It was the Queen’s Birthday long weekend recently and a great
opportunity to escape the city for a few days. The destination: Wave Rock near
Hyden.
Hyden is a small farming community in the wheat belt area about 300 km south-east
of Perth that also benefits from the tourism of Wave Rock. There is more than
one way to get there and we chose a different route for each direction of the
journey to maximise sight-seeing of the area. On the way there we drove via
York, Quairading, Bruce Rock, and Narambeen. It was really beautiful driving
through the bushland reserve area of the Perth Hills and into the open
farmlands. It is wildflower season and everything is green and lush with all
the rain we have had. There are multiple rock formations in the wheat belt area
and our first stop was Kokerbin Rock 40 km west of the town of Bruce Rock.
Kokerbin Rock is the third largest granite monolith in Australia with
Uluru being the largest. Many of these rock formations have special
significance for the Nyoongar people, the Aboriginal community of South West Australia.
Many are also surrounded by preserved bushland and some have picnic and camping
facilities. At Kokerbin it is possible to clamber up to the top of the rock and
enjoy views out over the farmlands. It would be easy to think that these large
rocks would be of a standard uniform shape and be all smooth with round edges. They
are actually all very different and have many features that distinguish them
apart. They can also have valleys and cracks in them and we were surprised to
see so much vegetation growing on them in patches from mosses and small plants
to large trees. Kokerbin Rock was a great rest stop in our journey and we loved
being the only two people exploring the top of this massive rock.
Views over the farm lands from Kokerbin Rock
Boibs at Kokerbin Rock
From Kokerbin Rock we continued on to Hyden with the last stop of the
day being the Rabbit Proof Fence. This State Barrier Fence was constructed
between 1901 and 1907 in a desperate attempt to keep rabbits and other
agricultural pests from the east spreading to Western Australia. There are 3
fences in different areas stretching over 3256 km. Gate 54 of the north to south
No. 1 Fence is 50 km from Hyden so we stopped off to see it on the way into
town. We’re not sure how effective the fence was but it was interesting to see
it all the same.
The Number 1 Rabbit Proof Fence
Hyden is a real sleepy hollow and there wasn’t much happening or open
over the long weekend apart from a music festival at the Wave Rock Caravan Park
right next to Wave Rock. The festival goers seemed to stick to the camp site
though so we hardly noticed it at all. However, we did get up early on Sunday morning
to beat the no doubt hungover festival goers to the rock and mostly succeeded.
Wave rock forms the north side of the granite hill of Hyden Rock. The
wave is 15 m high and 110 m long. Its wave-like shape is caused by weathering
and water erosion resulting in an undercut base and a rounded overhang. The colourful
stripes are a result of water dripping over the rock dissolving the minerals. We
enjoyed a lovely fresh morning ‘surfing’ the wave, walking over the top of
Hyden Rock and to nearby Hippo’s Yawn, and a 3km loop to the salt water Magic Lake.
We returned at the end of the day for sunset at the top of the rock and
definitely stood out amongst the festival goers. Apparently an animal pattern onesie
is the current festival must-have item.
Wave Rock!
Justin surfing Wave Rock
Some of the gulleys and vegetation on top of Hyden Rock
An interesting boulder on top of Hyden Rock
Walking around the side of the rock
Cracked granite
Hippo's Yawn
Walking loop to the salt water Lake Magic
From Wave Rock we continued to The Humps and Mulka’s Cave, another rock
formation in the area. The Humps is another granite rocky outcrop about 15 km
from Wave Rock and Mulka’s Cave is at the base of the rock. The cave takes its
name from the Aboriginal legend associated with it and is a protected area for
the Aboriginal hand stencil paintings present in the cave. We enjoyed a long
walk clambering up and over the rock, admiring the views and the large interesting
boulders strewn over the top of the rock. The Humps was probably our favourite
rock of the weekend.
Views from The Humps
Interesting boulders on top of The Humps
Aboriginal hand paintings in Mulka's Cave
View from Wave Rock at sunset with The Humps in the background
In the afternoon we spent some time admiring the Hyden Metal Street Art.
The figures are creatively and cleverly made from scrap farm metal and tell the
story of the town’s history from being traditional Aboriginal land, to the
arrival of loggers, to the start of farming, the mechanisation and electrification
of the town, and diversifying into tourism. It’s a very clever and creative
display and we enjoyed perusing it.
Hyden Metal Street Art
Pot plants at the Hyden Motel
Monday was a public holiday and time to head back to Perth. We drove
back a different route via Kondinin (small but proud), Kulin, Corrigin,
Brookton and Armadale. Before Kulin we made a small detour to Buckley’s Breakaway,
an interesting landform where white cliffs and gullies have been formed from
the underlying clay by erosion of the top layer of orange laterite. Definitely
worth a stop!
Buckley's Breakaway
From Buckley’s Breakaway we continued on to Kulin and the highlight of
the area: The Tin Horse Highway. This clever community art project is a display
of tin horses of all shapes and sizes made from scrap farm metal to highlight
the Bush Races weekend every spring. Some of the horses are really creative and
we enjoyed some good laughs on the 20 km stretch. A must see in the area. The rest
of the trip was filled with rolling fields full of yellow wildflowers (and the
occasional field of canola) as if straight from a postcard, so beautiful.
Some of our favourites from the Tin Horse Highway at Kulin
All in all it was a great long weekend away and a refreshing break from
the city.
It was also a big weekend on the family front with Daniella’s first
birthday on Saturday, Bron’s brother Craig’s birthday on Sunday, and young
Joshua’s first day of nursery school on Monday!
Until next time xxx
