Beringbooding Rock is a

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

rock formation located approximately north east of Mukinbudin in the eastern Wheatbelt region of Western Australia. The site features a large balancing boulder, a large gnamma hole and paintings of the

Kalamaia The Kalamaia are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Wheatbelt and Goldfields-Esperance regions of Western Australia. Country According to Norman Tindale, Kalamaia lands stretched over some . Their eastward extension ran to Bullabulling, ...

people's hands in a cave at the rear of the rock. There is also a camping site facilities including picnic tables, fire pits and a toilet. Like other granite outcrops found in the Wheatbelt, Beringbooding displays the different forms of weathering from water and wind. A large vertical rock face is beginning to take the shape of a wave formation, caused by the same weathering patterns that created

Wave Rock Wave Rock () is a natural rock formation that is shaped like a tall breaking ocean wave. The "wave" is about high and around long. It forms the north side of a solitary hill, which is known as "Hyden Rock". This hill, which is a granite ins ...

. The rock is used to collect water for the largest rock water catchment tank in Australia, holding around of water. The tank was built in 1937 using sustenance labour at a cost of £10,000. Two early pioneer wells are also found nearby. The area was known to

Aboriginal Australian Aboriginal Australians are the various indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, excluding the ethnically distinct people of the Torres Strait Islands. Humans first migrated to Australia 50,000 to 65,000 year ...

s as a reliable water source. Following European settlement prior to 1902 the wells near the rock were equipped with pumps in 1929 as part of the 3500 Farms Scheme to increase the number of settlers in the area. Surveys of Beringbooding were completed in 1936 to build a large scale water holding facility. Water is channelled from the rock surface catchment using a wall around the edge of the rock. It then flows into an aqueduct and fills the tank during rain events. A roof was installed to minimise water loss through evaporation. Vegetation surrounding the rock includes '' Leptospermum erubescens'', '' Eucalyptus websteriana'', '' Kunzea pulchella'', as well as species of ''

Melaleuca ''Melaleuca'' () is a genus of nearly 300 species of plants in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, commonly known as paperbarks, honey-myrtles, bottlebrushes or tea-trees (although the last name is also applied to species of '' Leptospermum''). They ...

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Acacia ''Acacia'', commonly known as wattles or acacias, is a genus of about of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa, South America, and Austral ...

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Grevillea ''Grevillea'' (), commonly known as spider flowers, is a genus of about 360 species of evergreen flowering plants in the family Proteaceae. Plants in the genus ''Grevillea'' are shrubs, rarely trees, with the leaves arranged alternately along the ...

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Hakea ''Hakea'' ( ) is a genus of about 150 species of flowering plants in the family ''Proteaceae'', endemic to Australia. They are shrubs or small trees with leaves that are sometimes flat, otherwise circular in cross section in which case they are s ...

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Calothamnus ''Calothamnus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. The common names one-sided bottlebrush or claw flower are given to some species due to their having the flowers clus ...

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quandong Quandong, quandang or quondong is a common name for the species ''Santalum acuminatum'' (desert, sweet, Western quandong), especially its edible fruit, but may also refer to: * ''Aceratium concinnum'' (highroot quandong) * ''Peripentadenia mearsi ...

sandalwood Sandalwood is a class of woods from trees in the genus ''Santalum''. The woods are heavy, yellow, and fine-grained, and, unlike many other aromatic woods, they retain their fragrance for decades. Sandalwood oil is extracted from the woods. Sanda ...

and native orchids which support a variety of bird life. The area is also home to the Günther's toadlet.

References

{{coord, 30, 33, 33, S, 118, 29, 38, E, display=title Wheatbelt (Western Australia) Rock formations of Western Australia

See also

References