Southwest WA explorations with Kaon
A 120 series Prado and a retro caravan in tow
The Southwest region is known for its tropical blue secluded beaches, tranquil wineries, unique array of biodiversity and mighty tingle forests, lush farmland and sand dune galore. Quaint rural towns dotted amongst the backdrop of the majestic Southwest. I’d heard the whispers from friends about this majestic region - I just had to take a road trip down to see it for myself.
For the past year, I have been travelling solo around Australia. Just me and my little renovated 1980s retro caravan named ‘Something about Mary’. Adjusting to the seasons and vastness of Australia we headed from North WA to South WA to enjoy the scorching summer - Mary, Me and my ol’ 120 series Prado decided to hit the frog ‘n’ toad and journey into the great Southwest region. We recently upgraded parts of the Prado with some epic new Kaon gear and wanted to try out our ventures exploring some surf spots, fishing, diving, camping and hiking. And we certainly found it.
Straight out of the packaged goods; a screw-driver, phillips head and allan key later – the new Kaon gear turned the Prado into a real-life living, storing and organised area of joyful pursuits on the road. It took one afternoon to build everything in, with coffee in hand and afternoon tunes assisting the process.
I was chuffed with the new set-up. Spending the majority of my travels with homemade loose roof carriers drooping down - now I had a clean sturdy set-up for all my camping and hiking equipment. A place for everything; side mollie pads for all my knick-knacks, easy access to first aid kit, tools and the billy at the drop of carabena hold. Popping the crocs in place to avoid my feet hitting the scorched summer roads and neatened access to all things required at my rear back door.
It's brought ease and functionality having a rear door table/kitchen area, the perfect spot for boiling and brewing my morning coffee. The rear door utensil cage; is a place to finally store my kitchen implements, resources, cutting board and sunscreen, efficiently organising my belongings without gathering dirt and dust on the ground. The back-door table doubles as an afternoon workspace under the eucalyptus light whilst I journal about my travelling days, then quickly turned into a kitchen for a lunchtime feed.
It felt uber easy putting the sophisticated Kaon designs in place. The products were built perfectly snug for the 120 Prado, unleashing a new sleek side of the Prado and transgressing her into the ultimate adventure mobile, looking trendy and functional for the road trip.
The Southwest; has a range of enormous tingle trees and southern refreshing oceans, sand dune trails that lead to isolated turquoise beaches. How easy it was to leave Mary the Caravan back at camp and head for the horizon in my Prado with my new set-up in place. The newly installed equipment oozed ease for my friends coming along for the ride too. I roamed into Margaret River and the satisfaction of going for a surf and then coming back for a snack break using my rear door table - was the perfect mid-morning treat.
Hopping from Margaret Rivers beaches, to scaling up north to Gracetown for more quiet bays. Most of the time I opted to cook outside on the table in the back of the car, the warm balmy nights were enough to pop the stove and gas bottle out on the table and muster up a delicious stir fry whilst watching the sun glaze behind the forest.
Darting in-land to D’Entrecasteaux National Park, then over to Mount Chudalup to hike uphill for some panoramic views and seek out untouched waves as my 4WD meandered into Windy Harbour. Over to Parry Beach for some fishing and diving then roaming into Greens Pool. Up through Northcliffe and Pemberton for a stroll through town and a drive down to Salmon Beach to check the surf in the hope of some clean waves. Before spearing a couple blue groupers and tarwhine with friends on the quiet coasts far south.
I opted for some time down in the Southwest with some of my good pals. Before packing up the adventure goodies, I was able to pop the rear door drop-down table for a quick coffee to start the road trip south, big drives across Australia meant coffee stops were a must – now made easy with my back table and a 5-minute boil on the stove. A short break on the side of the road allowed me to make lunch, burn up another tasty coffee and get back on the road. The rear roof shelf creates utter ease for all my belongings, hiding towels for quick access, sleeping bags, camping gear and tents when I want to grab them and head out for a quick hike. It's a perfectly snug and condensed area for all my useful camp gear.
The side molle panels have been the most practical and surprisingly helpful storage spaces holding water bladders that don’t get squished in the rest of my stuff, my obsessive hat collection is finally stored with orderliness and clear-view for these scorching summer days. A hung cup for my early morning coffee boils and my first aid kit that I spend way too much time using since most of the time I’m out surfing and hiking. The quick grab of finding this on the side panels gives me great satisfaction wandering in the outdoors.
I’ve been roaming the untamed Southwest for the past couple of weeks driving across farmland, through coastline, under towering karri trees and into 4wd sand dune territory to get to isolated beach spots.
My friends were also impressed with the sleek design and organisation in the back of the Prado, stopping on beaches for a quick ocean fish for whiting, diving for groupers and leather jackets with everyone conglomerating around the car with its rear door table for sun screening up, a cold beer, cuppa and yarning away with our much-needed catch-up and tales.
Storing my wetsuits in the rear roof shelf (rather than my rooftop box) for ease and efficiency when exploring the Southwest for waves. Throwing dive gear, towels and umbrellas onto the rear roof shelf as I headed out for beach days when flat. Tying my snorkel onto the side panels, cooking up a feast on the back door table and enjoyed some platters with friends as the sun darted behind another turquoise ocean view.
I now had a reason to un-hook Mary the Caravan and leave her at camp, the rear roof storage doubling as a space to hold my pillow, sleeping bag and mat next to it as I satisfyingly pull them out for a quick night in the bush by myself when the caravan can’t go into 4wd beach areas.
The textured black powdercoat is a sleek design making my old-school 120 series look that bit more nifty on the roads, modern meets functionality, practicality meets ease. The drop-down bench has simplified my afternoons, the perfect height for my seat as I enjoy a Bengal spiced tea. Swapping its purpose from relax mode to cooking mode and then eating mode; a hybrid of uses.
The Margaret River region brought new environments for the eyes to soak in, a conglomeration of large Bonarup forests, grass trees and red flowering gums that was the view to my campsites. The best part of the west was driving through the Jarrah forests, trail running deep into Bramley National Park, scooting up to Indijup spa and opting for a morning surf and read by the secluded ocean. Lounging in the glistening virescent waters that became the rock pool around the reef. Slow lunches were made in the back of the car overlooking Grace town’s beaches and cliffs. The South-West beholds grandiose exploration and, an abundance of dazzling wineries, whilst the oceans perched behind are powerful and wild. The Southwest winds roar louder as it hits the heat of summer days. The trip became a patterned routine of swimming, exploring beaches, hiking and diving on repeat each day. It certainly feels like God's country out in the rural vast lands of the West, and I’m feeling more enthused with these brilliant products in tow.