Point your wheels in any direction in Western Australia, and you’ll soon be driving in a mind-blowingly vast and ancient landscape studded with wildflowers and lapped by turquoise seas. The wide, open road just as often leads to world-class wineries as giant tingle forest, red desert and deep gorges roaring with waterfalls.
It’s a place where you can walk the earth through indigenous eyes, frolic on empty white-sand beaches, swim with humpbacks and rare whale sharks and sleep under the stars without another soul in sight.
Buckle up for four of the best driving holidays in WA.
Waterfalls and swimming holes might not immediately spring to mind in Western Australia’s red northwest, but the Warlu Way is no ordinary drive. Following the Dreamtime story of Warlu, a sea serpent who carved out the landscape in pursuit of two young boys, the epic route winds through the red heart of the Pilbara and along the Kimberley coast, through jaw-dropping scenery that could have been plucked from a dot painting.
There are plenty of pinch-me moments, from diving in the Mackerel Islands to hiking Karijini National Park, a rainbow-hued wonderland of narrow prehistoric canyons replete with dramatic waterfalls and jade pools. Witness rock art 20,000 years in the making and be humbled by the star-studded outback at night.
Don’t miss the raw beauty of Dampier Archipelago, 200km north of Broome, a place to connect to Country and dive, snorkel or cruise a paradise of 42 islands and islets singing with coral reefs, sponge gardens and more than 650 species of fish.
Travel along the Kimberley coast for jaw-dropping scenery. Photo / Getty Images
THE SOUTHWEST EDGE: PERTH TO ESPERANCE LOOP
Margaret River might be its star attraction, but award-winning wineries are only the start in WA’s southern tip. From cellar doors to towering forests, secluded beaches and the outback, this soul-soothing journey delivers dramatic scenery at every turn and a good dose of green therapy.
Delve into Fremantle’s convict past, buzzy wine bars, microdistilleries and breweries. Take the short ferry ride to Rottnest Island for a selfie with a quokka or swim with wild bottlenose dolphins in Bunbury. Then immerse in nature in Walpole, at the Valley of the Giants in Walpole, a 40m suspended walkway in the treetops of 400-year-old tingle trees, and a link to Gondwanaland.
Explore a string of untouched white sand beaches from Denmark to Cape Le Grand National Park, where resident kangaroos laze on blinding white sands. Time your drive in spring and you’ll be rewarded with an explosion of pretty wildflowers. Round out the trip near Hyden at Wave Rock, a magnificent sweep of granite rock that predates Uluru.
Distance: 2072 km
Duration: 11 days
At Cape Le Grand National Park, resident kangaroos laze on white sands.
Photo / Getty Images
CORAL COAST HIGHWAY: PERTH TO NINGALOO REEF
There’s a rainbow of surprises on the Coral Coast, one of WA’s most iconic drives. Hugging the Indian Ocean, the drive north from Perth delivers one-of-a-kind nature and rare marine encounters, in one of the most biodiverse regions in the world.
Swim with sea lions at Jurien Bay, ride the sand dunes at Lancelin or marvel at the eerie towering pinnacles in Nambung National Park, shaped by eons of shells, sand and wind into fantastical lunar spires. Kalbarri is within striking distance of the bubblegum-pink Hutt Lagoon, and another lesser known geographical wonder, the 400-million-year-old Kalbarri Gorge, where you can abseil, hike or swim its spectacular Z-bend.
Slow the pace in the magical Unesco World Heritage-listed Shark Bay, where red soil meets aquamarine waters, and at Ningaloo Reef, an incredible underwater wonderland, where you can snorkel the reef from shore and swim with turtles, manta rays, dugongs and the gentle giants of the sea, whale sharks.
Drive past the bubblegum-pink water at Hutt Lagoon. Photo / Getty Images
GIBB RIVER ROAD: DERBY TO KUNUNURRA
The Gibb River Road might well be one of Australia’s best outback adventures - and one for off-road campervans. This unforgettable journey into the Kimberley delivers remote wilderness on a grand scale, punctuated by majestic gorges, plunging waterfalls, billabongs and wildlife.
From Windjana Gorge to Bell and Manning gorges, and on to Home Station, a 12,000sq km Outback playground nestled in the foothills of the Cockburn Ranges, days unfold slowly, with hiking trails, waterfalls and billabongs, the backdrop to unforgettable moments in nature, where you spot a crocodile or two. El Questro, a wilderness park dotted with watering holes, thermal springs and hiking trails, is your true Outback finale.
From here, it’s a short drive to the jewel in the Kimberley crown: the Bungle Bungle Ranges, a breathtaking collection of striated beehive-like domes in the World Heritage-listed Purnululu National Park.
The Bungle Bungle Ranges are a breathtaking collection of striated beehive-like domes. Photo / Getty Images
Note: No matter which driving holiday you choose, be sure to pack plenty of food, water and fuel, particularly for remote areas. Plan your trip carefully and be sure to check road conditions and weather regularly.
