Aquabumps En Route Along The Edge

Thinking about taking the family en route along The Edge? Follow the story of Aquabumps to see what it’s like.

Local Bondi photographer Eugene Tan, better known as ::uge (yooj) of Aquabumps explored The South West Edge with his family and discovered the raw landscape, wild ocean breaks, and plenty of fun activities for the kids to enjoy en route!

Down South

The adventure begins at Kings Park and Botanic Gardens near Perth City, before heading ‘Down South’ (as the locals call it) to the Margaret River Region. Uge and his family arrive here to explore the world-famous surf spot; Margaret River Main Break – home of the Margaret River Pro which sees top ranked surfers compete to win the World Surf League’s Championship Tour.

“Margaret River Main is the break everyone knows because of the world tour stop. Truth be known, I’ve never surfed the joint in my life as there’s around 100 other waves pumping (sans humans) if Main Break is on. You just gotta explore a little.” – ::uge

"Western Australia is a HUGE place. It’s half the size of Europe! WA boasts 12,500 kilometres of coastline and due to its sheer size has so much diversity. Every town we’ve visited in our WA jaunt has been unique. It’s a wild place…so raw. I forgot just how raw." - ::uge of Aquabumps.

Cape to Cape

But that’s not all – the Margaret River Region boasts epic coastlines with protected rock pools like The Aquarium in Yallingup, and unique rock formations Canal Rocks and ‘the loaf’ aka Sugarloaf Rock at Cape Naturaliste.

“Cape Naturaliste to Cape Leeuwin is 132 kilometres of coastline in Western Australia’s South-West that’s littered with surf breaks. Some are well known; others are hidden down long winding, unmarked 4wd tracks. If you know where to go at the right time – scoring waves without crowds isn’t too hard. Recently retired pro surfer Taj Burrow is from Yals and knows this area like the palm of his hand. I did a dawn patrol with Teebee to find a couple of nuggets – and well, we scored some fun ones.” – ::uge.

Their journey continues to more picture-perfect spots brimming with family-friendly fun; including the new Margaret River Skate Park, getting lost in a giant hedge maze, and tackling a high ropes course in the tops of native forest.

Great Southern

Further along The Edge, the Aquabumps family venture toward Denmark in the Great Southern region of Australia’s South West, which is full of wildlife and remote beaches.

“Today we’re in Denmark, 4 hours drive from Margaret River. It’s a wild place – literally. As I write this post there’s a family of Emu’s nestled up next to the house. We see a dozen kangaroos every time we go down the driveway…(admittedly, the drive is about a kilometre long). The beaches are empty, remote, inaccessible and plentiful.” – ::uge.

But the picturesque Greens Pool and Elephant Rocks are the stars of the show – where crystal-clear protected ocean bays and humongous boulders with peppermint-tinged waters are sure to blow you away.

“For us, the highlight is the Greens Pools and Elephant Rocks. They’re spectacular.” – ::uge.

The Golden Outback

Next stop: the Instagrammable scenes of Esperance, where Aquabumps find “iridescent blue water, friendly beach kangaroos and epic white sands.” This part of Australia’s Golden Outback boasts some pretty incredible untouched landscapes, with pristine coastlines, sand like icing-sugar forming enormous dunes, and even a pink lake.

Uge jumps in a small charter plane to see it from above and gushes; “From what I saw from the flight just blew my mind — the bluest of blues and the whitest of white sands (#insane). And being a beach photographer for 20 years, I’ve seen a few beaches around this globe. This stretch of coastline is just so unique. It’s stunning.”

As they explore, they see epic mountain peaks, bays and bays of Esperance, and plenty of wide open road.

“The west coast is so different from the east coast. It’s so sparsely populated over here, so finding space to yourself is never difficult.” – ::uge.