The area is littered with large granite rocks, seriously large ones. Wave Rock (height 14m, length 110m) is very well known, and while I also visited Mount Walker, Bruce’s Rock, Baladjie Rock, and Boondi Rock l passed by signs to as many more. It’s amazing how granite can weather into interesting or boring shapes! One of the most interesting, The Hippo’s Yawn is at the back of Wave Rock seldom gets a mention! Rainwater doesn’t sink into granite as it does into soil, so various means get deployed to catch and hold the runoff: a concrete pond at Mount Walker, wells at Bruce’s Rock and a large tank at Boondi Rock that was constructed to service passing steam trains.
After Pingrup I stopped for lunch in Lake Grace, an isolated agricultural town. When I crossed the Wheatbelt from east to west back in June, the young canola fields, green and yellow, were patterned against the red or brown wheat fields. Now in September the canola is the brightest yellow and the wheat crop is the brightest bright green. As I moved west along Great Eastern Highway and cropping gave way to open woodland, the Great Western Woodlands. I woke at Boondi Rock to the unpleasant experience of finding the battery flat and being out of phone range. Fortunately friendly campers had the gear and soon got me on my way; at least I thought so. But quite soon Berta lost power, and I had to roll her off the road. I was able to call the RAC road service from beside the highway, but since it was a sunny Sunday afternoon I opted to camp there overnight and to face the rigours of being towed right through Coolgardie into Kalgoorlie on Monday morning. YouTube video: The Wheatbelt and its Rocks. Nights 196-197 - Wave Rock Short Stay (A). Night 198 - Burracoppin, beside the highway (D). Night 199 - Baladjie Rock, Baladjie Nature Reserve (E). Night 200 - Southern Cross, at the Overnight Stopover (G). Night 201 - Boondi Rock Campground (H). Night 202 - beside the highway, broken down 25km west of Coolgardie (I).
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorIn mid 2018 I started recording each night I sleep in Bertha: sometimes just for myself, sometimes to share with friends and other travellers. Archives
May 2024
Categories |