It’s the day you’ve been waiting for – you’re off to see the world’s biggest rock! From here it’s a 75-minute drive up to Meekatharra. Home to yet more lovely architecture, this is your last chance to refuel and grab snacks before turning off the bitumen for today’s ultimate destination. You’ll see the turnoff for Mount Augustus 500 metres before reaching the town centre, so double back once your stores are replete and get ready to hit the gravel. It’s roughly five hours from here to Mount Augustus, so settle in for a stretch of road quite unlike anything you have seen so far. Admire the unusual colour of the earth, which flows continuously between chalky white soils, fields of olive-coloured scrub and a dark, ruby-red moonscape. Western Australia’s famous wildflowers may be springing up in earnest at this stage if it’s Spring. As you approach Mount Augustus, the rock’s outline can be hard to distinguish in afternoon shadow, but don’t worry – there’ll be plenty of time to admire its sights properly. Start by taking the 40-minute Loop Drive around the base of the rock. As you edge around to its northern face, you’ll begin to see its resemblance to Uluru – and begin to appreciate just how enormous it is. Mount Augustus Tourist Park is on the loop, so pull up and check into your cabin. This surprisingly lush, well-tended patch of paradise is resplendent with bright green lawns and one of the cutest open-air bars you’ll ever see, housed in a little wooden structure and surrounded by towering gumtrees, so you may wish to spend the final hours of the afternoon settling in. Alternatively, take the 15-minute drive to Emu Hill lookout, from which it’s not hard to understand how Mount Augustus came to be of spiritual significance to the Wadjarri people. As the sun dips toward the horizon, the rock will begin its spectacular daily show of changing colours.