Occupying a third of the continent, Western Australia is the largest of the country's states. It is comprised mostly of empty outback and arid desert; the Great Sandy desert in the north, the Nullarbor plain in the south and the Gibson and Great Victoria deserts in between.

Exceptions to this large barren region include the Kimberley range in the far north, an area of great rivers, creeks and gorges, including the world-famous Bungle Bungle mountains, carved out of sandstone by the monsoonal climate.

The Shark Bay World Heritage area is well-known for its surfing, diving and glorious beaches, including shell beach, which is made up of tiny cockleshells. Shark Bay is also home to peculiar rock-like microbe formations called stromatolites, the oldest form of life on earth.

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