Western Australia by the Numbers

We have finally left massive Western Australia.
Here are some interesting statistics from our journey in Australia’s largest state.

• Time
  • Time zone:
  • UTC+8 for the majority
  • But one small section (Eucla Time Zone) on the Eyre Highway (when we entered the state along the Nullarbor) is UTC+8:45;
  • Neither participates in DST.
  • For a full day, we were super confused as all our clocks told us a different time. Our phones were set to WA time already, the computers were still on SA time, and our GPS was 45 min off from both!
  • Day entered: 21-Apr-2017
  • Day left: 16-Jun-2017
  • Total # of days: 56 
    • Nights slept in van: 49 
    • Nights slept in tent: 0
    • Nights slept in hotel/etc.: 7 
    • Nights paying for lodging: 14
• Distance
  • Driven: ~11,421km (~7,138.1 miles)
  • Hiked: 32.4 km (20.25 miles)
  • 
    

  Date	Location	Description	Distance (km)	Distance (mi)
  4/21/2017	Nullarbor Highway	Walk along bush road	3	1.875
  4/25/2017	Cape Le Grand NP	Frenchman Peak	3	1.875
  4/26/2017	Wave Rock	Wave Rock Walk via Hippo's Yawn and back	1.6	1
  4/26/2017	The Humps & Mulka's Cave	Gnamma Trail	1.2	0.75
  4/27/2017	Fitzgerald River NP	Point Ann Heritage Trail	1	0.625
  4/29/2017	Valley of the Giants	Tree Top Walk	0.6	0.375
  4/29/2017	Valley of the Giants	Ancient Empire	0.6	0.375
  4/29/2017	Walpole-Nornalup NP	Giant Tingle Tree Loop Walk	1	0.625
  5/22/2017	Cape Range NP	Yardie Nature Walk	1.2	0.75
  5/26/2017	Karijini NP	Circular Pool Lookout and Three Ways Lookout	0.8	0.5
  5/26/2017	Karijini NP	Fortescue Falls	0.95	0.59375
  5/26/2017	Karijini NP	Fern Pool	0.3	0.1875
  5/26/2017	Karijini NP	Kalamina Gorge Waterfalls	1.2	0.75
  5/27/2017	Karijini NP	Junction Pool and Oxer Lookout	0.8	0.5
  5/27/2017	Karijini NP	Joffre Lookout	0.1	0.0625
  5/27/2017	Karijini NP	Knox Lookout	0.3	0.1875
  5/27/2017	Karijini NP	Hamersley Waterfall	0.4	0.25
  5/28/2017	Millstream Chichester NP	Barrimirndi Trail	0.4	0.25
  5/28/2017	Millstream Chichester NP	Wetland Walk	0.75	0.46875
  5/28/2017	Millstream Chichester NP	Cliff Top Walk	0.6	0.375
  5/28/2017	Millstream Chichester NP	Mount Herbert Summit	0.6	0.375
  5/28/2017	Millstream Chichester NP	Python Pool	0.1	0.0625
  6/8/2017	Windjana Gorge NP	Time Walk	2	1.25
  6/8/2017	Tunnel Creek NP	Tunnel View and Subterranean Trail	2.4	1.5
  6/9/2017	Geikie Gorge NP	Bun.ga Trail	1.1	0.6875
  6/10/2017	Wolfe Creek Meteorite Crater NP	Crater Rim Walk	0.2	0.125
  6/12/2017	Purnulu NP	Echidna Chasm	2	1.25
  6/12/2017	Purnulu NP	The Bloodwoods Lookout	0.5	0.3125
  6/13/2017	Purnulu NP	The Domes	0.7	0.4375
  6/13/2017	Purnulu NP	Cathedral Gorge and Picaninny Lookout	3	1.875

  • Fuel fill-ups: 20
• Money
  • Total spent: $4539 USD ($5956 AUD) 
    • Consists of the costs of traveling full time in Western Australia (including haircuts )
    • Does not include gear or van conversion costs
  • Average cost per day:
  • $77.85 USD ($102.16 AUD)
  • If you exclude Jen’s medical visits, the whale-shark tour, and the apartment stay, then average drops to $57.17 USD ($75.02)
  • Average cost of diesel: $1.376 AUD per liter ($3.905 USD per gallon)
• National Parks visited: 18
• Cape Le Grand
• Fitzgerald River
• Valley of the Giants
• Walpole-Nornalup
• Blackwood River
• Leeuwin-Naturaliste
• The Pinnacles Desert
• Kalbarri
• Francois Peron
• Monkey Mia
• Ningaloo Marine
• Cape Range
• Karijini
• Millstream-Chichester
• Windjana Gorge
• Tunnel Creek
• Gekie Gorge
• Wolfe Creek Meteorite Crater
• Purnulu (Bungle Bungles)

Interesting observations about Western Australia:

1. WA has 96 national parks!
2. Its capital, Perth, is considered one of the most isolated capitals in the world, being nearly as close to Southeast Asia as to other Australian capitals.
3. WA consists of 2.646 million sq km (1.021 million sq mi), which makes it whopping 34% of Australia’s entire area with only 11% of the national population.
4. Its counties, also known as shires, are proportionally large, many of them still larger than 75% of the world’s countries!
5. WA is currently free of the common fruit fly. However, it has plenty of other annoying flies to make up for it.