Western Australia is a state blessed by wealth and cursed by distance. In every direction Perth is 3,200 km (2,000 mi) from any other major city in the world, hence its reputation as the most isolated city on earth. The state itself is huge, about 1 million square miles (twice the size of Texas), but …
20km (13 miles) NE of Perth Twenty minutes from the city center is the Swan Valley, home to two of Australia's biggest wine labels. There are 30 or so wineries, along with a wildlife park, antiques shops, a few galleries, several good restaurants, and Australia's best golf resort. Some restaurants …
853km (529 miles) N of Perth; 1,867km (1,157 miles) S of Broome Monkey Mia's celebrity dolphins may not show on time -- or at all -- but they rarely pass up a visit. Apart from these delightful sea mammals, Shark Bay's waters heave with fish, dolphins, turtles, the world's biggest population of …
Many international visitors -- and for that matter, many east-coast Australians -- never make the trek to Western 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 million sq. km/975,000 sq. miles), …
4,405km (2,731 miles) W of Sydney; 2,389km (1,481 miles) S of Broome If you like Sydney, you'll like Perth. It has the same silver skyscrapers glinting under a blue sky, the same youthful, energetic outdoorsy vibrancy, and, like Sydney, the sparkling ocean and glorious white beaches are just a bus …
132km (82 miles) N of Perth It's the last thing you expect to see in the Australian bush -- a Benedictine monastery town with elegant European architecture, a fine museum, and a collection of Renaissance art -- but New Norcia is no mirage. Boasting a population of 70 (when everyone's at home), this …
595km (369 miles) E of Perth After Paddy Hannan struck gold in 1893, the wheat-belt town of Kalgoorlie found itself sitting on the Golden Mile, the richest square mile of gold-bearing earth in the world. Today Kalgoorlie (pop. 32,000) is still an Outback gold-rush boomtown, a mixture of …
1,272km (789 miles) N of Perth; 1,567km (972 miles) S of Broome Driving along the only road on the Northwest Cape is like driving on the moon. Hundreds of red anthills taller than you march away to the horizon, sheep and 'roos threaten to get under the wheels, and the sun beats down from a harsh blue sky. …