Western Australia

Distance and high airfares work against Western Australia’s tourism industry, which is a shame because this is one of Australia’s most wild and beautiful regions. The seas teem with whales in season, and thrill seekers can swim alongside gigantic but gentle whale sharks on the Northwest Cape every fall (Mar–June). This cape is home to one of Australia’s best-kept secrets, a second barrier reef called Ningaloo Marine Park, which runs for 260km (161 miles), one of the few reefs in the world to grow on a western coast. You can snorkel with manta rays here, and the diving is great. Just 19km (12 miles) off Perth, snorkelers can gaze at corals and fish on Rottnest Island, and in Shark Bay at Monkey Mia, tourists greet wild dolphins (or is it the other way around?).



In the southwest “hook” of the continent lies the Margaret River wine region. Wild forests, thundering surf, dramatic cliffs, rich bird life, and wild ’roos make it one of the country’s most attractive wine regions. The state’s capital, Perth, has surf beaches and a restored 19th-century port with a fun atmosphere and some great museums. One or two hours’ drive from the city brings you to some cute towns, like the Spanish Benedictine monastery town of New Norcia. Inland, the state is mostly wheat fields and desert, but if you have the inclination, head west 600km (372 miles) from Perth to the gold-mining town of Kalgoorlie, where you’ll find the world’s largest open-cast gold mine. With its gracious old pubs lining the wide bustling streets, it’s what an Aussie country town should look like.



In the Kimberley, you can visit the ancient Geikie and Windjana gorges, pearl farms where the world’s best South Sea pearls grow, and the charming (in a corrugated-iron sort of way) beachside frontier town of Broome. This tract of the country is so little populated and so under-explored that most Aussies never contemplate coming here. Getting around can be expensive, because it’s so vast. Near Kununurra, on the eastern edge of the Kimberley, is a million-acre cattle station, El Questro, where you can camp in safari tents, fish for barramundi, hike through the bush to Aboriginal rock art, take all kinds of active tours from horseback riding to 4WD jaunts, and dine every night on terrific modern Oz cuisine. From Kununurra you can hike into the beehive-shaped rock formation of the Bungle Bungles, cruise on the croc-infested Ord River, and tour the world’s biggest diamond mine.