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Published Dec 2024
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7 November, 2024
Break up the drive and make a day of it at these awesome pit stops on your way down south.
The old country roadhouse used to be the only pit stop option for those road tripping south of Perth, but many of those have now given way to shiny fuel stations – good for a fuel stop but not a lot of character.
The good news is, there are still plenty of places where you can make your pit stop an interesting part of the journey. So forgo the wrinkled cheese sausage from the bain-marie and, instead, pencil in one of these fantastic stops on your next road trip down south.
Midway Farm Stall, Pinjarra
550 Paull Rd, West Pinjarra
Why stop at the service station for food when you can stop three minutes earlier and somewhere infinitely better? Take a left turn off Forrest Highway south and onto Paull’s Road near Pinjarra, and you’ll find yourself at Midway Farm Stall, a family-run store on a working lamb and beef farm.
Owners James and Lucy Maasdorp sell their grass-fed, vacuum-packed meats at the store, along with a selection of local eggs, honey, relishes, and dog treats for your travelling companion. If you’re feeling peckish, they’re also an outpost for the much-loved Pinjarra Bakery pies and Simmos Ice Cream.
Steer the kids away from the ice cream with the lure of chickens, pigs, and alpacas that they can pat, and the small playground out the back. If the weather is inclement, wait it out by warming your hands around a cup of coffee and the roaring outdoor fireplace.
Katanning All Ages Playground
Corner Clive St and Great Southern Highway, Katanning
Not all playgrounds are made equal, and Katanning’s All Ages Playground is proof of this. It’s widely praised for its unique play equipment—think 10m-high spiral slides, huge battle ropes, 2.5m rock climbing wall, and a spinning satellite dish—much of which is just as much fun for adults as it is for children. Given its broad appeal, it’s well worth scheduling in the 30-minute detour off the Perth to Albany route.
If the playground isn’t cutting it for older kids, they can bring their skateboard and give it a run on the nearby skatepark. There’s also a miniature railway at the park, which is up and running every second and fourth Sunday of the month. It takes passengers around the 700m track for $2 a pop. Bring some sausages, throw them on the public barbecues, and make an afternoon of it.
Williams Woolshed
101 Albany Highway, Williams
No Denmark/Albany road trip is complete without a pit stop at Williams Woolshed. There’s plenty of parking available out the front, including space for caravans and campers. Travelling in an EV? There’s even more reason to stop here, with two Tesla supercharging points in the car park.
While recharging the car, you can recharge yourself. The Woolshed’s kitchen turns out hearty hot breakfasts and burgers, which you can sit and enjoy in the large alfresco area. It’s shady and dog-friendly, with a playground and sandpit in the back where restless children can run about.
Don’t have time to stop? Williams Woolshed also has a drive-through coffee window, open from 6:30am.
Donnybrook Apple Fun Park
19 Collins St, Donnybrook
With 125 different play activities, it’s statistically impossible for your children not to wear themselves out on a Donnybrook Apple Fun Park pit stop. Apple-themed playthings—an apple crate tower and a fruit farm ute, for example—join the likes of 15 swings, a flying fox, and a water play zone. It’s a fun nod to the town being ‘the home of the Granny Smith apple’ and the long-standing fruit-farming industry.
You’ll pass through Donnybrook on your way to Manjimup or Pemberton, just over two hours’ drive from Perth. Before heading to the playground, grab a coffee and pastry from Ruby’s Brew across the road and take any furry companions for a toilet break in the grassy area nearby (dogs aren’t allowed in the playground area). The playground has a public toilet block if anyone else needs the bathroom. Other amenities at the park include a large car park, electric barbeques, and shaded picnic areas.
Stirling Cottage Gardens, Harvey
285 South West Highway, Harvey
A gentle walk through a peaceful garden is an ideal way to stretch out after a stint in the car. At Harvey’s Stirling Cottage Gardens, you can do just that. Park by the visitor centre, pop the dog on a lead and take to the pathways to see the 19th-century style fountain, mini orchard, and water monument. If you happen to be passing through during winter, don’t miss the colourful tulip garden, which will be in full bloom.
Post-walk, head to the property’s replica 1850s cottage, once home to Governor James Stirling and the Snugglepot and Cuddlepie author May Gibbs. Nowadays, it’s a quaint cafe known for its indulgent homemade cakes. If you’ve got a dog in tow, sit out on the deck to enjoy a coffee and sweet treat (gluten-free options are available) or tuck into something more substantial for lunch. From the deck, you can see the Harvey River coursing by.
The Kodja Place, Kojonup
143 Albany Highway, Kojonup
There’s more than one good reason to stop at The Kodja Place on your drive from Perth to Albany. Not only is it roughly halfway, but you can likely satisfy every passenger's requests in one go.
Hungry passengers have the Black Cockatoo Cafe, which serves burgers, wraps, homemade cakes, and coffee seven days a week. They cater well to gluten-free and vegan diets, too.
Bored passengers can entertain themselves with a museum tour, where the walls are populated with photos, art, and objects from local Noongar-Aboriginal and settler cultures.
For those wanting fresh air, there’s a rose maze outside. It has upwards of 1400 plantings of 100 varieties of rose, and the stories of three settler-era Kojonup women—a Noongar-Aboriginal, an English woman, and an Italian—are woven throughout. You can even walk the dog around the maze, so long as they remain on the lead.
If anyone needs a bathroom break before returning to the car, all-access toilets are available to cafe guests.
The Crooked Carrot, Myalup
Corner Forrest Highway and Rigg Rd, Myalup
The number of cars parked outside The Crooked Carrot at any one time is an excellent indicator of just how popular this pit stop is with anyone travelling along the Forrest Highway. And there’s good reason for it. Not only do they serve big slices of homemade cake and hearty burgers—often utilising produce grown from their kitchen garden just outside—but the cafe also has one of the best playgrounds of any eatery in the South West. It’s huge and caters to kids of all ages.
Though perpetually busy, there’s plenty of space to park, even for caravans and trailers. Space isn’t an issue inside the cafe, either, with a large alfresco area and grassed space where you’re welcome to throw a picnic rug down (though no outside food or drink is allowed). Kids can let loose on the rustic-style nature playground, but any four-legged family members must remain on the lead.
Mount Barker Country Bakery
18 Mondorup St, Mount Barker
Pie stops are an essential part of every road trip, and there are plenty to choose from on the road from Perth to Albany/Denmark. But it’s well worth holding off stopping until you reach Mount Barker, four hours south-east of Perth. The award-winning Mount Barker Country Bakery is well known for its chunky, crusty, and saucy creations.
The bakery is open daily from 5:00am, selling everything from their famous pies—there are 27 different flavours to choose from—to the classic country bakery vanilla slice and jam doughnut. Rather than piling back into the car and eating on the run, savour your baked goods in the sunshine in the bakery’s alfresco area. Dogs are welcome to join you on lead, or you can take your feed across the highway to Frances E Wright Oval to give them the space to expend pent-up energy.
Giant Ram/Wetlands Park, Wagin
Off Arthur Rd, Wagin
Australians have made a habit out of building ‘big things’—pineapples, prawns, and bananas, for example—along popular road trip routes. Bart, the 10m tall ram, is one such ‘big thing’, standing proud over the tiny Wheatbelt town of Wagin. If you take a 30-minute detour off Albany Highway, you can see Bart, a symbol of the region’s thriving merino industry, in all his glory.
The giant ram isn’t the only attraction in Wagin’s Wetlands Park. Right by the installation is a ninja park with monkey bars, a rope course, and a climbing wall, where energetic road trip buddies can get their bodies moving after a long drive. Smaller kids can run about in the enclosed playground. Adjacent to the playgrounds is a meandering walkway over a koi-filled lake, a barbecue area, and public bathrooms. Dogs are welcome to join you around the park; just keep them on a lead and clean up after them.
Ravensthorpe PUBLIC Silo
Corner Dance St and South Coast Highway, Ravensthorpe
WA’s Wheatbelt region isn’t all grain farming and wildflower-filled national parks. It’s also home to a large-scale outdoor gallery, the PUBLIC Silo Art Trail. The fifth artwork on the trail—a piece by Fremantle-based Amok Island that depicts the native Banksia Baxteri’s flowering cycle—is, conveniently, right on the route from Perth to Esperance.
It takes around five and a half hours to reach Ravensthorpe from Perth. Before you arrive at the town centre, you’ll see the silo to your right. Pull up in the parking spot on the lefthand side of the street, across from the CBH Group property, for a close-up of the artwork. This is still a working site, so caution is needed when driving and crossing the road.
Post-silo pit stop, call into Bread and Butter Bar for a coffee and toastie. Then, head to the famed Yummylicious Candy Shack; follow the giant lollypop for a whole lot of candy-picking fun. It’s a solid reward for well-behaved kids on the lengthy drive.
