Add Western Australia to your list of must-see places

Western Australia is featured in the new film, “Australia”, starring Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman – although many people say the real star of the show is the scenery.

The film opens internationally on 26 November, and local tourism operators in WA are bracing themselves for a surge of interest. Not that there isn’t plenty of room for as many visitors as decide to go there – Western Australia is around a quarter of the size of the entire US.

The region which features in the film is the Kimberley, an area of stunning natural beauty, but there is plenty more to see in this state – from the Eighty Mile Beach, popular with shell collectors, to Castle Rock, which offers a stunning 360º view and the city of Perth.

The emblem of Western Australia is the black swan, a species which amazed European explorers when they first saw one – as “black swan” was a term used universally to mean a non-existent creature, and had been for some 1500 years. It might almost have been a symbolic omen predicting the individuality of the Australian people…

To help you to find out more about this almost overlooked destination, Wikipedia have helpfully set up a Western Australia portal, which is well worth a visit.