Sometime in September I had my good friend Cyzie visit me in my new Regional WA home of Southern Cross. She did something that I myself have never done, which is catch the “Prospector Train”. Though technically I have used the same train line when I was on the Trans Pacific Railway.
One of the benefits of a September visit is, we got to enjoy wildflower season too.
Now, easily pronounced Elachbutting Rock isn’t easy to get to, or close by, or even very well promoted. But I did get the impression it was kind of a poor man’s Wave Rock. It took 1hr and 42mins to drive to, an hour on unsealed roads. Unsealed but very driveable roads, with lots and lots of red dust.
We arrived just before lunch, on an empty stomach and started a quick walk down Monty’s Pass Trail.
There was a group of octogenarians we didn’t want to get stuck behind, so as they took a right towards the wave, we took a left into the creepy cave walk. I mean, it’s not really a cave, just a section where a large slab has slid down and created a little covered passage.
It’s about 20m long, and ends in a tiny little elevated exit into a small covered rock section and lots of bush land.
Taking the right hand pass, led us to the jewel of the rock, the wavy part. It’s very impressive and wavy.
At the end of the walk, Cyzie surprised me with a secret stash of kit kats. Monty’s Trail I have a feeling extends all the way around the base of the rock, a walk of several kilometres, but there wasn’t really a clear indication of where the path was… So jumped into the car and drove clockwise around the entire rock, and as we almost completed the loop, turned right into a 4wd single track that snaked up and onto the rock.
I sent the drone up a little and we walked half of the total length of the rock. There’s plenty of plants and rocks up there, and some people posing for photos too!
Led by our stomachs, we left Ellachbutting Rock and drove south looking for sustenance. A quick lunch at the crossroad town of Mukinbudin provided us with enough fuel for a further stop at Eaglestone Rock, after enjoying the wild flowers en-route.
Eaglestone Rock offered some pretty stunning views all around.
Last stop of the day was the Edna May Gold Mine in Westonia. My first visit and probably last. A long gravel path, large enough for a truck but only pedestrians permitted, leading to a lookout over the mine. Great for seeing the big machinery and the grand scale of open cast mining, not so great if you like the planet.
Westonia, cute place.
