Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park⁩, WA

Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park⁩ covers the entire coastline from Cape Naturaliste in the north, down to Cape Leeuwin in the south. There are lighthouses located at both capes, and the Cape to Cape Track runs between the two lighthouses covering a distance of 123km from end to end. The National Park is full of white sandy beaches and rugged, rocky coastline and there are lots of access points to get on the Cape to Cape Track.

Margaret River – where we were staying – was centrally located to the park, and so we went three times after work in the afternoon to different parts of the park, and then again on the weekend. The first couple of times we did return walks in both directions along the Cape to Cape Track with a snack and drink break back at the car in between the two walks.

The third time we headed to Hamelin Bay Beach, which is famous for being able to spot stingrays swimming in the clear water. It was a fairly crowded beach (full of people looking for stingrays), but we did see one stingray from a distance, and we also went for a short walk. On this visit to the park we had brought sandwiches with us – and so instead of going home to eat, we drove up the coast to Redgate Beach and had sandwiches there and did another short walk.

Our final day visiting the park was on a Saturday, so we went first to Smiths Beach for a short walk and coffee (which we brought with us), and then to Sugarloaf Rock to do a longer part of the Cape to Cape Track up to Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse and back (around 10km in total including a loop walk around the lighthouse at the end)