Perth to Newcastle road trip: Best stops, distance & drive time
Perth to Newcastle road trip: Peterborough and Broken Hill
Getting to New South Wales involves taking the Augusta Highway south, then joining the Horrocks Pass Road and B56 towards the Barrier Highway. This will take you to Broken Hill, one of the best outback towns in Australia.
Stops along the way include the giant red gum tree at Orroroo and railway town Peterborough. Here, the Steamtown Heritage Rail Centre is devoted to all things rail and puts on impressive evening sound and light shows.
The Peterborough Motel and Roundhouse Motel are solid bets for overnight accommodation.
Things to do in Broken Hill include the Big Picture at the Silver City Mint, the Living Desert sculptures and Silverton’s Mad Max 2 Museum.
Broken Hill accommodation picks
Australia specialist accommodation booking site Wotif offers stays in Broken Hill for from $105 a night. Check out the best deals page here.
To narrow it down a little, you should probably look at the following Broken Hill accommodation choices first.
- For families: Broken Hill Tourist Park.
- For good value on a budget: Lodge Outback Motel.
- For art deco glamour near the train station: Royal Exchange Hotel.
- For central location with a pool: Ibis Styles.
- For character: Astra Hotel.
Outback New South Wales: Wilcannia and Cobar
For Newcastle, keep going along the Barrier Highway, which heads through fairly bleak Wilcannia towards mining town Cobar.
Two possible diversions on the way are opal hub White Cliffs and the Menindee Lakes.
In White Cliffs, go on a tour of the Red Earth opal mine, sleep in the Underground Motel and discover Paroo-Darling National Park.
Menindee, meanwhile, is the base for lakes and Darling River cruises plus Kinchega National Park.
In Wilcannia, the Queens Head Hotel now hosts an art gallery.
Cobar is more worth a stop, though. Things to do in Cobar include the Great Cobar Museum, which is mainly about copper mining heritage.
You can see the current mining operations from the Fort Bourke Hill Lookout. But Cobar also has an eccentric side, as typified by the Cobar Sound Chapel art installation/ This weird public space plays decidedly odd music inside an old water tank.
Cobar accommodation recommendations
The best places to stay in Cobar are:
- For a decent-sized pool and kitchenettes: Crossroads Motel.
- For – usually – the cheapest prices: Copper City Motel.
- For family rooms and a restaurant: Cobar Town and Country Motor Inn.
Click through to the next section: Nyngan and Warren.