Australia's Golden Outback Holiday Planner 2022/23

Hyden/Norseman Road

NORTHERN WHEATBELT WONDERS 3 days | Sealed roads At a distance of just over 500kms, this route is ideal for a leisurely long weekend and best driven during spring when the wildflowers in this region are known to be at their peak of perfection. Head out of Perth to pretty Chittering Valley and check out its farmers markets and roadside stalls. There’s a reason for everyone (including Prince Harry) to stop at the Bindoon Bakehaus too; go in and find yours! You’ll want to use your photographic skills at New Norcia to capture the striking monastic architecture, then continue to Moora to enjoy the Moore River and the vibrant town’s many walks and wildflower trails. Plan to arrive in Dalwallinu with plenty of time to explore. It is a gorgeous town making the start of the Wildflower Way and every September it hosts the Wattle Week Festival in celebration of its famous wildflowers. There’s a holiday park, guesthouse, farm stays, B&Bs and nice hotel/motels here. Call into the War Memorial and the Discovery Centre and satisfy your appetite at the café,

restaurant or bakehouse. Some 75kms further south, the Wongan Hills are the largest single area of natural vegetation remaining in the Northern Wheatbelt with more than 250 varieties of flowering plants and 16 endemic species. The Mt Matilda and Mt O’Brien walk trails are lovely year-round, and there are many other nature reserves worth exploring. At the little hamlet of Calingiri, Carrah Farms host seasonal wildflower walks through private bushland with morning or afternoon teas included.

THE HOLLAND WAY AND THE JOHN HOLLAND TRACK 3 days | Sealed and unsealed roads Follow on the track created by pioneer John Holland in 1893 as a shortcut to the Goldfields in this adventurous outback route. The Holland Way connects Broomhill in the Southern Wheatbelt to Goolgardie in the Goldfields and consists of mainly bitumin roads and good surface gravel roads. The John Holland Track also starts in Broomehill, but from the Hyden/ Norseman Road north it follows a different route that is a proper adventure accessible only by high clearance 4WD. There are no facilities, so you’ll need to be gloriously self-sufficient! Both options offer an amazing drive through gorgeous countryside, beautiful salt lakes, granite outcrops camping spots but come prepared as much of this track is remote. The trail’s better known camps are Holland Track Farm, Wattle Rocks, Sandalwood Rocks, Centenary Rocks, Mt Holland and Thursday Rock. and rock formations and nature reserves. There are lots of great

New Norcia

Pigface flowers at Lake Ninan, near Wongan Hills

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