Down Under and Out West

While most road-tripping travelers in Australia cruise the country’s eastern shores, for something a little less crowded—and a little more wild—look to the coast of Western Australia

- JAMIE LAFFERTY

TELL PEOPLE you’re planning a road trip in Australia, and most will assume you’re heading to the popular east coast: specifically the beautiful but over touristed Great Ocean Road in the state of Victoria. On a recent trip, I longed for something wilder, less clogged with traffic, and so set my sights on the state of Western Australia. I plotted a three-day loop out of the orbit of Perth, W.A.’s main hub, and south through ancient forests teeming with wacky wildlife, into a world-renowned wine region and along a rugged coast.

Into the Green

It took a couple of hours to fully detach from Perth and the major highways, but a stop at the excellent Bunbury Farmers Market hinted at what was to come. Stuffed with fresh produce from around the region, it spoke to the land’s fertility, nothing like the barren outback of many people’s imagination. It also sold exceptional coffee, as though aware a significant number of visitors—myself included—would show up hopelessly jet-lagged.

As I turned inland from Bunbury, the countryside became even greener, and mostly empty roads led me through avocado orchards. Donnybrook typified the few towns I passed, a quaint place of weeping willows and iron-roofed homes, suggesting, perhaps intentionally, that it was a little forgotten by the modern world.