Tour guide, Sandra, standing on Wave Rock in Western Australia

What Lurks Behind Wave Rock

July 7, 2017

 

The enormous rocky marvel that is Wave Rock, Western Australia has quite a story to tell.

Standing at over 40 feet high and stretching for 360 feet along the north side of Hyden Rock, it is thought to have formed more than 2700 million years ago – well before T-Rex and all those guys.

Technically a granite inselberg (yes one of those, you know them, right?), over millions of years an erosive combination of wind and rain gradually ate away at the underlying softer rock, leaving a distinctive overhang, or ‘wave’ as it stands today.

The stunning shades of yellows, browns and reds came about from elemental deposits being washed down the surface of the rock by millions of rain storms over eons of time.

Backpackers surfing Wave Rock in Western Australia on a Nullarbor Traveller tour from Perth

These vibrant colours look almost hand painted and add an extra element of weird beauty to this unique place. In fact, local tribes believe that it was the Rainbow Serpent who created the wave by dragging her body over the land, heavy and bloated from consuming all the water in the land. Either way, this stunning little piece of rock is much admired and rightly so. What a story.

However at Wave Rock, it’s not just the frozen crest of the rock you’ll find at this Hyden attraction. Behind the rock you’ll find Hippo’s Yawn – an usually formed outcrop of granite. If you’re wondering how the rock got its name, then it’ll make sense once you arrive as the rock quite literally looks like a hippo yawning.

Visit Wave Rock on our Western Australia Tours and Margaret River Tours.