Perth, where the 1,250 km starts

The depot at Bentley

The Perth depot is at 28 Charles Street, Bentley, about ten kilometres south-east of the city centre and next to the Curtin University campus. Office hours are 09:00 to 15:00 Monday to Friday, and 09:00 to 11:00 on Saturday. The office is closed on Sunday.

Bentley is a suburban address rather than an airport counter. Perth Airport is on the other side of the city, so the transfer is a taxi or a train into the city and then out again. Allow for it on the arrival day. Sunday is the day to plan around, and campervan hire Perth sets out the Bentley hours and what is kept there.

The depot lists after-hours collection and return as available. Confirm the arrangement when you book, because a Sunday arrival meets a closed office.

What this depot is for

This is a collection and return point for trips that start in Western Australia, and it carries two very different jobs. The first is the short south-west trip: Margaret River, the karri forests, the beaches at Dunsborough. The second is the long north trip, which is the one this site is about.

The north trip has a shape that is easy to get wrong. Exmouth is 1,250 km north of Perth, just under 13 hours' driving along the Coral Coast Highway, according to Australia's Coral Coast. That is one very long day or two comfortable ones, and the choice changes what the first two days look like. Two days also leave room to decide the drivetrain properly, and for the unsealed sections at the far end, campervan hire locations on the coast is the category that answers it.

Five things before you go north

Kings Park. The park on the ridge above the city, with the botanic garden inside it and the view down the Swan River to the hills. It is the one place in Perth where the scale of the state is visible from a car park.

Fremantle. The port at the mouth of the Swan, with the prison, the markets and the fishing boat harbour. Fremantle Prison is on the World Heritage list, and the tunnels tour is the one that needs booking.

Rottnest Island. The ferry leaves from Fremantle and from the city, and the island has no private cars. That last fact is the useful one: you leave the vehicle at the terminal and cycle, which makes it a rest day rather than a driving day.

Cottesloe and the beaches. The Indian Ocean beaches north of Fremantle are all on the same coastal road, and Cottesloe is the one with the pavilion and the grass. Sunset is the reason people go.

The Swan Valley. Twenty-five minutes from the city and the oldest wine region in the state, which makes it the shortest possible first day if the vehicle is collected late.

The vehicle decision is made here

Cape Range National Park is where the road surface changes. The sealed road north of Exmouth ends at the Yardie Creek crossing, and past that point WA Parks lists two small campgrounds that can only be reached by four-wheel drive: One K, about a kilometre south of the crossing, and Boat Harbour, about three.

The canyon drives on the eastern side of the range are unsealed as well. None of that is a problem if the plan is beaches and campgrounds on the sealed stretch, where Turquoise Bay, Lakeside and Oyster Stacks sit. It becomes a problem only if the canyons or the two campgrounds past the crossing are the reason for the trip, because there is nowhere on the cape to upgrade a two-wheel drive.

So the question in Bentley is not which vehicle is the easier one to park. It is whether this trip leaves the seal. A short first day also leaves the finish open, and four-wheel drive hire shows the other depots on the coast.

What to check before the highway

Three checks belong in Perth.

Fuel and water first: the stage from Perth to the next substantial town is long, and the northern half of the route has fewer services than the southern half. Fill before you leave the metropolitan area, not after.

Alerts second: campgrounds in the Ningaloo Coast area have been closed for repair after weather damage, and a closure can change a whole week's shape.

Campground bookings third: the campgrounds in Cape Range are bookable, and the small ones past the crossing are the least likely to have room on the day.