on hold it's never been a better time to look to our own backyard for a bit of adventure.
Bohannah (the wonder woman behind The Simple Folk) is all too familiar with a good old fashion road trip and when we heard about their latest travel plans along Australia’s West Coast, we couldn’t help but jump on board.
From the crystal waters of the Ningaloo Reef to the lush greenery of the Zebeedee Hot Springs, it's easy to see why we’re putting WA on the bucket list.
Cue the wanderlust.
First things first, where was this campaign captured?
The first lot of images were captured at the Pinnacles Desert in Nambung National Park, Cervantes WA. This is roughly a three hour drive from where we live. The rest of the images were shot while we were travelling the North Coast of WA, mostly in and around Cape Range National Park in Exmouth. The beautiful Gabrielle range was captured at Shell Beach in Francois Peron National Park where millions of tiny shells cover 60kms of the entire beach.
You’re no stranger to travelling with children. Any hot tips for a seamless roadtrip with the whole family?
Don’t forget the snacks! Without a doubt, snacks are my number 1 must have. With a car full of food, there’s less reasons to pull over and the kids are always happy with a handful of nuts or dried fruit. For a long car trip I also recommend taking their favourite toy, as well as bringing something new to occupy them with—whether it be an activity book or something small they can play with in the car. If all else fails, keep the iPad fully charged with their favourite tv show ready 😉
Tell us about your van, Sunny! What’s the story behind her?
Sunny was a gumtree find, bought on a whim while my husband was at work in 2018. I had just received payment from one of my first big photoshoot gigs and rather than saving it I bought a caravan ha! We hit the road a few months later and travelled for just under three months around Australia. While on the road we realised exactly why you don’t buy things on a whim .. Sunny had some major issues —countless wheel bearing problems, serious leaking and water damage; not to mention her back end literally falling off while we were towing. Let’s just say it was an adventure.
While we were in ISO we pulled her back out, did a little fine tuning and took her away a few months ago to explore the beautiful Coral Coast of WA. Now we are back home, we’ve retired the old girl and are dreaming of making a permanent place for her on our future block. When friends come and stay, they can get the full Sunny experience :)
What’s one thing you can’t travel without?
Can I say my phone and camera? Probably the obvious answer, but as much as I love being in the moment with my family on these trips, I’m also so grateful for the video and still images I can capture and look back on in years to come.
What was the highlight of your trip up North? The Ningaloo Reef is so beautiful and this time we were lucky enough to see turtles almost every day we were by the water. Whether we were sitting on the beach, swimming in the ocean or enjoying the glass bottom boat experience they were aplenty. We even saw some tourists pull a turtle from the ocean that was caught up in a net and watched as everyone worked together to set him free. A really lovely experience for the kids and re-confirming for them the importance of looking after our marine life.
What would be your top 3 places to visit in WA? Kununurra - Lake Argyle + Zebeedee Hot Springs
Denmark - Greens Pool + Lights Beac
Dunsborough - Meelup Regional Park + surrounds
Also Rottnest Island is a MUST SEE when visiting WA and obviously The Ningaloo Reef too!
Where to next? Big travel is on standby at the moment but we’ll keep road tripping to all our favourite coastal towns now the weather is heating up.
