Natural highs, spectacular bush, cute marsupials and vineyards stretching for miles: Fiona McAuslan never fancied life down under until she sampled the splendour of Western Australia 

I’ve never understood the fuss about Australia. Maybe it’s just me, but what is the draw of visiting a country where the language and customs are so similar to one’s own? Certainly the climate and natural vegetation differ, but it’s always seemed like a bit of a schlep for a barbecue on a beach. One three-week trip later and I’m sold. While Sydney and Melbourne are centres of culture and style, Western Australia is all about beauty. My boyfriend and I started off in Fremantle. Freo (never ones to waste a syllable, the Aussies) is friendly and quaint, with a few touches of its colonial past visible beneath a sparkling modern veneer. There are a handful of superior restaurants, the cool Maritime Museum and spruced-up harbour: enough for a few days’ R’n’R. The Esplanade Hotel overlooking Fremantle Park is the town’s smartest, but for homespun style, we liked Fothergills of Fremantle, a dainty bed and breakfast (+61 8 9336 2805, rooms from S$180). However, as entertaining as Fremantle is, its real attraction is its proximity to the wild and dazzling Aussie outback. 

Western Australia is road-trip country, so we hired a campervan from Kea Campers and headed out to the bush. A couple of days in the outback revealed a host of sights. The countryside is astonishingly diverse: wheat fields shining blonde in the sun stretch for miles before gradually morphing into dense forest populated by lolloping roos or wide vistas of ochre earth and white gum trees. WA’s best-loved regions cling to the coast. The lush lowlands of Margaret River are where the wine flows free. Most of the 100- strong vineyards run wine-tasting tours, which makes veering from one to the next particularly appealing. 

In our desire to truly get away from it all, we headed east, to the isolated splendour of Dundas Nature Reserve, some 720km from Fremantle. Giant red crags – part of a geological formation that dates back 550 million years – loomed above the eucalyptus tree forests that fringed the eerie moonscape of Dundas salt lake. The area is vast, with endless Ray Mears-style bushwalking opportunities. 

The finest attraction was closer to base camp in Freo. Rottnest Island, an ecological haven a half-hour ferry trip away, was a solitary delight. The ferry lands near a small, but busy township of holiday homes, plus a clutch of shops and restaurants. As we stood in line to rent our bicycles for the weekend, it seemed like we’d never escape the throng of holidaymakers. 

However, five minutes up the road, buildings dropped out of sight, the coastline sprang into view and we were immersed in idyllic scenery. Sightseeing by bike is the best way to view the island. The hordes tend to cluster round the shopping hamlet, but out here we had the rippling coastline, turquoise seas and wild tangled bush land largely to ourselves – and even found complete solitude on the beaches. In some spots the coastline rises in sharp limestone crenellations with churning surf a vertiginous drop away, but on the whole the beaches are completely accessible. Clear waters mean some of the best snorkelling can be done in Western Australia, and there are over 30 diving sites here, though the thought of braving the water without a wetsuit was daunting. Word of warning: during the summer months, toxic box jellyfish lurk next to the kaleidoscopic pink coral and vivid fish. 

Beyond the coastline the land is strafed with tea trees. Given the healing properties of tea-tree oil, it’s odd that the trees – or more accurately bushes – look so desiccated. The stoop-shouldered shrubs resemble silvered deadwood, though their bushy tops blaze in a vivid green. Ruminating in their shade we found the island’s zoological celebrities: Quokkas – marsupials the size of small terriers – are only found on Rottnest. Described in tourist literature as mischievous and cute, the docile balls of greyish fur seemed as likely to cause trouble as a dairy cow, though were endearing enough. 

The island is roughly 10km long – easily navigable by bike – but we favoured a slower exploration. We camped overlooking the sea on the Allison tent site at Thomson Bay (www.rottnestisland.com, S$11.50 per person), complete with gas-fired barbecue pit. Here, eating dinner alfresco on the beach, I extinguished the last of my antipathy to the Aussie way of life. 

Essential information 
Getting there Tiger Airways (www.tigerairways.com) flies to Perth daily. 
Lodging Accommodation at the Esplanade Hotel Fremantle (www.esplanadehotelfremantle.com.au) starts from S$305 per night, and at Rottnest Lodge on Rottnest Island from S$338. 
Transport Campervan hire from Kea Campers (+61 8 0025 2555, www.keacampers.com) starts at S$195 per day.