West2East Pre-Challenge - Perth to Denham

Pre-Challenge, Day 1:

We've made it! After a long flight from the UK and changing at Dubai we've landed in wonderful Perth on the west coast of Australia. Midland Caravan Park is going to be our base for the next few nights whilst the team arrives; we've got Simon Howard (Marketing Director, Bailey of Bristol), Adrian Van Geelen (Managing Director, Bailey Australia), Gina Stanwell (Marketing Manager, Bailey Australia) and Warwick Mackenzie (Tour Organiser) for this first leg. The Bailey Rangefinder vans have arrived in all their glory - we've got the Gemini and Nebula as our homes for the next few weeks. Weather-wise, it's not a great start, I've never seen rain like it! Perth is a beautiful city; Kings Park is the most popular tourist destination in Western Australia looking over The Swan and Canning Rivers. A quick stop in the city for vital last minute essentials (flip-flops and a hat!) and we're good to go! We've taken the Toyota Land Cruiser 200 Series Sahara out for a spin to get used to it before hitching up and despite being a huge vehicle, it doesn't take long to get into the swing of it, it's pure luxury! I can imagine towing the vans is going to be a breeze!

Pre-Challenge, Day 2:

Up and out early this morning as today's going to be one of the longest drives for us travelling from Perth up to the West2East start point at Denham - a whopping 850kms! We're going to go a bit out of our way to stop at The Pinnacles in Nambung National Park to see the breathtaking limestone sculptures there.

I'm so glad we did, what an amazing place to be! We can't take the vans down the narrow tracks of course as its all fine yellow sand and narrow tracks. The sculptures rise up out of the horizon as far as the eye can see creating dramatic, imposing shadows against the landscape. The colours here are so vibrant; the contrast between the yellow of the sand and the blue of the sky immerse your senses. It's so tranquil here, truly magical.

Back en route and another few kilometres under our belt and it's my turn to take control of the rigs - just 46 ft and 5 tonnes of Bailey Australia and Toyota's finest craftsmanship at my disposal! It's a little nerve wracking at first but much easier than I thought it was going to be - the Toyota is an enormous vehicle, a real king of the road but a complete dream to drive, helped by the fact that all the roads are completely straight and there's not a pot hole in sight!

It's late but we've finally made it to Shark Bay Caravan Park in Denham. We've got a long old day tomorrow, vans need washing inside and out and setting up as we've got some more travel companions joining us - Bailey Australia have arranged for a photographer, videographer and 2 journalists to join the crew to review the caravans as we go along. I can't wait to see the footage now we're by the coast!

Take a look at our journey on social media for some more photos and videos of what we're up to!

Twitter: @caravan_han

Instagram: @caravan_han

Facebook: West2EastChallenge