Western Australia is a beautiful monstrosity. And by that, I mean it is huge. It’s a jumbo, super-sized serving of ridic natural beauty. But despite having grown up here in Australia, the sheer size (and girth, what a girth) of Western Australia continues to astound me. Like, geographically WA could fit both Alaska AND Texas within its bounds with room to spare. That’s insane. Is your mind boggled? My mind is boggled.
But the thing is, when you’re looking at the state on a map – its size is deceptive. You might be all like, yeah let’s drive from Perth to Broome, that sounds like a great plan, super stoked, I’ll make the playlist. But no, fool. That is quite literally a 23-hour drive.
You’ve got to pick your battles, and your road trips, carefully in WA to make sure you’re not wasting precious, precious adventure time getting lost in the outback (and not in a good way). So without further banter, we’ve compiled a stellar list of WA travel spots that won’t cost you an arm and a leg in petrol.
The Pinnacles
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Just above Perth, near Cervantes, is an eerie alien-like landscape called The Pinnacles. Located along the Coral Coast in the Nambung National Park, The Pinnacles are a bunch of limestone formations that jut out of the sand as far as the eye can see. Honestly, it could be the surface of Mars. The Pinnacles Desert has appeared in centuries of Aboriginal Dreamtime stories and supposedly each formation has replaced an enemy who lay dead on the land. So it’s got some majorly amazing juju happening.
Margaret River
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Margs or Maggie River, depending on the local you’re speaking to, is a 100 percent must-visit if you’re hitting up WA. Just a few hours south of Perth, this is the place to go if you want all the wine, all the beer, all the food, and all the beaches. So basically all the good things in life. Make sure you jump on a wine trail and sample the state’s finest (ahem, cabernet sauvignon) before cheersing to the good life at a microbrewery. We would say then go for a swim, but you might be borderline tipsy and we’re all about safe swimming, so perhaps make it a morning dunk instead.
Augusta
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Do you like whales? I like whales. They’re so smart, and big, and Blackfish made me cry. Well, you can see these magnificent mammals in their natural habitat just off the coast of Augusta. Humpback, Southern Right and Pygmy whales are the usual suspects swimming around this region from June to August every year. Nab a spot on a whale watching charter if you wanna get even closer, hombre.
Stirling Ranges
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Fancy yourself a hiker? Wanna get into The Great Outdoors? You should probably take a trip to the Stirling Ranges then. It’s got Bluff Knoll, which is well worth a climb if you’re cardiovascularly inclined. It’s also the only region in WA to get snow. So it’s got that going for it too. It’s basically just a really beautiful part of the world and deserves to be enjoyed, and Instagrammed.
Cottesloe Beach
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If you want to stay a little closer to Perth, you gotta have fish and chips at Cottesloe. This seaside spot has been a local favourite for going on a hundred years now, and there is good reason why. With over a kilometre of ridiculously white sand, a bunch of snorkel spots, not a bad surf break and wine very close by, this is a quintessentially Aussie hang. One piece of fried flake and extra dead horse (tomato sauce) included.
Lancelin
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Blindingly white sand, epic weather and one very uncoordinated traveller on a sandboard? Sounds like a good time to me. Lancelin is home to a bunch of sand dunes, all of which you can throw yourself off in a frenzy of adrenaline. Don’t worry if you’ve never sandboarded before, there are a heap of mini-dunes to start with. Lancelin is also pretty famous for its seafood and crayfish, so like, you can go full man hands on a lobster afterwards.
So whatcha waiting for? There’s a big, wide, sometimes weird, Western Australia out there. If you’re keen to make WA your next road trip destination, grab a getaway car with Budget.
