Wave Rock

Hyden (including Wave Rock)
Wheatbelt town famous for the remarkable Wave Rock
Hyden is a small wheatbelt town which lies 336 km south east of Perth. It would be a rather unimportant and insignificant town were it not for the remarkable Wave Rock which lies to the west of the town.

Hyden is the most recent of all the towns on the Central Wheatbelt. Its location at the far east of the region ensured that it was removed from the major forces which populated the wheatbelt - Hunt's wells, the arrival of the railway and the movement of gold prospectors.

The town's name is a funny corruption of Hyde's Rock. Apparently there was a sandalwood cutter living near Hippo's Yawn whose name was Hyde. The rock was named Hyde's Rock but when the Lands Department printed it out it became Hyden Rock.

The first farming in the Hyden area didn't occur until 1922. The first wheat crop in the area wasn't grown until 1927 and the railway didn't arrive until 1932. In the intervening five years the wheat from the area had to be carted to Kondinin. The Hyden townsite was surveyed in 1932.

Things to see:  

The water channel at the top of Wave Rock

Wave Rock
The main reason people visit Hyden is to see the remarkable Wave Rock which is part of the much larger Hyden Rock. It is located 4 km east of Hyden. Wave Rock is but one of hundreds of granite outcrops which dot the whole of the Central Wheat Belt. They were formed 3000 million years ago.

The main attraction with Wave Rock is its shape which is like a huge collapsing wave. It is over 100 metres long. It is likely that this remarkable shape was caused by the weathering of the rock below ground before it was exposed. This unusual shape has been greatly highlighted by vertical streaks of algae which grow on the surface of the 'wave' as dark black stains which change to brown during the dry season.

One of the aspects of Wave Rock which is rarely shown on photographs is the fact that there is a retaining wall about halfway up the rock which follows the contour and collects rainwater which falls upon the rock. This is common on many of the rocks in the wheatbelt. It is conveniently forgotten that this ugly and pragmatic addition to the rock was constructed in 1951 by the Western Australian Water Authority.

Around the rock there are a number of unusual features. Some of the features such as the Hippo's Yawn and King Rocks are products of a fertile imagination while Bates Cave does have an interesting Aboriginal story and some very interesting Aboriginal hand painting.

It is said that the Aborigines had a legend about a fierce devil–like human being called Mulka the Terrible who lived in the cave. The story is that Mulka's mother fell in love with a warrior from a forbidden tribe. The child which she bore was a devil child who became known as Mulka the Terrible and who was known throughout the area as a murderer and a cannibal. He lived in Bates Cave and left the imprints of his hands on the walls. Eventually he killed his mother after she had berated him for eating children. He fled but the tribe hunted him down and he was finally killed near the present site of Dumbleyung.

It is thought that the Aborigines declared the whole area taboo after these events. Certainly the early settlers saw no evidence of recent Aboriginal inhabitation in the area when they first arrived.

Inevitably the area around Hyden Rock has become something of a tourist centre and recent additions have included a wildflower shop (which serves excellent food and has magnificent wildflower displays), a small wildlife park and a Pioneer Town which includes a General Store, Post Office, Hotel and Garage all designed to recreate the era of the 1920s.

	Tourist Information
	Hyden Tourist Information Centre Wave Rock Wildfower Shop Hyden WA 6359 Telephone: (08) 9880 5182 Facsimile: (08) 9880 5165
	Hotels
	Hyden Wave Rock Hotel 2 Lynch St Hyden WA 6359 Telephone: (08) 9880 5052 Rating: ***
	Bed & Breakfast/Guesthouses
	Turrama Farm Guesthouse Pingaring Hyden WA 6359 Telephone: (08) 9866 8066
	Caravan Parks
	Wave Rock Caravan Park Wave Rock St Hyden WA 6359 Telephone: (08) 98 80 5022 Rating: **
	Restaurants
	Hyden Wave Rock Hotel 2 Lynch St Hyden WA 6359 Telephone: (08) 9880 5052