To the Indian Ocean

There was no sign to tell me I had left the Nullarbor. All I saw were hills and trees and numerous road trains from mines. One flicked a stone at me. Poor Sally now has a large chip in the centre of her windscreen. Then I arrived in Kalgoorlie, a sprawling town surrounded by holes in the ground. This is the super pit, right on the edge of the town. It is huge and very deep, impossible to fit into one photo. Over 600 metres deep, 3.5 kms long and 1.5 kms wide.

Kalgoorlie disappointed me. I knew it was a mining town but for some reason I thought it would be more touristy, more like Broome which is set up for tourists with nice shops and lots of cafes and tours. But Kalgoorlie really is a working mine town. It has some grand historic buildings such as the court house, but also a lot of closed shops in the main street. And the tram tour of the town was not running. I only stayed overnight, went to Woolies and two lookouts to view the town and the super pit, and left.

Wave Rock was more interesting. A full day of driving from Kalgoorlie. I walked over the rock at sunset as a shower created a rainbow.

The wave here is taller than the one at Pildappa in SA but not quite a long. Although the rock as a whole is much bigger and there is a dam on the top built to collect water for the town of Hyden. The wave is caused by water erosion. The stripes are created by algae.

And there are other interesting features caused by erosion. Hippo's Yawn.

Boulder on top of the rock.

I stayed in a caravan park at the base of the rock. At sunrise I did a walk from the rock to a salt lake called Lake Magic and back. 

That is Wave Rock in the background behind the lake and the rusty emu fence near the more upmarket resort that has its own airport.

There was some cool rusty stuff in the town to illustrate the history of Hyden.

Next stop - Lake Leschenaultia in the Perth hills. I booked the campground here because I did not want to stay in the city. I discovered this place three years ago when I drove from Broome to Perth. It's small, surrounded by forest and on the edge of a lake.

It also has a small network of fun mountain bike trails.

And curious parrots asking for food.

From Lake Leschenaultia, I drove to a train station in outer Perth and caught a train for a day in the city. I did the Hop on-Hop off bus tour to see the main landmarks and spent some time in Kings Park, which is beautiful, over looking the Swan River and cbd.

I walked around the city streets and the quayside.

Perth has the usual mix of new high rise and historic buildings, business workers and homeless people.

I was glad to escape the city and return to the bush and the kangaroos for a second night by the lake.

The next morning, the first solo stage of this trip ended as I headed to Perth airport to collect Loretta and drive to the Indian Ocean. We had a pretty good view from our small apartment in Fremantle where Fiona and Lisa joined us.

Those giraffes?