Day 23: Wed 10 Apr 24 - Wave Rock (Hyden) to Borden

Wed 10 Apr 24 - Wave Rock (Hyden) to Borden (237km)

10 feeling like 7 deg, clear and a slight SE breeze in the morning at Wave Rock, reaching 23 Deg and sunny at Borden.

We were packed up and drove away from Wave Rock at 0830 to the aroma of bacon and eggs seemingly cooked by everyone around us. Wave Rock, and all the other rocks and attractions in the area were very much worth the visit - we think our two night stay was enough though. Our impression of the Caravan Park was less than complimentary though. The park is very run down and not well maintained or cleaned. There is a large turnover of caravaners in the park and tourist buses visiting the site each day, which must be generating an enormous amount of revenue, but none of the profits seem to be getting injected back into basic maintenance or upkeep of the facilities. We saw mostly backpackers being employed here and many seem less than interested. 

Our drive south today was via a zig-zag route along back roads through part of the wheat belt speckled with salt lakes.

First stop at 10:00 was at Lake Grace, an appealing country town, where we enjoyed a coffee and egg and bacon bagel (prompted by the smells as we left Wave Rock earlier) for morning tea. After a wander around,  we continued to our next stop at the Pingrup solo art. We eventually arrived at our overnight destination - Borden at 1:30pm where one van was already set up and another arrived shortly after us. Our stay is at the Borden Federation Travellers Park free camp, which only has enough room for 4 to six vans, with public toilets available across the road. 

The town is very small with no shops, a post office which provides a range of services (but it wasn't open) and one pub that opens from 5:00 pm Wed - Sun. The main industry in the area is wheat farming, and the town has a Cooperative Bulk Handling site across the road, capable handling up to 170,000 tonnes of grain. The storage facility is currently being renovated. It was an enjoyable day, but the highlight was when we started chatting to Mike and Ruth who were already parked here. I discovered that I knew Mike who is a CMDR in the Navy, and I'd been having recent dealings with him by telephone and email, but had not met him in person. Such a small world, we had a good chat outside, then walked down to the pub for a couple of beers. We were also joined by the other couple who parked beside us. They come from the Kangaroo Valley near Nowra, and are also travelling to Albany tomorrow.  We only stayed for a couple of beers, but enjoyed good conversation, and shared some handy travel tips and destinations before returning to our respective vans. Another very pleasant day.


Vast fields of wheat and an astounding number of salt lakes.
Settlers in West Australia cleared native vegetation from vast patches of land to plant oats, barley, and wheat, the last of which gave the region its nickname, the Wheat Belt. The region prospered, but the clearing of vegetation had an unintended consequence: Without deep root networks to soak up rainfall, water has filtered down to massive salt deposits below the surface. When the water table rose, that salt has been drawn to the surface and begun increasing the salinity of the Wheat Belt's ground.


Vast fields of wheat interspersed with many salt lakes.

Vast fields of wheat interspersed with salt lakes.

Lake Grace, a lovely historic country town

Lake Grace, a lovely historic country town. A mural tribute to the women who helped forge the community. 

About the mural tribute to the women. 

Our morning coffee stop - nice to support the locals

The Old Station Masters House in Lake Grace - now the Tourist Information Centre

A plaque at the Old Station Masters House

Lake Grace

Lake Grace. Not much to see, until you start looking around. Each town, no matter how small, has interesting stories to tell.

Lake Grace

Lake Grace

Pingrup Silo Art - Primarily producing wheat and other cereal crops Pingrup is also known for its pink lakes and its famous country Pingrup Races. 


Pingrup Silo Art

Pingrup Silo Art

Pingrup Silo Art


Pingrup Silo Art

Our overnight stay in Borden at the Borden Federation Travellers Park - Four vans here tonight


Borden - No fuel here

Borden promotes itself as being in a Magpie Flight Path as an attraction. 

Work on the silo storage across the road - a massive undertaking removing the roof iron

Contributing to the local economy - no means for making a donation for our overnight stay in town, so a couple of beers were had at the pub as the next best option.

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