16-17 February - Perth and onwards


More friends to catch up with. This time it was a former work colleague of Ian’s. Dan and his wife Di picked us up and we went for lunch in the historic Windsor Hotel in South Perth. Near where we were on our first day at the Zoo. A lovely venue it was too.

After lunch, Dan and Di very kindly drove us to where we were picking up our hire car. After sorting out the paperwork, we were headed back on the very easy route to Isobel and Max’s place. It’s been a thoroughly enjoyable few days in and around Perth. Tomorrow, off on a short road trip.

17 February – Perth to Hyden

It was an easy route to leave Perth and head for our overnight stop in Hyden, home of Wave Rock. There are a few routes to get there and we had decided on the route via Kulin and the Tin Horse Highway.

We made Brookton in good time to stop for a coffee. A little café in this little town was very welcoming and the coffee was good. A bonus was the cheap, beautiful soaps on sale! This is a very small ag town. The biggest businesses in town – a tractor supplier, big ones – and Mitre 10! Also an IGA, a little coffee shop, as mentioned and a few other small businesses. The main street was only about 100m long. There was also a large Jehovah’s Witness centre on the outskirts of town. Two diligent women were sitting in the shade of a tree with their stand of brochures across from the café.

Then it was on to Corrigin and Kulin. A sign leaving town announced we were entering the Wheat Belt. It sure was! Miles and miles, as far as the eye could see, of golden fields. Sheep and wheat are often farmed together. We saw the occasional flock. A few beef cattle too. We passed lots of trucks heading the other way, piled high with hay. We wondered if they were destined for the Eastern States, crippled by drought.

The Tin Horse Highway was entertaining. Lots of terrific ‘horse’ sculptures created by farmers and townsfolk. A great way to encourage visitors. Sadly the town does not lay out a welcome mat. We had hoped to be able to get a bite to eat, but the town seemed ‘closed’. Nothing for the visitor. So we continued on our way to Hyden.

It was only a short way further along. After leaving the Tin Horse Highway, we passed Jilaken Lake, a salt lake, which was very close to the road. We could have been at Lake Eyre except for the obvious land in the distance across the other side of the lake.

After checking in to our accommodation we called into a store in town to buy some fruit to keep us going tomorrow. Then we headed out to Wave Rock.

The timing was perfect. The tour bus was just leaving! We had the rock pretty much to ourselves. After climbing to the top to take in the expansive views, we then took the additional walking route to “Hippo’s Yawn”. For our $12 car parking fee, we thought it was pretty poor that the path was not properly maintained. We had to step over fallen trees. Even on top of the rock itself the signage left a lot to be desired.

Still, it was a pleasant enough walk, oh, except for the flies! Of course we had already creamed up for the sun and plastered on fly spray, but they are still buzzing around. Do not open your mouth! We finally came upon Hippo’s Yawn then headed back to the car park and back to the motel. All in all a pretty good day.


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Wide open spaces and big wide skies - the Wheat Belt


View of the town from near Kondinin


Tin Horse Highway - cricket!











Look closely at the sign!










Salmon gums






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