Golden Outback

The Golden Outback covers just over half of Western Australia, the region stretches from the dusty red earth of Mt Augustus and Kennedy Ranges in the north to the sweeping beaches of Esperance to the south and at its heart is the desert mining town of Kalgoorlie. With such scale comes incredible diversity and the Golden Outback offers visitors; huge deserts and salt lakes, rugged rocky outcrops, outback plains, woodlands and some of the whitest beaches in the world. Spring time transforms the region, the ground is carpeted with wild flowers like something out of a fairy tale. With so much to see, the Golden Outback offers the ultimate road trip experience. Adventure to wave shaped rocks, see gold rush history, mega monoliths, white beaches, pink lakes and blue seas!

With such a massive land area it is almost impossible to accurately discuss the Aboriginal culture of the Golden Outback. Stretching from coast to desert through granite country and wilderness to islands and archipelagos; numerous Aboriginal language groups call the region home, each with a unique culture, history, language, stories, songs and art. Every group is important and deserves recognition for the variety and richness of culture they bring to the region and Country more broadly. The Golden Outback offers a variety of Aboriginal experiences unique to towns, local areas and language groups; try a bush food tour of the desert, experience local rock art or go on one of the many cultural tours.

Ochre red earth as far as the eye can see, the mining town of Kalgoorlie is in the middle of the outback and sits on one of the world’s richest deposits of gold. So plentiful it has been dubbed ‘The Golden Mile’ though nickel and copper are also mined in the region. Australia is known for its surfing and big waves but one of our biggest waves is hundreds of kilometres from the coast.

Wave Rock rises 15 metres above the outback plain and is over 2,700 million years old. Located about 4 hours from Perth, the 110-metre long multi-coloured granite cliff is shaped remarkably like a huge wave about to crash onto the bush. Nearby, a collection of over 450 rock paintings cover the walls of Mulka's Cave, telling the stories of local Aboriginal culture and the Dreamtime.

The world's largest monolith, Mount Augustus, is two and a half times the size of Uluru and is found in the Golden Outback. A truly impressive rock Mount Augustus has a 750-metre high summit from its 49 kilometre scenic base trail and at sunrise and sunset the changing colours; green, yellow, orange to red are spectacular. A closer look at the Monolith will reveal Aboriginal rock art and caves of the Wadjari people, who call Mount Augustus Burringurrah.

Imagine a strawberry milk, bubble gum pink lake surrounded by a paint box blue ocean and only separated by a thin strip of white sand. Impossible right?! Discover Lake Hillier one of the extraordinary places you will ever see and part of the pristine wilderness of the Recherche Archipelago in Cape Arid National Park. Lake Hillier measures just 600 metres wide, shaped like a footprint and no one knows what causes the lakes incredible pink colour.

Australia’s whitest beach is found at Lucky Bay in Cape Le Grand National Park, with luminous white sands, bright blue waters and magnificent wilderness surrounding it truly is a little bit of heaven. A troupe of cheeky kangaroos also call the area home and are often seen relaxing on the sand and keep an eye out for migrating whales between July and October.

Fitzgerald River National Park offers pristine wilderness and is recognised as one of the most diverse botanical regions on earth with around 1,800 species of flowering plants alone. In spring, the landscape is dotted with colourful wildflowers including Banksias, Hakeas, Bottlebrush, Feather flowers, Quaalup bell and many others. The Park is made up of a series of coastal hills called the Barrens, the area is home to a variety of native wildlife the endangered marsupial the Dibbler has recently been re discovered in the park and from the cliffs at Point Ann you can see Southern Right and Humpback whales migrating along the coast in winter.