Wave, Goodbye, We're Going to Albany

Manda writes:

Wave Rock is a famous granite cliff that lies in the middle of nowhere. Situated 340km east of Perth, 295km west of Norseman and 342km north of Albany, visitors do not pass through by chance but make the deliberate detour to see the interesting rock formation.

Wave rock looks like the perfect surf about to break but freeze-framed. The rock contains different coloured bands, streaked from water that has trickled down from above. Both its shape and colouring has been caused by weathering and water erosion. At the top of the wave, there is a small man-made wall running the length of the granite which we later found out is used to channel water to a dam, providing Hyden (the neighbouring town) with its water supply.

At 15m high and 110m long, the rock is a lot bigger than we'd expected. Like most tourists, we did the obligatory surfing poses along the concave of the rock. It took me several attempts to get the stance right (not having ever surfed before in my life!) but I think I looked pretty convincing towards the end!

Everybody's gone surfing, surfing WA!

Before we left the area, we also stopped off at Hippo's Yawn and Mulkas Cave. Hippo's Yawn is a big lump of rock that, not surpringly, closely resembles a hippo with its mouth wide open.

On the outside, Mulkas Cave looks like well, just another cave ... but what it does have on the inside is something worth looking at - interesting Aboriginal rock paintings. It's fascinating to think that these rock paintings are hundreds of years old. I could only spot two paintings on account of it being very dark inside, even with the help of a torch. Without much imagination, I could see a picture of a dog and (ok, a bit more imagination needed for the next piece!) what looks like a man hunting kangaroos. Paintings aside, there are many handprints on the walls - which Aboriginal legends have stemmed from.

Aboriginal rock painting.

The Legend of Mulka's Cave

According to legend, Mulka was the illicit son of a woman who fell in love with a man whom marriage was forbidden. It was believed that as a result of breaking the rules, she bore a son who was cross-eyed. Even though he grew up to be tall and strong, he could not aim a spear accurately and could not become a triumphant hunter. Out of frustration, Mulka is said to have caught and eaten children, earning him understandably, the reputation of 'the terror of the district'. Mulka is said to have lived in the cave, where the imprints of his hands can be seen higher than those of ordinary men. His mother scolded him for his anti-social behaviour and he killed her too. Legend has it that the Aboriginal people, outraged by his actions, took it upon themselves to track him down. They did so and killed him but Mulka did not deserve a proper burial as a result of his misdoings and his body was left to the ants.

After the caves, we decided to head down to the south again to Albany, passing the Stirling Ranges along the way. They looked lovely in the distance but we didn't stop properly, only pausing to take a few photos. Another long drive, this time to Albany - did I mention it is 342km away?

The peaks of Stirling Ranges tower above in the distance.