Around WA in 67 days… in a taxi

Those innovative Sandgropers at Tourism Western Australia have come up with a novel competition to promote the western third of the continent.

It’s called ‘The Extraordinary Taxi Ride’.

That’s right.  A nine-week road trip (9 April – 14 June) from the Southwest to the Kimberley, in a real taxi, with a cabbie chosen by popular vote out of five "real local characters". You can download the journey map here; then have a gander at the cabbie, Doug Slater.

No-one gets to go for the entire journey — the trip’s divided into 11 legs, one for each of the six winners that will be chosen from Australia, and five that will be chosen from overseas. Each passenger is allowed to take a friend too.

Entries are open until 26 March. You have to send along a one-minute video or a 250-word statement explaining your “extraordinary reason for coming on The Extraordinary Taxi Ride”. But there's a catch: winners will be expected to participate in photo shoots, videos and blogs along the way to show the world how extraordinary Western Australia is.

One only hopes that while the passengers are off exploring the western wonders, the cabbie won’t leave the meter running.

Courtenay Rule is a writer for Australian Geographic.

LINKS
The top five Australian roadtrips