Veteran Free Press reporter Gus Underwood liked his Western Australia Wave Hill visit but found an experience just as enjoyable much closer to home.FROM my travels, rocks and water seem to be two of the main lures for the majority of tourists.
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In many cases they go hand-in-hand and people will drive unbelievable distances to see them.
On my recent trip our guides Paddy and Martine pencilled in Wave Rock at Hyden in the central wheatbelt area of southern Western Australia as a ‘‘must visit’’ venue.
Wave Rock probabIy rates among the most visited and publicised rock formations in Australia.
It is in a rocky outcrop loop that also incorporates the well-named Hippo's Yawn.
Both have been created by the weather over millions of years and people are drawn to them — and climb them if possible.
Wave Rock caters for tourists in style. There is a caravan park and accommodation, even an airport.
People flock there in droves.
I found it an enjoyable experience, marvelling at something that’s been millions of years in the making and which has great significance, especially for our first peoples.
But I was to discover later after talking with another tourist along the track that if you live in the eastern states you don’t have to drive as far as Hyden for a similar and less expensive experience.
He was slightly disappointed with his Wave Rock experience given the kilometres he had travelled to get there.
He insisted a similar rock formation, called Pildappa Rock near Minnipa on the Eyre Hwy in South Australia near where he lived was almost as good as the Wave Rock phenomenon.
Pildappa Rock is a lot closer to people living in the eastern states — without the commercialism of Wave Rock.
But after visiting Pildappa Rock on our way home from Western Australia I found myself agreeing with him.
Pildappa Rock is a unique pink inselberg located 15km northeast of Minnipa in South Australia's granite country.
Formed about 1500 million years ago Pildappa Rock is part of the vast Gawler Craton — a geological shield structure covering central Eyre Peninsula, the Gawler Ranges and large parts of outback South Australia.
As an inselberg (an isolated rock hill or mountain) Pildappa Rock's outstanding feature is a unique wave form or ‘flare’ structure extending for about 100 metres.
In terms of height, the flared structure is two to three storeys tall.
Geologists believe the process of flare formation typically involves water run-off seeping into the soil at the base of granite rock faces.
Over time, water and permanently moist soil conditions act together to chemically weather away highly reactive granite minerals.
Below Pildappa Rock there is an extensive system of man-made gutters.
These gutters were constructed in 1928 and designed to channel water run-off into a huge underground water tank on the northern side of Pildappa Rock.
For travelers wishing to get off the beaten track a little, Pildappa is an excellent and accessible bush picnic site.
At the base of Pildappa Rock travelers will find two free gas barbecues, rainwater tanks and ecologically friendly toilets.
