Australia's Golden Outback Holiday Planner

Road trips in the Goldfields!

HISTORIC TRAILS Golden Pipeline Heritage Trail 2 Days | Year-Round (Sep-Oct best for Wildflowers) | 2WD Hit the road to adventure and the wild west on a journey along the Golden Pipeline Heritage Trail from Perth to Kalgoorlie.

Travel back in time in the Goldfields of WA. From the Golden Pipeline Heritage Trail and Golden Quest Discovery Trail, to Australia’s Longest Shortcut, the Outback Way, a road trip to and through the Goldfields is filled with incredible stories, wide open skies and some proper outback charm.

Golden Quest Discovery Trail 3 Days | Apr-Oct (Aug-Sep best for Wildflowers) | 2WD & 4WD For a true Aussie outback adventure, hit the road and discover ghost towns and rugged scenery, meet the local characters and hear tales of fortunes made and lost. This route starts and ends in Kalgoorlie Boulder – you can get to Kalgoorlie by following the Golden Pipeline Trail A full itinerary can be viewed at www. goldenquesttrail.com Highlights • Coolgardie Exhibition Museum • Gold rush history and Gwalia ghost town • Super Pit • Kookynie and Niagara Dam • Outback pubs • Antony Gormley Sculptures Day 1: Coolgardie to Kookynie, 350km, 4 hrs Beginning in Coolgardie, visit gold rush museums before heading north east along the trail, passing through Ora Banda and Goongarrie to Menzies. Stop for lunch at local hotel then drive to Lake Ballard and the remarkable Antony Gormley sculptures that rise from a remote salt lake at Snake Hill. Continue north, stopping at Niagara Dam before arriving in Kookynie, where you could try your hand at fossicking for gold. You’ll find the local population of just 13, who you’re likely to meet at the Grand Hotel, have plenty of yarns to tell! Stay at the hotel or there’s also a caravan park. Day 2: Kookynie to Leonora, 67km, 1 hour For a real adventure immerse yourself in the outback and take unsealed road to Leonora. Today’s highlight is the ghost town of Gwalia. This rustic historic precinct oozes gold rush charm. Visit Gwalia Museum, site of historic Hoover House, once home to former American President, Herbert Hoover, who managed the local mine. Visitors can stay overnight in this restored residence, or continue to Leonora where there are hotels, motels and backpacker accommodation. Day 3: Leonora - Kalgoorlie-Boulder, 235km, 2.5 hrs Take the western trail through stunning outback landscapes and seasonal wildflowers to the mining hub of Kalgoorlie-Boulder. Be sure to stock up on fuel and food supplies before setting off into the Aussie outback. After a day on the road you’ve earned a cold drink on the wide verandah of one of the many hotels in Kalgoorlie- Boulder. Gormley Sculptures COOLGARDIE KALGOORLIE-BOULDER MENZIES KOOKYNIE GWALIA LAVERTON LEONORA

Eyre Highway & Nullarbor LinkS 2 Days | Year-Round (Apr-Oct best) | 2WD This is one of Australia’s great road adventures! Crossing the country from the east to west, through the vast arid interior and along the Great Australian Bight, the Nullarbor Plain is the ultimate outback adventure. A full itinerary can be viewed at nullarbormap.com.au and www.nullarborlinks.com Highlights • Eucla Telegraph Station ruins • Eyre Bird Observatory • Nullarbor Links, the world’s longest golf course • Balladonia Skylab museum • Fraser Range Station • Woodlands Discovery Centre

A full itinerary can be viewed at www. goldenpipeline.com.au Highlights • Springtime wildflowers • No. 1 and no. 3 Pump stations

• Cunderdin Museum • Cummins Theatre • Mount Charlotte

KALGOORLIE-BOULDER

EUCLA

MUNDRABILLA

COOLGARDIE

MADURA

COCKLEBIDDY

To Adelaide

CAIGUNA

MERREDIN

FRASERRANGE

SOUTHERN CROSS

NORSEMAN

BALLADONIA

NORTHAM

PERTH (MundaringWeir)

ESPERANCE

Day 1: Perth to Merredin, 260km, 3 hrs From Mundaring follow the route of the historic water pipeline, built more than 100 years ago – and still the longest fresh water pipeline on earth. Enjoy scenic farmscapes and nature walks, and explore historic water pump stations and lookouts during the journey to Merredin. Stay overnight at a motel or hotel in this friendly farming community where you’ll also find seasonal wildflowers and warm hospitality. Day 2: Merredin to Kalgoorlie,340km, 3.5 hrs Head east to the Goldfields, stopping at Southern Cross where gold was first discovered in the late 1800s. On the way to Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie- Boulder, you’ll see gold rush ruins, interpretive displays and springtime wildflowers. Spend the night or a few days in Kalgoorlie, the hub of WA’s gold mining industry with plenty of historic tales, magnificent architecture and lively nightlife.

Day 1: Eucla to Balladonia, 500km, 5.5 hrs The Nullarbor Plain is the world’s biggest single piece of limestone at 200,000 km². Make your way west across this amazing feat of nature – driving from Eucla near the border between SA and WA along Eyre Highway. At Eucla take 3km detour to the beach and travel the scenic lower plain via Mundrabilla to Madura Roadhouse and its lookout over surrounding tablelands. Perhaps drive to Eyre Bird Observatory (4WD only), home to more than 240 species of birds, many rare and endangered. Stop for lunch and play a hole at Cocklebiddy, famous for its cave systems. You’ll find a roadhouse, golf hole and fuel stop at Caiguna before hitting the longest straight stretch of road in the world – all 146.6km of it! Its common name is the 90 Mile Straight. After this drive you’ve earned a restful night at the Balladonia Roadhouse. Day 2: Balladonia to Kalgoorlie, 380km, 4 hrs Play a hole, check out the museum, home to the remnants of Skylab, a former space station that crashed to earth near Balladonia in 1979. The journey continues through low shrub and make sure you play the ‘Sheep’s Back’ at Fraser Range before arriving in Norseman – the first major town on the WA side of the Nullarbor Plain and the end of the Eyre Highway. Stop for picnic lunch at Beacon Hill Lookout, providing views of town, surrounding countryside and salt lakes. Drive either north to Kalgoorlie and continue to Perth, or head south to Esperance and return to Perth via the Great South West Edge (see page 11)

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