Wave Rock & York

Endless fields of wheat.

Graceful Salmon Gums.

One last coffee at Onshore Cafe, a farewell to the puppies on the bicycle, and we were on our way, leaving the beautiful blue waters of Esperance behind, for a visit through the Eastern Wheat belt region. After God knows how many kilometres, we were back in Ravensthorpe, where we stopped in at the local IGA Supermarket. What a place!!! It was a huge warehouse building and when we stepped inside, it was like a trade show in a shed!! There was a supermarket, a newsagent, a gift shop and a restaurant all under a 20 foot roof!! Talk about cornering the market! We shared (thank God!) a beaut hamburger for lunch, and then hit the road north, through Lake King, headed for the small town of Hyden, and the famous Wave Rock. The land here is wall to wall wheat farms, all golden browns, yellows and oranges, after the bumper harvest they had this year. Some paddocks have sheep grazing through the wheat stubble. There are small stands of Salmon Gums, the timber from which provided a good income to the farmers as the land was cleared in this region during the early 1900's. With their smooth, bright orange bark and lush green foliage, they are a pretty tree. Sadly, only a few forests remain in the Wheatbelt.

Surely a debatable point!

Quirky little guy in town display.

After almost 400 kms, we reach the small town of Hyden in the Shire of Kondinin. The entire Shire has a population of 1100 people! This explains why the small places we have passed through seem deserted, with not even a shop, just grain silos and bins of all shapes and sizes. The town has a small supermarket that includes a bakery, a hotel/motel and a number of rural based businesses, plus a roadhouse that sells fuel. It is so quiet on Friday, when all is open! On Saturday afternoon, it was like a Ghost Town. In the middle of town at the rest area, is a quaint little display made from old metal wares, depicting the early history of the region, and the development of the town. We got a good chuckle out of some of the exhibits. One classic quotation was from one of the local men describing the early pioneer women. " They were so tough they could travel further on a tube of lipstick than I could with a Winchester and a side of mutton." I'm sure it is a compliment!

We are staying out at the caravan park which is situated right at Wave Rock. It is almost deserted and is run along the lines of a concentration camp. "You will take the site we give you

Our Caravan site taken
from on top of Wave Rock.

and none other! Understand?" Some of the highly welcoming notes on the Information Sheet were true classics, like "ACCOMMODATION SERVICE - Should you wish to have your accommodation serviced or linen changed a minimum fee of $50.00 applies". Or, " STARTER KIT - A complimentary starter kit of tea, coffee, sugar and milk is supplied. These items are not replaced and you will need to provide them yourself during your stay." And probably best of all, " Ants are a fact of life in our region and we have to learn to live with them." We are only here for a couple of nights, and thankfully our site was OK, though just sand, and we got our satellite reception. We arrived on a warm afternoon, and it was very pleasant sitting out in the warmth having happy hour and watching the sunset.

Carolyn and Wave Rock.

Us at Hippo's Yawn.

Next morning, we awoke to a cold and overcast day, and even had some light intermittent showers, which the region can well do with. We braved the weather and headed out to do our sightseeing around the rock. When I said that the caravan park was at Wave Rock I wasn't kidding. It was a two minute walk to the rock face. It is a most spectacular sight, and at 15 metres high and 110 metres long, it is hard to miss. The entire rock, of which the wave is just

Not so Magic Lake.

The dam and diversion walls.

one small edge, is huge, and you can walk all over it on marked trails. There are other rock formations, like the many round boulders and sheets of stone that have sheered off the main rock, as well as the other main attraction called Hippo's Yawn. Not hard to see how it got its name!! We walked all over the top of the rock. Early, enterprising settlers, thought that the rock would be an excellent place to collect water for the town, so they built a

Says it all!

The result of salination.

dam and lots of small walls around the rock to channel water into the dam. Quite ingenious really. It is no longer the town water supply, but still provides  water for irrigation. Adjacent to the Wave Rock is another rock formation called The Breakers, which is a popular picnic spot as well. As you walk or drive around the region, you can't help but notice the damage that intensive farming over a long time has done to the waterways of the region. Salt is a major problem. There are already countless salt lakes that occur naturally, and man's farming

Mulka's Hands.

Mulka's Cave.

has added to the problem. The nearby Magic Lake, is nothing magical. It resembles a toxic waste dump! Glad we didn't ask for a lake front site! There is significant work being done to repair the damage, but it is a long term project. A short drive away is the rock formation known as The Humps. It is here that you find Mulka's Cave. Old Mulka is a figure in an Aboriginal legend. He was a mean old bugger, the illegitimate son of a forbidden marriage who was a giant of a man, but born cross eyed, which meant he couldn't throw a spear straight to kill kangaroo to eat, so he took up stealing and eating the local kids. The cave was his home, and the art on the roof of the cave is believed to be his because of the big hand! After he finally killed his mum, he was hunted down and killed by the men of the tribe, and left to the ants to dispose of his remains! Strewth, that's a hell of a bedtime story! And we banned Noddy, Big Ears and poor old Constable Plod!

The start of the highway.

Across the road from the caravan park is a small shopping

Wagons Ho!

centre, with cafe, gift store and two exhibits, one a Lace Exhibition and the other a Miniature Soldiers Exhibition. They each had an entry fee. Carolyn did the Lace Place, and said it was outstanding with some pieces dating back to the 17th Century. Also out the back, and I mean out the back, is the "Resort". Sadly all the rooms are out by Magic Lake.We checked out of Stalag Wave Rock early, so as to avoid any fine, and headed off into the neighbouring Shire of Kulin, population

Corny but cute!

Nice serve.

900, and home to the Tin Horse Highway, a quirky section of the highway that features sculptures of horses all made from tin or metal. The imagination of the artists is unbelievable, and we chuckled along all the way into the tiny, beautifully maintained village of Kulin, which lays claim to the tallest water slide in WA.  How can a shire of 900 people fund all this stuff? The rest stop in town is currently undergoing a big upgrade. Unlike Wave Rock,

Catching any?

Flying high!

they seem to really want people to visit and stay. On a chilly Sunday morning we called into the only cafe that was open to grab a coffee. The guy behind the counter was quite a wag. Carolyn asked what kind of coffee we could get, to which he replied "anything that's got its name on a button on the machine. Let me see, you can have flat white, cappuccino, or black. Can I have skim milk, says Carolyn? I ain't got a button for that!!" We ordered two flat whites, and our button pressing barista did OK. The next dilemma, was whether he would let Carolyn

Oops!

Born to ride!

have the last Sunday paper and deprive a local. No contest. That pleading smile gets 'em every time! We headed off for the next little town of Corrigan, and after about 20 kms I enquired as to how come if we were headed for Corrigan, all the mile posts had the letter W? A quick check of the map showed we were well on the way to Wickepin! Now I'm sure it is lovely, but it is in the wrong direction. We missed the turn in Kulin, which had been concealed right in the middle of town, by all the new work being done at the rest area! So off we went again. Turns out the west side of town has some more sculptures, so more laughs on the way to Corrigan.

We arrived at Corrigan which is a bit larger town, but still not much happening as the place seemed deserted with everything closed except the Roadhouse. So much for getting lunch at a nice country cafe! We did a lap around town, turned around a corner and found the Bowling Club where about 150 guys were busily bowling away the day. We got a wave as we glided by with the big van, and headed out along the highway to find Corrigan's biggest attraction, The

We all miss our little puppy mates.

Hound Dog Heaven!

Dog Cemetery. Yep that's right, The Dog Cemetery. Seems that this town has a love affair with dogs. They call it "the town with a dog in a ute". Apparently they set a world record back in 2002, for the longest continuous queue of Dogs in Utes, 1527 of them. The old record of a paltry 797, was set in Victoria. Who said there's nothing to do in the country!!!! They raised $80,000 for the Royal Flying Doctor, so good on 'em I say!! We found The Dog Cemetery along the highway. It wasn't hard to miss, as there was a tourist coach and about 25 tourists wandering through the grounds. There are a lot of dog lovers out there, and we could see how much their lost mates were loved. Miss you April.

History of the Rabbit Proof Fence.

Restored holding pen.

Back on the road a little misty eyed, we turned north again
headed for Quairading. Everyone's heard of Quairading!!! Thriving metropolis with huge grain silo and bins. En route, we again crossed a section of the Rabbit Proof Fence. Here they had some signage, recording the history of the fence, plus a repaired rabbit pen. It is an amazing engineering fete, all done by hand. We were starving by now, so stopped at the Quairading Roadhouse, as the only other shop in town open, was the Old Wares & Collectibles Shop, where I'm sure they had left the door open in the hope someone would come and remove some of the junk, sorry inventory. I pulled up next to the diesel pump at the Roadhouse, and a guy came running out of the shop. I thought, real old country service. Wrong, he was taking the padlock off the pump!! Another guy wanted to check the air in his tyres so the guy went back inside and bought the head out to connect to the hose, once he had paid a deposit!! Sadly, they have a problem with the local aboriginal community. We had a Roadhouse sandwich and chips, served up by a French backpacker doing his 3 months remote work for a Visa extension. Bet he'll have some stories to tell when he gets home! 

The main street of York.

York Town Hall.

Not long after lunch, we reached our destination of York, Western Australia's first inland town, and only 100kms from Perth. This will be our last stop before flying back to Sydney for John's mum's 90th birthday celebrations, and a catch up with friends and family. The first thing that strikes you in York is the wonderful old architecture. There are some grand old buildings, none better than the Town Hall. Situated on the banks of the Avon River it is a real walk down memory lane. The York Caravan Park is about 3 kms out of town, and is a small park with all

The old Palace Hotel.

Restored building houses
the Car Museum

dirt sites. It is lined with gum trees and the managers are friendly and helpful. All the facilities are old, but spotlessly clean. It is fine for our three night stay, unless we get some strong winds, when it would turn into a dust bowl. We have been told that York is a trendy little spot, full of cafes and shops, and that Perth residents frequent the place at weekends. This was evident as we arrived on Sunday afternoon. By 4.30pm though, the place was deserted. There are three good pubs and lots of accommodation, but the food and shopping side is a big disappointment. There are many empty shops. Most of the

Carolyn on the Swing Bridge
over the Avon River.

The Old Court House.

population we see are retired age, and the strong evidence of medical facilities seems to support that. Driving around town, we see many old cottages and grand homes. The old mill building which is a restaurant and tourist centre, stands testimony to the role the town played in turning the wheat into flour, but that is all in the past. Now the grain trains roll through town taking the grain to port. Actually they roll right beside our caravan park at 3.00am!! We have tried all the coffee spots in town that are open.

Another of the grand old pubs.

The Residency.

We have run into that "Closed Monday/Tuesday" thing, so to be fair there are other places. However, what we sampled was at best average. There is that feeling of trying to be trendy but missing the mark. Looking and sounding great on paper, but bombing out on the plate. I just wanted to get on the coffee machine!!! In the main street is the Car Museum, which is a big attraction in town. We have seen so may car museums we opted to save our dollars this time. The restored building housing the museum is wonderful. There is The Avon River Walk along the banks of the river, which runs about 2 kms.The old swing bridge has been replaced with a nice new one.

Tomorrow we head for Sydney, and a three week break from our travels. We will be back in WA and back on the road again at the end of April.