Remote, ancient and wild – The Kimberley region of Western Australia’s North West corner, spanning an area almost twice the size of Victoria, is Australia at its most challenging and most rewarding. For the intrepid visitor prepared to seek out its treasures it offers adventure and spectacular experiences with dramatic landscapes, stunning natural features and curiosities, all interwoven with the art and legends of Aboriginal culture and heritage.
Western Australia is the country’s largest State, representing a third of Australia’s land area. When you realise that over half of that expanse falls within just one region – WA’s Golden Outback – you begin to get a sense of scale of just how vast this huge slice of Western Australia is and of course, how much there is to discover.
Stretching from the South Australia border across the Nullarbor Plain it takes in the south eastern coastline and encompasses the Western Australian Wheatbelt to the east of Perth and the fields of wildflowers that WA is famous for, and reaches to just south of the Tropic of Capricorn.
Western Australia’s Coral Coast – mid way along the Western Australia coastline – extends for over 1000km. Take the Indian Ocean Drive from Cervantes in the south, some 2 hours north of Perth, up to the Coral Coast’s main centre of Geraldton and onto Exmouth in the north. The sea is bluer here, the skies clearer and the rich colours of the coastline make this drive an adventure to fill the senses with extraordinary natural sights both onshore and underwater and unforgettable experiences including hand feeding dolphins in the wild and swimming with whale sharks.
It’s sunset – a favourite time in the Western Australia capital of Perth when you can watch the sun go down over the ocean from one of the city’s 19 beaches; see the shiny glass towers of the city glisten as you take in the view from Kings Park overlooking the city centre; or maybe seeing the city skyline from aboard a sunset cruise on the broad expanse of the Swan River.
A glorious coastline of rocky outbreaks that frame pristine white beaches and sapphire blue seas together with the food and especially the wine of the Margaret River wine region are just some of the highlights awaiting when you explore WA’s South West.
From Perth it’s an easy three-hour drive south to Busselton and the start of the Margaret River. Busselton offers up a postcard setting by the seaside – a long white sandy beach, the calm clear blue seas of Geographe Bay and an endlessly long jetty complete with miniature train and an underwater observatory.