Beyond rich gold rush heritage, bountiful treasures lie in Australia’s Golden Outback. Prepare to be dazzled by Australia’s whitest beach – Lucky Bay in Esperance. View some of the largest collections of spring wildflowers on the planet. Ride one of the nation’s biggest waves at Wave Rock and scale the world’s largest monolith at Mount Augustus. Or enter the largest outdoor art gallery on Earth, created by world-renowned sculptor Antony Gormley.
You can reach the Golden Outback’s lively hub of Kalgoorlie by road, air, rail or guided tour from Perth. Follow the Golden Pipeline Heritage Trail and hit the Great Eastern Highway for the 600-kilometre road trip from city to outback. Or join one of the many self-drive routes such as the Pioneer Pathways, Leonora Loops and the Granite and Woodlands Discovery Trail.
For a more direct route, catch one of the daily flights or TransWA trains from Perth. Or take time to indulge in the ultimate rail experience – riding the Indian Pacific to Kalgoorlie from Perth and continuing across the Nullarbor Plain to the east coast.
It’s here, in the vast rust-red landscapes and rugged outback, that you’ll find a real Australian outback experience – stepping back in time to the heady gold rush era of the late 1800s and encountering fascinating local characters in the region’s historic pubs and authentic farm or station stays.
Four wheel drive enthusiasts get to blaze a trail along the longest and most remote stock routes, finding challenge and adventure on the Canning Stock Route, Gunbarrel Highway, Golden West Discovery Trail, Holland Track, Gascoyne-Murchison Outback Pathways and Australia’s most adventurous shortcut from Perth to Cairns along The Outback Way.
Driving enthusiasts of the golfing kind should also swing by a hole or two on the world’s longest course – the Nullarbor Links – stretching 1,365 kilometres from Kalgoorlie to Ceduna.
Australia’s Golden Outback is out of this world.
