Set your GPS, press go on a road-tripping playlist and prepare to ride into the sunset: today is the beginning of your Road to the Rock adventure! From Perth, you’re slipping straight through the lush expanse of the Swan Valley, past honesty boxes, cutie-pie towns and endless fields of canola (prepare your Instagram feed). Refuel at Dalwallinu, admiring the adorable heritage exterior of the General Store and, if it’s Spring, the wildflowers peeping out from roadside verges along the main strip. Hold onto your hunger until Payne’s Find, where you’ll find a classic outback roadhouse dripping with charisma. This former mining settlement – so named after the first person to strike gold here, Thomas Payne – is today a tiny town centred around the roadhouse, and it’s stuffed with posters, knick-knacks and quirky memorabilia. Order a massive President’s burger (featuring steak and fried onion) and sit outside by the giant gums, where you can admire the glittering ruby colour of the soil, and an emu or two if you’re lucky. Before you leave, check out the old petrol pump by the bowsers – it’s a genuine relic from the days when hand-pumping fuel by the litre was the done thing. How times have changed! You’re staying further up the road tonight at Mount Magnet, a classic outback town with a laidback lure. Beyond the Art Deco facades of the main drag, you’ll find fabulous old pubs like the Commercial Club Hotel Motel, which is hiding a cute little beer garden out back. Strewn with roped lights and edged by well-tended plants, it’s a peaceful spot to enjoy a thick steak or giant chicken Parma. Stay for a game of pool (the two well-lit tables are a good excuse to bond with friendly locals) or take the two-block stroll back to your accommodation at Mount Magnet Caravan Park or Miners Rest Units, being sure to look up and admire the stars. If you wish to wake up early for sunrise tomorrow, hit the hay early.