Our (mis)adventures in Western Australia

By Valentina Calcagni, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia

At least we can change a tyre now?

During my Easter break, two friends and I decided to take a road trip to the glorious outback—proper ‘Straya.

No shower, no hot water, no service. All we had was each other and a fragile 4×4 that took personal offence at being driven on actual 4×4 roads. We called her Bertha.

Instead of rattling on about our misfortunes (aka Bertha’s tantrums: a burst tyre, two cracks in the windscreen—the list goes on), I’ll outline our route through the south-west wedge of Australia.

We began where all good stories begin: Perth. Many are quick to say that Perth is the city incarnate of that one person who starts talking and suddenly minutes feel like hours, hours become days, and you start questioning why you left the house at all. But I don’t agree! As someone who enjoys the vibe of a seaside town, Perth was very much up my street. Also, the coffee? Unreal.

Our next stops were Margaret River and Albany. I wish I could say I appreciated them more, but this is where Bertha turned on us. That said, they were phenomenal. If you’re blessed with good weather—and a car with more stamina than a stubborn shopping trolley—these would absolutely be top picks for the trip.

Next was Bremer Bay. Ah, Bremer. It treated us well. With only the occasional shower and an excellent resort bar, the rainy walks didn’t seem so bad when there was an Easter breakfast waiting for us.

After that came Hopetoun and Esperance. Esperance is probably my favourite place on the planet now. The water was a vibrant blue, paired with gorgeously white sand—chef’s kiss. Esperance is often people’s highlight of the south-west wedge trip, so I’d definitely recommend allocating plenty of time to explore this beautiful city.

Next was Hyden. Home of the infamous Wave Rock. That’s all I have to say because that’s all that was there. So if you like rocks, I guess Hyden will be your cup of tea. You weirdo.

Joking, the rock was cool.

Alongside all these stops, this road trip also gave us the chance to see plenty of wildlife and experience the proper Aussie camping lifestyle I’d imagined before coming here.