In September 2025 I went on a 700km+ road trip to see the quirky West Australian sights of the Corrigin Dog Cemetery, Statues Lake, the Wave Rock, the Mile Of Boots and the historic town of York.

I was originally planning to spend the weekend in Perth but with the miserable, rainy weather in mind, I opted instead to take a long drive. It was a tough choice between north, south or east of Perth, but a chance finding of the Corrigin Dog Cemetery on Google Maps set my eastern itinerary on the #1 spot.

The original burial at this site was Strike, beloved pup of Paddy Wright, who in 1974, likely had no clue how influential this choice of resting spot would become in the years that followed. Seven years later in 1981, Alan Henderson buried his faithful old Lassie adjacent to Strike. Lassie’s burial and headstone sparked some local interest, and Henderson became the unofficial janitor of what was fast becoming a place to memorialise Corrigin’s dearly departed doggies.

Hundreds of Corrigin canine companions have been laid to rest here, and it’s now a tourist attraction of its own.

After my visit to the Cemetery, I took the 4km Corrigin Wildflower Drive before stopping briefly at the town centre for a stroll down the main street and a meal at the local roadhouse. Being a Sunday, most of the town was closed, but it certainly presented itself as a peaceful and tidy town.

I headed next towards the town of Hyden, famous for its nearby Wave Rock, but along the way I chanced upon a salty outback waterhole known as Statues Lake, just outside Kondinin (population: 31). It was an unexpectedly eerie place to walk around; the four statues by its shore represented the coming of rain, inspecting crops, land clearing and shearing.

Off to the Wave Rock now, and wow – this place was absolutely majestic. It was worth the road trip for this attraction alone.

Wave Rock – which is only part of the overall Hyden Rock – is a 15 metre tall, 110 metre wide piece of granite rock shaped much like a wave, thanks to millions of years worth of gradual erosion. It’s a unique and spectacular sight to behold, as was the view from the summit of the rock, accessible by a steep and slippery (but achievable) walk on the far western end of the wave.

I count myself lucky to have been here on a rainy day – I don’t suppose it’s very common to see an actual wave on the Wave Rock.

 

Before heading back to the car I took the circuit trail on the eastern end of the rock to see a formation known as Hippo’s Yawn. I needn’t have thought too deeply about the meaning behind its name, because it turned out to be exactly as it’s described:

It was around this time, while scrolling through Google Maps for more interesting sights in the local vicinity, that I stumbled upon a mysterious landmark known as Mile Of Boots. It was 77km away, and I figured I’m probably only going to be out this way once in my life, so I extended my journey to check it out for myself.

Similarly to the self-descriptive Hippo’s Yawn, the Mile Of Boots was indeed as it was described: a literal mile’s worth of boots strung up along a fence.

I’ve since discovered this was the brainchild of Ross & Helen Fidge, who started this collection along the side of Mt Walker Road, just outside Narembeen, as a humorous sight for tourists passing by. Indeed I got a laugh out of it and walked the entire distance of boots while measuring it with the GPS on my watch. Admittedly, it only turned out to be 0.71 miles of boots, but it’s close enough!

Finally, along the lengthy drive back to Perth, I stopped at the historic town of York for dinner at the Imperial Homestead. I wish I’d had more time to spend here because my brief walk along the main street suggested this was a charming and quaint little town, featuring heritage architecture that is becoming rarer to find by the year.

I’d really recommend checking out this section of Western Australia if you ever find yourself in Perth and yearning a 1-2 day road trip. I did it in a single day but if I had my time again I’d split it across two days to allow more time to digest the sights.

If you enjoyed reading this blog and you haven’t already watched my accompanying video, please check it out here on YouTube!