If your visiting Perth and your looking for an adrenalin rush, I would recommend that you take a day trip to Lancelin (one and half hours north of Perth) and experience "Big Foot" a massive bus flying over the sand dunes!! This converted American school bus is equipped with enormous terra tyres and four wheel steering capabilities, offering stability, comfort and safety unmatched. The experience is heightened by the 1000 watt digital sound system playing a selection of fine Australian music combined with an informative commentary. I think its a relatively cheap trip at $45 per adult.

dunes and beach

This is the first offical Suzuki 4x4 trip i went on where i drove myself. I had at this point had a few previous lets say incidents where i went out on my own and got into to trouble and spent ages getting back again. My favorite such experience involves a really large (DEEP!) lake and 4 hours which are now funny but horrible back then, if anyone is interested about that story feel free to ask.

So anyway on this trip I went to the sand dunes outside a town called Lancelin with the Suzuki club, a group of like minded nutters who enjoy driving Suzuki's anywhere. I was with my best mate and had a hilarious time going up and down the sand dunes and because i didn't have to worry about being stuck in the middle of nowhere got to enjoy the experience a lot more.

Been surfing at Lancelin beach WA on a 5 day surfing camp. The weather was great, as always here i think.

All in all a very good organised camp. On the first day we were picked up by a bus to bring us up to Lancelin. A good time to meet the persons who would be falling into the water next to you. After an hour or 2 we arrived at the beach house wich would be the base-camp for the next couple of days. After arriving and drinking some good strong coffee it was time for the intructions and finally we headed out for the beach.

To my very very big surprise some people (including me) we able to stand up on that big board and surf a couple of "waves" After a good day on the beach we headed back to the beach house. (a 5-10min walk) and fell down in the hammocks on the veranda. Drank a couple of beers, watched some movies or took a go at the pool-table.

We also had a great time just talking to each other. All aged low-mid 20's and from different countries in the world, it really was fun just hearing their stories and sharing good jokes.

On Sunday, we had a easy start to our day and headed to the beach.  The beach was so incredible in Lancelin.  The water was still ice cold, but there was no way I was letting THAT stop me! The waves there were really good so there were lots of surfers. Our friend Steve brought his board and did a little surfing too. The flies were once again relentless.  I would recommend buying insect repellent suntan lotion if you go. It ended up being a life-saver! We stayed at the beach for a few hours, and then headed to the Pub for a late lunch. The pub was also right on the beach, so the view from our table was even great! It got really hot this day- up to 105F. The sun seems to be stronger there than it is in Texas as well, so you have to be careful about wearing sunblock or you will burn easily. After our lunch, we headed to our next excursion in Lancelin.  Riding the Desert Storm Bus.  To be honest, I wasn't so sure about this when my friends mentioned it.  Then when I saw the bus, I couldn't help but laugh and decided "what the hell?".  The bus is an American school bus they brought over, and added these ENORMOUS wheels on and you ride the giant sand dunes in Lancelin in it.  It was a really wild ride and there are seat belts on the bus for a reason! After riding the dunes for while, the driver (who was really funny) stops the bus on a really high dune and everyone sand boards- I'm scared of heights, so I was nervous about doing it, but made myself and it was a LOT of fun! I would definetly recommend taking the Desert Storm Bus if you're ever in Lancelin.  It was my favorite part of the Lancelin trip.  After the bus ride, we loaded up and headed back to Perth.

After a good nights rest, we woke up the next day and drove up the coast a couple of hours to see the Pinnacles.  The drive there was actually really beautiful- everything is so natural.  When we got to the Pinnacles, I was blown away- its a huge area of limestone formations- I really couldn't believe how many there were.  It was really cool- but almost creepy.  The first problem I noticed with the area was that there were tons of FLIES. They were so annoying and always flew around your face- it was really irritating.  Evidently they aren't always a problem, but there was something about the direction the wind was blowing that was bringing them all down to the area.  They were a constant problem the whole time on the West Coast.  After visiting the Pinnacles, we decided to take the Off Roading trek back down to Lancelin.  It was supposed to be the "most direct route". The road was sand and/or rock the entire way and pretty much followed the coast the whole way so we saw miles and miles of incredible beaches, and stopped occasionally along the way to take pictures and dip a toe in the water.  The water was FREEZING by the way. We saw several groups of wild emus running across the sand dunes along the way.  Because we were Off Roading, there wasn't an actual road we were following, therefore it wasn't really on the map- we had a general direction guide, but that was about it, we had to follow a compass to keep ourself on track. Unfortunately, this didn't always work- we got lost along the way and took a couple of hours to find ourselves again. It actually ended up being a good mistake because we saw several wild kangaroos in the distance. We finally arrived at our hotel in Lancelin after dark, and were exhausted from the long day of driving.