Page 324 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Australia

322  WESTERN A USTR ALIA

The Gold Fields and Nullarbor Plain

Western Australia’s southeast is a sparsely populated,
flat region of extreme aridity and little fresh water. Vast
stretches of its red, dusty landscape are inhabited by small
Aboriginal communities and mining companies. The gold
rush around Kalgoorlie in the 1890s ensured the state’s
success, but many places waned and ghost towns now litter
the plains. Traversing the Nullarbor Plain, the Eyre Highway Locator Map
runs from Norseman to South Australia, 730 km (455 miles) The Gold Fields and Nullarbor
Plain
away, and beyond. To the south is the windswept coast of Perth and the Southwest
the Great Australian Bight. pp302–21

Sights at a Glance
t Wave Rock
y Kalgoorlie-Boulder Neale Junction
Nature Reserve
u Norseman Laverton
i Esperance Leonora Gr eat Victor ia Deser t
o Nullarbor Plain Victoria Desert
Great
Menzies Nature Reserve
Ora Banda Broad Arrow
KALGOORLIE-BOULDER NULLARBOR PLAIN
Coolgardie Deakin
Yellowdine WA W Kambalda Coonana Rawlinna Loongana
G G
Merredin GREAT EASTERN HIGH HWAY Cocklebiddy EYRE HIGHWAY Eucla
T
EA EA TE
WA
W
E
YR
Y
E
Perth NORSEMAN Caiguna Madura Ceduna
WAVE ROCK Balladonia
Hyden
Salmon Gums
Lake King
Ravensthorpe Israelite Bay
Fitzgerald ESPERANCE
Hopetoun Archip ip i elago of of o the Key
Albany Recherche
Bremer Bay Major road
Minor road
Track
0 km 200 Main railway
0 miles 200 State border
tWave Rock is the unusual location for the
largest collection of lacework
@ Hyden. Wave Rock Visitors’ Centre:
Tel (08) 9880 5182. Open 9am–5pm in the southern hemisphere.
daily. & 7 8 by arrangement. About 18 km (11 miles)
northeast of Hyden lies Mulka’s
In Western Australia’s wheat Cave, where several Aboriginal
belt, 5 minutes’ drive east of the rock paintings can be seen.
small settlement of Hyden,
stands one of the state’s most yKalgoorlie-
surprising rock formations.
A great granite wave has been Boulder
created from a huge outcrop by * 35,000. ~ £ @ @ n 316
thousands of years of chemical Hannan St (08) 9021 1966. Open daily.
erosion, and reaction with ∑ kalgoorlietourism.com
rainwater has given it red
and grey stripes. Other rock Kalgoorlie and the nearby town
formations nearby include the of Boulder, with which it was
Wave Rock, in the shape of a perfect wave Breakers and Hippo’s Yawn. amalgamated in 1989, constantly
about to break Facing Wave Rock, Lace Place remind visitors of their gold-fever
For keys to symbols see back flap