23/9/11 Hyden to Norseman

We travelled the direct route from Hyden to Norseman on the "Granite and Woodlands Discovery Trail" which is a 300 km long gravel track.  Along the way we discovered some scenic jewels.  The Breakaways are beautiful, multicoloured sand cliffs where you can picnic or camp.

McDermid Rock is very similar to wave rock.  It has a number of gnamma (pools of water) around the face of the rock.

Lake Johnston is a salt lake surrounded by red sandy soil and salmon gums.

Disappointment Rock was surrounded by wild flowers in full bloom so, although we only spent a few minutes there because the day was getting late, it was not a disappointment.

These boulders sit at the base of  Disappointment Rock.

20/9/11 Perth to Hyden

Travelling from Perth to Hyden we passed through York, which has many old colonial buildings.

Just outside Corrigan we drove past the well patronised Dog Cemetery. The head stones attested to the dog's loyalty to their owners and the owners love for their canine friends.

  

22/9/11 The Humps near Hyden

We spent the morning walking around the granite outcrop 18 km from Hyden called The Humps. After returning to the car and eating a picnic lunch we climbed back up again and took more photographs.  Yesterday afternoon and during the night there was heavy rain so all the moss and lichen was in full colour.  

Unfortunately after the first hour in the morning the sunshine was blocked out by heavy cloud cover and this took the sparkle out of my photos.

  

On the top of both Wave Rock and The Humps are amazing tafoni (plural; singular is tafone). These  rocks, hollowed out by wind and water action, form magnificent natural sculptures.

21/9/11 Hyden and Wave Rock

Happy birthday Derek.

Along the main street in Hyden are a number of humorous  metal sculptures depicting past and present people from this community.

Hyden is famous because back in the 1960s a picture of Wave Rock won a photography competition. Wave rock is an amazing formation with bands of beautiful natural colours which showed to advantage  in the sunshine at the beginning of our walk.

Walking around the top of wave rock we encountered a number of the natural inhabitants.  These little lizards wave their foreleg or bob their head at you to warn you not to mess with them.

Further along on our walk we came to the rock formation called "The Hippo's Yawn." I think that you can see why.

16/9/11

We spent a delightful couple of hours on the Swan river foreshore in central Perth  inspecting the "Bell Tower", watching the bell ringers and listening to the bells chiming.  The mast-like tower is partly enclosed by copper sails.

15/9/11 Aquarium of Western Australia

We enjoyed the beautiful coral, colourful fish, strange jellies and great creatures of the deep at AQWA.

14/9/11 Around Perth and Fremantle

The "Old Mill" is the oldest surviving colonial building in Perth.

We drove around Kings Park, inspecting the wild life ...

and the wild flowers.