There is something magical about being on a road trip – putting the kilometres between home and your destination, in our case the south west of Western Australia.

As this trip was our third to WA in recent years, Natasha and I opted to cross the country as quickly and safely as possible, not sightseeing as we had done this before.

We always remembered to swap drivers at regular intervals or course, mostly every hour, and did not drive after dark.

This strategy enabled us to get from East Gippsland to Esperance in five days, with four overnight stopovers, and relatively refreshed.

For those who have not done this trip before, be assured there are plenty of good free camps in both SA and WA, and powered camp sites available at most roadhouses. Take the time to check out the scenic highlights, particularly the Great Australian Bight. You won’t be disappointed.

The price of fuel can be eye watering compared to major towns, but to be expected given the remoteness of the region.

A tip – do not buy fuel at Border Town. Drive the extra 10 kilometres to Eucla where the price for diesel at least is 20 cents a litre cheaper. Unfortunately, we did not realise this until it was too late, and it was a big fill.

Another tip. Make yourself very familiar with the quarantine restrictions coming into both SA and WA. Quarantine officers check cars and vans thoroughly and do not take kindly to travellers trying to sneak through produce that is off limits.

The roads are remarkably good, particularly on the WA side, but the amount of road kill can be a bit distressing. Be careful when driving at dusk when the roos are out and about. And also be aware that the beautiful wedge tail eagles feast on road kill and can become victims because they are slow to take off.

We did not encounter many roos on this trip, but got a pleasant surprise near Balladonia where we saw a large camel grazing in bush by the roadside. We also saw lots of emus and dingos.

The drive from Norseman to Esperance seemed like a doddle after the 3000 kilometres that had gone before. After five days in remote and isolated country, we were delighted to arrive in beautiful Esperance, the starting point of our south west adventure.

Most of the featured in this article were taken on the wind swept beach at Eucla, a favourite place for us to stop.