Diverse and dominating, the great state of Western Australia brings the poetic turn of phrase "wide brown land" to life. With its fair share of summer-perfect beaches and culture-driven cities, the Wild West also boasts dramatic outback landscapes where dreamtime stories are shared around crackling campfires and rich, red roads stretch to the continent's end.
Karijini National Park
In the northwest corner around four hours from Port Hedland, Karijini National Park is the ultimate destination for outback road-tripping, particularly if you're up for a two-to-three day journey from Perth. With a trusty all-terrain vehicle you can tackle the unsealed roads leading into the park, where gorge rim walks and idyllic swimming holes await. Make like a rock wallaby and clamber down Fortescue Falls to Fern Pool for a secluded swim in God's country.
Dampier Peninsula
Follow the red-dirt track to Cape Leveque Road two and a half hours out of Broome and you'll get to one of the best kept secrets in The Kimberley region – the remote Dampier Peninsula. At the northernmost tip of the peninsula is Cape Leveque, where ochre cliffs drop onto white, sandy beach and the Indian Ocean lashes the coastline. If you're looking to explore off the beaten track, paradise doesn't get much more isolated than this. Wash away the day with a swim, snorkel or boat trip off the cape.
Bungle Bungle Ranges
Looking at the beehive-shaped black and red striped domes, you wonder how they remained "undiscovered" until the early 1980s. Today, the ancient Bungle Bungles are the star of the World Heritage Listed Purnululu National Park where Cathedral Gorge and Echidna Chasm are met with wonder and awe. Come nightfall, drift away under the twinkle of the stars and the fading glow of your campfire embers. For the adventurous and well-heeled, an open door helicopter ride is the definitive Bungle Bungle viewing experience.
