Five GRAND experiences from The South West Edge road trip

Enjoy BREATHTAKING scenery, walks, wildlife and WINERIES, tucked between OCEAN and the TREES.

Walk with Giants Explore Western Australia’s world-famous forest along the WALK, VALLEY OF THE GIANTS TREETOP which stretches through the canopy of 400-yearold tingle trees. Feel as if you are flying as you step along the suspended bridges, which bounce and sway in response to movement, then wander through the forest floor, tracing broad, muscular tree trunks until you’re looking at the sky. A dam big mural GET UP CLOSE TO THE WORLD’S LARGEST DAM MURAL AT Wellington Dam – ALL 8000 SQUARE METRES OF IT, PAINTED BY ARTIST GUIDO VAN HELTEN OVER FOUR MONTHS. LUNCH AT THE KIOSK THEN MOTOR TO Gnomesville NEARBY IN THE Ferguson Valley BUCOLIC FOR A VERY UN-GARDEN VARIETY MASS OF RED-HATTED CHARACTERS PEEKING FROM THE BUSH. DEPART FOR NEARBY Bunbury, FOR AN OCEAN SWIM WITH DOLPHINS AT THE Dolphin Discovery Centre. Surf Rock Albany, FROM THE COASTAL CITY OF PEEL Torndirrup National Park, OUT TO 16 KILOMETRES ALONG BUSH AND BEACHES, WHERE YOU’LL SENSE THE SOUTHERN The Gap. OCEAN’S THRILLING ENERGY AT IT’S A CLEFT IN GRANITE CLIFFS TOPPED WITH A 40-METRE-HIGH PLATFORM THAT JUTS OVER THE EDGE. FOLLOW THE Natural Bridge, PATHWAY TO ANOTHER SCULPTED ROCK WONDER. WALK, WADE, WINE Mix wine with wilderness in MARGARET RIVER, by hiking a section of the CAPE TO CAPE TRACK, especially the bush and boulder-strewn stretch between Smiths Beach and Injidup Beach, leading to The Aquarium rockpool, a glassy swimming hole. Afterwards, follow tree-lined Caves Road to Margaret River town, stopping in at the wineries along the way. Alternate from big names such as and to boutique CULLEN VASSE FELIX makers such as and DOMAINE NATURALISTE PASSEL ESTATE. 5 Pod patrol More killer whales converge off BAY, two hours’ drive from BREMER ALBANY, than anywhere else in the southern hemisphere. It’s a lesson in awe to watch pods of apex predators slice through the sea on an expedition between January and April each year. You’re almost guaranteed to see dolphins, pilot whales and giant sunfish, too.