Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
9
Perth & Western Australia
by Lee Mylne
M
any international visitors—and
for that matter, many east-coast Aus-
tralians—never make the trek to West-
ern Australia. It's too far away, too
expensive to fly to, and too big when
you get there, they say. That's all true,
especially about it being big (2.5 mil-
lion sq. km/975,000 sq. miles), but
don't dismiss a trip out of hand. Flights
need not be expensive (if you're an
international traveler you can use air
coupons—see chapter 2), and some of
Australia's best snorkeling and diving,
most historic towns, splendid natural
scenery, and fantastic wine regions are
here. Every spring (that's Sept-Nov
Down Under), a good deal of the state
is carpeted with wildflowers. The cap-
ital,
Perth
, has great food, a fabu-
lous outdoor life of biking and
beaches, plenty of smallish museums
that are well worth a look, and a beau-
tiful historic port called Fremantle.
The
Southwest
“hook” of the
state, below Perth, is the prettiest part
of Western Australia, and also the eas-
iest region to visit outside of Perth.
Massive stands of karri and jarrah trees
stretch to the sky, the surf is world-
class, and the coastline is wave-
smashed and rugged. The Southwest's
Margaret River region turns out some
of Australia's most acclaimed wines.
En route to the Southwest is a special
phenomenon—a visit by
wild dol-
phins
to the town of Bunbury.
You can swim with them, if they are in
the mood for socializing.
Head east 644km (400 miles)
inland from Perth and you strike what,
in the 1890s, was the richest square
mile of gold-bearing earth the world
has ever seen. The mining town of
Kalgoorlie
, still Australia's biggest
gold producer (nearly 2,000 oz. a day),
is a place of ornate 19th-century archi-
tecture. If Australia has an answer to
the Wild West, then Kalgoorlie is it.
Head north of Perth and you're in
the Outback. Red sands, scrubby trees,
and spinifex grass are all you see for
hundreds of miles. About 850km
(527 miles) north of Perth,
wild dol-
phins
make daily visits to the shores
of Monkey Mia. Another 872km (541
miles) on is one of Australia's best-kept
secrets, a 260km (161-mile) coral reef
called
Ningaloo
, along the iso-
lated Outback shore. It's a second
Great Barrier Reef, undiscovered by
world travelers or Aussies themselves.
The rugged northwest portion of
Western Australia is known as the
Kimberley, where cattle farming, pearl
farming, and tourism thrive in a
rocky moonscape of red cliffs, water-
falls, rivers, sparse gums, and wetland
lagoons. Here you can visit a million-
acre cattle station rich in Aboriginal
rock-art sites, tour the world's largest
diamond mine, cruise the lush Ord
River to see hundreds of native birds,
ride a camel on the beach, and shop
for the world's biggest South Sea
pearls.
