Map - Hyden, Western Australia (Hyden)

Hyden (Hyden)
The town of Hyden is located 292 km east-southeast of Perth, Western Australia in the Shire of Kondinin. Hyden is home to Wave Rock, Mulka's Cave and Hippos Yawn, all popular local tourist attractions.

The traditional owners of the area are the Aboriginal Australian group the Njakinjaki people, who have inhabited the region for thousands of years. The many granite outcrops, land formations, waterways as well as flora and fauna are still culturally significant to them. Sandalwood cutters were thought to be the earliest European visitors in the area.

The land in the surrounding area was opened up for agriculture in the 1920s. A railway was built between Kondinin and Hyden Rock in 1930. The townsite was gazetted in 1932 following demand for land around the railway terminus.

The first wheat crop was harvested in Hyden in 1927.

The Hyden Progress Association was established prior to 1931 when the town was home to about 100 settlers. In 1931 the town had another large wheat crop, which was transported from the railway terminus at Lake Grace. The town was being surveyed and already had an oil depot, tea rooms and an agency with a store being constructed. A large catchment of water had also been built at Hyden Rock.

By 1933 the railway line from Lake Grace to Hyden was completed.

In 1933 the Progress Association built a pavilion at the existing sports ground and plans were made to construct a town hall. The hall was completed prior to 1935.

The town's economy continues to rely on agriculture, mostly in the form of cattle and sheep production that has a current value of approximately $35 million. The town also benefits from mining and tourism.

The surrounding areas produce wheat and other cereal crops. The town is a grain receival site for Cooperative Bulk Handling.

Around 100,000 tourists visit the town throughout the year while travelling to Wave Rock, which is 4 km to the east of the townsite. Other visitors arrive during the wildflower season between September and December to see the many wildflower species that bloom at the time and different birds that feed on the blossom. 
Map - Hyden (Hyden)
Country - Australia
Flag of Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of 7617930 km2, Australia is the largest country by area in Oceania and the world's sixth-largest country. Australia is the oldest, flattest, and driest inhabited continent, with the least fertile soils. It is a megadiverse country, and its size gives it a wide variety of landscapes and climates, with deserts in the centre, tropical rainforests in the north-east, and mountain ranges in the south-east.

The ancestors of Aboriginal Australians began arriving from south east Asia approximately 65,000 years ago, during the last ice age. Arriving by sea, they settled the continent and had formed approximately 250 distinct language groups by the time of European settlement, maintaining some of the longest known continuing artistic and religious traditions in the world. Australia's written history commenced with the European maritime exploration of Australia. The Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon was the first known European to reach Australia, in 1606. In 1770, the British explorer James Cook mapped and claimed the east coast of Australia for Great Britain, and the First Fleet of British ships arrived at Sydney in 1788 to establish the penal colony of New South Wales. The European population grew in subsequent decades, and by the end of the 1850s gold rush, most of the continent had been explored by European settlers and an additional five self-governing British colonies established. Democratic parliaments were gradually established through the 19th century, culminating with a vote for the federation of the six colonies and foundation of the Commonwealth of Australia on 1 January 1901. Australia has since maintained a stable liberal democratic political system and wealthy market economy.
Currency / Language  
ISO Currency Symbol Significant figures
AUD Australian dollar $ 2
ISO Language
EN English language
Neighbourhood - Country