2023.12 - Wave Rock & Lake Magic
Xander, Leanne and Erica begin their journey from Perth to South Australia and make their first stop at the Hyden salt ponds.
This post is part of my epic summer 2023/2024 road trip adventure, spanning Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania, featuring Leanne and cameos from numerous other adventurers.
To start at the beginning click here.
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Perth Layover
Leanne and I spent the 12th to 15th of December in Perth with a jam-packed schedule of appointments and social engagements.
It was a hectic runaround, but good to catch up on services not available in Coral Bay. Among other things both our mountain bikes had a refresh, the car got its new wheel nuts and we replaced the suspension “minced” in the Kimberley.
Our final day in Perth was spent at the Outback Splash water park with each generation of the family pressuring their elders to ride more and bigger slides with them.
Last Minute Gift Wrapping
Our final task before we set out was covering up our freshly serviced bikes for the long journey ahead.
We used a fitted sheet as a base layer followed by cling wrap to close all the gaps and and duct tape to hold things in place.
The process took three people, including Leanne sitting on the roof of the car, but the picture below shows it was holding up well after a few hours on the road.
You can also see our new car fridge inside the tray.
Introducing Erica
Leanne's sister Erica accepted our invitation to join us for the drive to Adelaide.
Usually, Erica has her adventures between the pages of a book, but in December of 2018 she joined a tour through the Scottish Highlands and since then she has been learning Chinese in preparation for more travel, but has had her plans derailed by the global pandemic.
Wave Rock
We arrived in Hyden in the heat of the day, so we kept our visit to Wave Rock brief. Giving Erica just enough time to take a few photos before we all hurried back to the air conditioning.
View From Lake Magic
Our token visit to Wave Rock complete it was time for the feature of our Hyden visit, the Lake Magic Salt Pond. We picked up a day pass from the visitors centre and made our way up the resorts long driveway enjoying the views of Wave Rock over the salt flats.
The Salt Pond
The Lake Magic Salt Pond was a unique and wonderful experience. Self-described as more buoyant and more healing than the dead sea. I can vouch for neither, but can say it was the most I’ve ever floated and that it made every tiny cut on my body sting!
With this much buoyancy, and a playful attitude, the natural thing is to see how far down you can swim. Leanne went first and quickly discovered how much this hurt her eyes, but this didn’t stop Erica or myself from giving it a go.
As we drifted around the central island we witnessed new arrivals go through the same experience, along the way Leanne and Erica experimented with how little movement they could use to propel themselves forward.
First Camp
We finished the day at an overnight rest area just south of Ravensthorpe. As we walked Erica through setting up her swag and camp cooking a lot of jokes were made about the excellent 2:1 instructor/participant ratio.
This also marked the beginning of our next round of car difficulties as our brand new fridge was now reading 7 degrees!
Reflections
We had our car serviced in November as well as new tyres, wheel nuts and suspension the week before, but still had car trouble…
You can try to plan ahead and even buy brand new gear, but adventure always comes with surprises and brings out the hidden problems. When it does you’ve just got to stay positive and work through the issues one at a time.
Our fridge saga continued until we left Adelaide, but as you will see, this didn’t stop us from having lots of fun along the way!
Trail Tip
The salt pond really enhances Hyden as a rest stop. Not enough to make you want to spend the night, but it’s a great alternative to trying to do a hike in the hot sun, or even worse visiting the once-great; now-horrifying Wildlife Park.
If you’re one of the many West Australians making the journey from Perth to Esperance in the heat of summer, I’d recommended factoring it in!
Links
https://www.kondinin.wa.gov.au/tourism/attractions/hyden-wave-rock.aspx
Next post:
I’m not getting a stable enough internet connection to commit to a release date. But when the story continues I’ll be covering our visit to the stunning Esperance coast.
