DISTANCE: 1,730km (1,074 miles)
TIME: One week
START/END: Perth
POINTS TO NOTE: Following this route exactly requires a vehicle (click here for info on driving in the outback), but much of it can be done using public transport. Transwa’s Prospector train runs daily between Perth and Kalgoorlie (6 hours 45 minutes). Transwa also run coaches to Esperance, and between Esperance and Kalgoorlie. Qantas and Virgin operate regular flights between Perth and Kalgoorlie, and Rex fly to Esperance.
WA covers 2,529,875 sq km (976,790 sq miles). Most of the 2.6-million population hug the coast, almost 2 million of them living in Perth and Fremantle. The immense inland contains properties bigger than many European countries.
The only way to get a true sense of such epic space and distance is to travel the outback on roads where trees, let alone other cars, are rare. When traffic does appear it’s usually titanic road trains, leaving whirly winds of desert dust in their wake. Empty, on this scale, isn’t boring – it’s awe-inspiring. Get your playlist sorted and prepare for a road trip.
Motor Museum of Western Australia
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York
Head east from Perth, along the Great Southern Highway, passing through the rural Wheatbelt. Within an hour you’ll reach historic York 1 [map]. This tiny Avon Valley town is easy to explore on foot: the most impressive buildings are on Avon Terrace, including the Motor Museum (tel: 08-9641 1288; www.yorkmotormuseum.com; daily 9am–4pm), home to over 100 classic and vintage vehicles.
Wave Rock
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Wave Rock
From here it’s a two-hour drive to Hyden 2 [map], near iconic Wave Rock. (4km/2.5 miles east of town; tel: 08-9880 5052; www.waverock.com.au; $12 per vehicle). Around 15-metres (50ft) high and 110-metres (360ft) long, this unique formation resembles the perfect ocean wave, ripe for surfing, but frozen in time.
The rock is a stunning sight, striped with vertical bands of colour. In spring, orchids and other wildflowers grow around the base in the meagre shade of sheoaks. Nearby are other rock features, including Hippo’s Yawn, the Humps and the Breakers. The Wave Rock Wild Flower Shop and Visitor Centre (tel: 08-9880 5182; daily 9am–5pm) provides details.
Coastline of Fitzgerald River National Park
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South Coast
Continue south along State Route 40, passing remote Eastern Wheatbelt settlements of Holt Rock and Lake King. At Ravensthorpe, cross the South Coast Highway and keep going until you meet the ocean at Hopetoun 3 [map].
This small settlement borders Fitzgerald River National Park (tel: 08-9842 4500; https://parks.dpaw.wa.gov.au/park/fitzgerald-river), one of Australia’s most botanically diverse reserves. Almost 20 percent of WA’s flora species grow here, some endemic to the park. Wild bushwalking and camping can be enjoyed if you’re well equipped, but most roads are unsealed and unsuitable for many vehicles.
Head east, joining the South Coast Highway and passing through Stokes Inlet National Park 4 [map] (https://parks.dpaw.wa.gov.au/park/stokes; camping available), with a picturesque estuary and an abundance of birdlife and bushwalking trails.
Kangaroos at Lucky Bay
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Southern Ocean
WA’s wild southern shore is lonely and evocative, with countless, deserted sandy bays making shapes like teeth marks in the Great Australian Bight. These lead eventually to Esperance 5 [map], hub for an astonishing 500km (311 miles) of coast. With its back to the Pacific, the Esperance region extends across 42,000 sq km (16,216 sq miles), populated by fewer than 15,000 people.
Beside enjoying the town’s facilities and restaurants, such as Fish Face (see 1 [map]), multiple attractions and activities can be organised here, including diving and fishing charters, and boat trips to the area’s extraordinary islands, home to myriad marine life. The Visitor Centre (corner of Dempster and Kemp streets; tel: 1300 66 44 55/08-9083 1555; www.visitesperance.com; Mon–Fri 9am–5pm, Sat 9am–4pm, Sun 9am–2pm) presents options.
Great Ocean Drive is a 40km (25-mile) DIY route linking beautiful beaches, rocky headlands, steep cliffs and hidden ocean pools. Rotary lookout offers a 360-degree view across the Recherche Archipelago, and you can stop for a swim at Twilight Cove. Self-guided trips can be done to the Wetlands (7km/4.3 miles north), where almost 100 lakes support 20,000 water birds, and ocean-caressed Cape Le Grand National Park (60km/37 miles east) where kangaroos sunbathe on blinding-white sand at Lucky Bay.
Kalgoorlie
Head north on Coolgardie-Esperance Highway, the endless road interrupted occasionally by little settlements like Salmon Gums. At a fork just past the goldrush-hangover ghost town of Widgiemooltha, go right to hit Kalgoorlie-Boulder, commonly called Kalgoorlie 6 [map] (www.kalgoorlietourism.com). The wild-west town flowered in the desert after Paddy Hannan struck a rich seam of gold in 1893, triggering a swarm of prospectors and transforming WA’s fortunes.
Mining still powers the state, and its epicentre is the Super Pit (www.superpit.com.au). This gargantuan open-cut gold mine can be viewed from the Super Pit lookout (7am–9pm daily), just off the Goldfields Highway. Night viewing is recommended, with the pit illuminated by high-voltage lights.
Kalgoorlie Tours and Charters (tel: 08-9021 2211; www.kalgoorlietours.com) run regular tours of the pit and the goldfields, and Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines (KCGM) facilitate free tours on the third Sunday of every month as part of the Kalgoorlie-Boulder Market Day. The one-hour tours depart 9am, 10am and 11am; places available from the Eastern Goldfields Historical Society, Hamilton Street, from 8.30am – first come, first served.
Just north of town, at Hannans North Tourist Mine (130 Goldfields Highway, Mullingar; tel: 08-9022 1664; www.hannansnorth.com.au; Sun–Fri 9am–4pm) you can explore a historic shaft, pan for gold and experience modern mining by climbing aboard monster machines (trucks and diggers) and entering an underground refuge chamber, where 12 people can survive for 72 hours.
In its heyday, Kalgoorlie boasted 93 pubs; today 25 remain, and they fall into three categories: drinking dens, family friendly hotels and trendy bars. For something unique, visit Metropole Hotel (Burt Street, Boulder), which features a mineshaft leading to the Super Pit. For a beer and a decent feed, try Paddy’s (see 2 [map]) at the Exchange Hotel.
Avon Valley
Return towards Perth along the Great Eastern Highway, via the eucalypt oasis of Boorabbin National Park 7 [map] (tel: 08-9080 5555; https://parks.dpaw.wa.gov.au/park/boorabbin), where diverse wildflowers and woodlands defy WA’s harsh environment.
After crossing the Wheatbelt you’ll eventually roll into Northam, eastern gateway to the Avon Valley 8 [map] and home to many historic buildings. The Visitor Centre (2 Grey Street; tel: 08-9622 2100; www.northam.wa.gov.au) supplies brochures detailing the Historic Town Walk – a 2km (1-mile) walk and 4km (2.5-mile) drive linking the main interest points. Worth exploring are the Old Railway Station Museum (Fitzgerald Street; Sun 10am–4pm) and Australia’s longest pedestrian suspension bridge.
Elsewhere in the valley, Toodyay 9 [map] has attractions including Connor’s Mill, a working steam-driven flour mill that tells the tale of infamous bushranger Moondyne Joe, son of a Welsh blacksmith transported to Australia for stealing bread.
Food and drink
1 Fish Face
1 James Street, Esperance; tel: 08-9071 1601; Tue–Sat 4.30–8.30pm; $$
A deservedly popular place where freshly grilled fish feasts easily transcend the standard flake-and-chip offering.
2 Paddy’s
135 Hannan Street, Kalgoorlie; tel: 08-9021 2833; www.exchangekalgoorlie.com.au/paddyseatanddrink; daily 11am–9pm; $$
Good value pub grub in a decent family-friendly dining area within the Exchange Hotel, a historic saloon dating to 1901.