COLOURFULWORLD

Thursday 19 January 2017

The Rock ... Wave Rock!

What to see around Wave Rock sami-colourfulworld.blogspot.com


Christmas was hardly done with and we were packed and ready to go again!
On the 27th December we set off for an overnight visit to Wave Rock in Hyden, 340km east of Perth.
Travelling via the Brookton highway, in what is known as the Wheatbelt area, we made a couple of coffee stops before arriving in the town of Corrigin.

CORRIGIN:


Unique to Corrigin is the Dog Cemetery which was established in 1974 as a tribute to Man's best friend. Marked by a giant dog statue, the cemetery is the final resting place for over 200 beloved pets.


Corrigin Dog Cemetery





























HYDEN & WAVE ROCK: 

It was late afternoon when we arrived in Hyden (110km from Corrigin), checked in at the Caravan park and were then directed to our cottage across the road in the "Wave Rock Resort". The resort consists of 14 two bedroom cottages situated on the surrounds of Lake Magic.
After unpacking we were just in time to head to the lake just behind our cottage and watch the spectacular sunset.
Then it was time to start the barbecue and have dinner.
L to R: Some of the Resort houses, Sunset at Lake Magic, the view of Lake Magic from the enclosed outdoor area, sunset.



































The following day after breakfast we packed our car again, and headed to the big rock which is just behind the Caravan park.

Wave Rock is a natural rock formation shaped like an ocean wave. It is 14mt high and 110mt long, forming to the north of a hill known as Hyden Rock.

In 1964 Wave Rock attracted international attention when a photograph was published in a New York newspaper. It later got printed in National Geographic and the rest is history!
The sleepy village that an Australian newspaper back in 1999 implied that was expected to die -"the bank opens once a week, no police or high school" -  is very much alive nowadays and living off the tourism industry thanks to it's enterprising locals.
Wave Rock - from L to R: my brother in law, husband, daughter and son in law















We walked all the way to the end of the wave and at the back there is a staircase next to the dam that supplies water to the town of Hyden and we climbed to the top of the wave.
We walked the whole length coming across other interesting rock formations and descended on the opposite side where we joined a walking trail to Hippo's Yawn.

My daughter and I next to an interesting rock
On top of Wave Rock


HIPPO'S YAWN: 

A short walk away was Hippo's Yawn, another interesting rock. We again sat under it and took some photos. It does look a hippo open mouth doesn't it?

Hippo's Yawn
We walked back to the car parked near the Caravan park, and drove to another rock formation 18km away.

MULKA'S CAVE:

Not as well known as Wave Rock, this granite rock is filled with ancient Aboriginal cave paintings - around 450 drawings of mainly hands and depictions of animals caught for food.
This Aboriginal art is thought to be around 3.000 years old, or some sources say over 30.000!!  There's also an Aboriginal legend attached to this cave, a gruesome one!



We then returned to the area across the camping place to go and visit the Wildlife Park.
Sadly, we were very disappointed with this visit, as the only animals we saw were 3 or 4 kangaroos, a koala, a camel and lots of birds. It is a private park and I know they need the entry money to care for the animals, but either the animals were hiding or they just weren't there. It all looked very desolate and rundown and my husband and son in law actually walked out before they even went around the whole park!
So I won't even post photos here.

On our way out of the town of Hyden we stopped to buy water for our trip and while my husband went into the shop I crossed the road to photograp the dozens of interesting tin sculptures that depict the history of the town - stories of the first residents and their names - Russ and his bus, John Hyde and his horses, the first Italians - Carolina and Marco, etc, etc.
All these pioneers helped make Hyden survive and thrive.
And what a nice way to honour those first residents!

Hyden's first residents are honoured with tin statues that tell their stories

And it was time to return to Perth - but on the way back we made a little detour so that I could see the Tin Horse Highway in Kulin.

KULIN: 

What started as a campaign to promote the annual Kulin Bush Races (horse races) held in October every year, has become a fun self-drive alternative route to Wave Rock with lots of quirky and bright tin creations along the road.
The road and the art goes on for many kilometres, but after stopping for about 15 pictures my husband thought it was time to get back on our way...
Still I managed to get a good selection of what makes Kulin famous!

Some of the quirky statues on the Tin Horse highway in Kulin

What do you think?  Could your little town do with some creative road side art to attract tourists?

I leave you with two YMoutube videos about Kulin and it's surrounds and how the Tin Horse highway came about. The first one is quite good with a catchy song.
Enjoy!




27 Dec 2016


14 comments:

  1. Ohhh, Sami!
    That was a long post, one that made me regret deeply we didn´t buy a Patrol on offer in Freo we could´ve afforded!
    Aww. Cool pics and the vidoes!
    The first one´s cool, the second impressed me deeply. Love the boat in there!
    The courage and the outcome. Impressive.

    Really. I´d like to do the long journey again, get that Patrol and head off to the tin horses!!!

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  2. Oh, glad you enjoyed it. I've bee to Wave rock 3 times, but it was the first time I'd heard of the Horse tin highway, and I'm glad I saw it.

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  3. What an incredible post, Sami. I've never heard of Wave Rock before, but it and the hippo rock really DID live up to their expectations. It's great that the town was saved by the local townspeople who saw a way to revive it as a tourist town. It's wonderful.

    I was also impressed with Corrigin and the Dog Cemetery. I think that is a fantastic tribute to a loved one. After all, our pets are family, too.

    I enjoyed the tin figures of Hyden. And of course, the various statues you shared with us from the Tin Horse Highway in Kulin were wonderful. You really had a fantastic trip, and I was SO glad you included these photos so I could learn more about your country and area. Thank YOU!!

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  4. Thank you Elizabeth, it was a fantastic trip and I'm glad we got to stay overnight as it gave us a chance to see a lot more than we usually do on a day trip there and back! Of course the Horse tin highway was my favourite!!
    I agree that the Dog cemetery is a lovely tribute to our wonderful furry friends.

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  5. Another great trip! The wave rock must be awesome from close. Loved the tin statues as well, very special and creative. I bet you had loads of fun!

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    1. Wave rock is really impressive Sara, and I had fun driving through the Horse tin highway, even though we didn't do the whole 15km.

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  6. I have not heard about the dog's cemetery before. Enjoyed seeing all your photos. Loved the wave rock. It attracted me too much that i am very much eager to visit those places:)

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    1. Thanks for your visit. Maybe one day you can come and visit these wonderful places.

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  7. Super post Sami. I remember doing a primary school trip with Aimee's class to Wave Rock, I seem to remember we slept overnight in tents ☺ Would love to see the Dog cemetery and the horse tin highway.. your family must have thoroughly enjoyed their trip, you certainly showed them beautiful.. and unique 😊 sights!

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    1. Yes Grace they certainly enjoyed seeing some unique places. And there's still so much more to show them in future trips.

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  8. Such a fantastic post, Sami! Your photos are beautiful and I am intrigued by the dog cemetery. It is beautiful!

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    1. Thanks for your visit Linda. I had never heard of a dog cemetery before either.

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  9. Hi Sami - love this, we really must get over to WA, I'd love to see wave rock for myself and travel along tin horse highway. There is so much of Australia to explore, oh well I'll have to park this for a retirement trip!
    Byeeeee
    Wren x

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    1. There such a huge variety of wonderful things to see all over Australia, I think we need a few years to see them all! Glad you enjoyed seeing a small corner of WA.

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