Western Australia is Australia's largest state, and is a wild land of vast resources. Early settlers whaled and farmed pearls off its coast, and its bright orange outback generates veins of gold. Mid Western Australia is carpeted with wildflowers, and the region of Pilbara's alien landscape is made up of the world's oldest rocks. The state's azure seas camouflage a huge, western coral reef.

Remote Perth is Western Australia's capital, and is situated 2,700 km ( 1,678 mi) from Adelaide, about the distance from London to Moscow. Despite this, it is vibrant and innovative, the Northbridge district jammed with shops, restaurants and galleries. Perth also has some of Australia's best inner-city beaches. Truly isolated, The Kimberley is where an unearthly stairway to the moon unfolds each month, and the Western Goldfields' frontier-like Kalgoorlie is a busy metropolis in the middle of nowhere. Rottnest Island is a sandy oasis off the coast of laid-back Fremantle, home of an intriguing Maritime Museum, and the karri forests of the South are protected by several national parks.