While more than ten times as many visitors head to Australia’s eastern hotspots than to Western Australia, WA is the largest state down under at nearly the size of Alaska, Texas, and California combined. Covering more than a million square miles, it’s home to mountain ranges, vast desert, a craggy coastline with formidable surf, and a verdant wine region. Wild kangaroos populate fields like sheep here (something you won’t find as readily in the more visited East) and you’ll want to rent car or hire a driver to take you to each region you plan to visit outside the capital city of Perth.
There’s enough here to fill a few weeks, especially with the sometimes considerable distances between points of interest, so you may want to focus on a particular region or two of this vast state on a first visit if a monthlong sojourn isn’t in the cards; Cornelis Scheepers, co-owner of the completely LGBT-owned and operated Ampersand Estates, recommends the southwest corner for a start. He spoke with EDGE about leaving tech and entering the world of hospitality in Western Australia with his business partner, Melissa Bell, why he loves this part of the world, and what you should check out when you make your own way here.
