Western Australia is certainly no stranger to the monumental and the massive, boasting a diverse landscape with a vast coastline, rich mining history and bountiful array of flora and fauna species. Settling the age-old debate, here’s six reasons why Western Australia proves bigger is always better.
1. It’s MASSIVE!
Western Australia occupies an entire third of Australia, with an enormous land area of two and a half MILLION square kilometers, and over twelve and a half thousand kilometers of unspoilt coastline.
Fun fact #1: That’s about ten times the size of the United Kingdom!
2. Its capital city is far away… from everything
Perth, WA’s seaside capital city, is the most isolated city in the world, with Adelaide being it’s closest neighbour; and even then there’s 2,700 kilometers dividing these two Australian cities. For those that enjoy incredibly long drives, that’s a whopping 28 hours in the car…. I hope your iPod is stocked up.
Fun fact #2: Perth is actually closer to Singapore and Jakarta than it is to Australia’s capital city, Canberra.
3. It’s home to the largest pearl industry in the world. Ladies?
Broome, located about 2,240 kilometers from Perth, is internationally renowned for its rich history based on the development of the pearling industry in the early 1800s. Today, Broome’s Cygnet Bay attracts thousands of visitors each year to view the pearling process, visit the boutique store, and to see the finest pearls in the world first-hand. Get your wallets at the ready ladies (…or should I say, gentlemen).
Fun fact #3: Before European settlement, Indigenous Australians would harvest and trade pearls with local fisherman.
4. It hosts the largest supplier of gold in Australia… got any money left?
Kalgoorlie’s Fimiston Open Pit, or ‘Super Pit’ is a magnificent mining pit is approximately 3.5 kilometers in length, 1.5 kilometers wide, and around half a kilometer deep. For those that work in imperial measurement, allow me to break it down for you: that’s approximately one gigantic hole in the ground… And as a resident of this unique little mining town for several years, I can honestly say I’ve never seen anything quite so monumental.
Fun fact #4: Alongside the great wall of China and the great pyramids of Giza, Western Australia’s Super Pit is one of the world’s largest man-made structures that can be viewed from space!
5. It has the longest stretch of railway in the world!
The Trans-Australia Railway was developed to cover Australia’s Nullarbor Plain, starting in Port Augusta in South Australia, making its way to an end in Kalgoorlie, WA. The railway stretches across a whopping 1,693 kilometers of Australia’s most isolated regions, linking Australia’s East coast with its West.
Fun fact #5: The railway was built in the 1900s as the only other means of reaching Perth at that time was by sea, a voyage which required crossing the famously rough Great Australian Bight.
6. Its islands are home to some of the world’s most diverse flora and fauna species
Rottnest Island, just 18km of the coastline of Perth, is one of Australia’s most popular tourist destinations due to it’s white sand beaches and vast array of natural flora and fauna species. In fact, Rottnest is home to 135 species of tropical fish, which is about 124 more than that discovered off Australia’s metropolitan coastlines! ‘Rotto’ as the locals refer to it, is also home to Australia’s sweetest marsupial, the quokka.
Fun fact #6: To maintain the natural beauty of the island, Rottnest is entirely car-free!
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