The WA capital is colourful in more ways than one. There are alleys lined with eye-popping street art, and wildflowers blanket Kings Park. Discover the sights, then meet your fellow adventurers at a Welcome Dinner.
Talk about starting on a high. First stop is Yanchep National Park, where, on a MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience, your Aboriginal guide decodes native plants and tells Dreamtime stories. Just as scene-stealing are Nambung National Park’s Pinnacles, limestone structures jutting into the sky. Arriving in Geraldton, pay homage to sailors lost during WWII at the HMAS Sydney Memorial.
Prepare yourself for the ‘living fossils’ at Hamelin Pool, home to the most abundant colony of stromatolites in the world. The state’s World Heritage listed Shark Bay is also characterised by Shell Beach, formed from billions of coquina bivalve shells.
If you didn’t fall in love with the gin-clear waters and powdery sand of Monkey Mia last night, you will today. Meet the dolphins that turn up to the shore every morning, then spend the afternoon at leisure. Optional sunset cruise, perhaps? Or a scenic flight over the bay?
Did you know the Carnarvon Space and Technology Museum played a role in the 1969 moon landing, and was instrumental in the space race? Your visit here is interactive, so prepare to try on space suits and climb aboard a supercraft simulator.
Today’s cruise in a glass-bottomed boat allows you to glimpse the World Heritage listed Ningaloo Coast in comfort. Gliding around Coral Bay, your guide will point out colourful corals, turtles and angelic fish.
Depending on the time of year, Ningaloo Reef is home to both whale sharks and humpbacks. You can opt to snorkel with both (ethically) or book a sunset cruise to see some breaching and blowing, sparkling wine in hand.
A frontier like no other, Karijini is where gorges seem to cleave off the edge of the Earth, waterfalls tumble from escarpments and remote turquoise rock pools shimmer like precious gems. Expect dazzling stargazing from your safari tent.
It took billions of years to create Karijini’s geological wonders: the red layered cliffs, the quiet gorges, the soaring gum trees and distinctive termite mounds. If you packed your swimsuit, cooling off under waterfalls comes highly recommended.
The Pilbara is sparsely populated, but you will find people in Port Hedland. There are plenty of local characters to meet over dinner at your hotel.
The reason Broome was born is because of pearls. Today, it’s just as well known for its Indian Ocean sunsets, best enjoyed from a vantage on the Cable Beach sand.
Today is yours to explore. Stay in town and shop for pearls, wander the coast on the lookout for dinosaur footprints. Or simply enjoy Broome’s tropical climes, strolling along 22-kilometre Cable Beach.
Things are bigger in Broome, including the 125-million-year-old dinosaur footprints. Remote Fitzroy Crossing is the gateway to Danggu (Geikie) Gorge. This remarkable part of the Kimberley was formed by the Fitzroy River carving the Napier Range.
Dive deep into First Nations culture on a visit to an art gallery, a community venue supporting Aboriginal creatives in the Fitzroy Crossing region. Aboriginal culture is strong in the Great Sandy Desert as well, on the edge of which sits Halls Creek.
While the Argyle Diamond Mine has stopped producing rare pink diamonds, you can still visit with an Aboriginal guide. From here you’re on the epic Gibb River Road to El Questro Wilderness Park.
The Kimberley’s sounds follow you to Chamberlain Gorge, your boat dwarfed by its soaring escarpments. Afternoon remedy? A splash in the pool, perhaps, or a dip in the waterhole within Emma Gorge. Take your pick.
Kununurra was born through the Ord River Irrigation Scheme. It now waters crops like sugarcane, turned into lip-smacking rum at Hoochery Distillery. A sunset cruise here is something you won’t forget in a hurry.
Today is one of decisions: An optional flight over (or 4WD tour of) the Bungle Bungles? Or a wander with your Travel Director through Mirima National Park.
NT locals come with plenty of country swagger, as you’ll discover when you meet award-winning musician Tom Curtain for an afternoon of knee-slappin’ songs and stories on a cattle station.
Nature rules at Nitmiluk National Park, where you cruise through dramatic Nitmiluk (Katherine) Gorge. Your northern sojourn reveals the region’s historic events, all the way to Darwin.
It’s hard to believe this epic adventure has come to an end. Three weeks of incredible memories to take home with you.