Awoke to the sad thought that we were leaving this natural paradise :(
Once we were packed and ready to go l stood blinking my eyes like an idiot taking visual snapshots to remember this place. What an amazing feast to the eyes we have had over the last five days, if this is what WA has to offer with their beaches then we are in for a treat for the next 12 months.
We set off for a little caravan park in a small town called Lake King. It was a few hours south of Wave Rock and we thought it was cheap enough and we wouldn't have to tow the vans all the way up to Wave Rock and back. All in all the cheap way out.... Even though it was only a few hours up the road it felt like all day in the car, the kids tested us to the point were it was very trying at times. We tackled a bit of school work in the car so that probably added to everyones frustrations. We pulled up for lunch in a little town called Ravensthorp then pushed on for the last leg, eventually arriving at 3:30pm at Lake King. A very dusty and dry place to say the least. No green grass in site, the lake was definitely dry! Lucky for us the taps werent as there was stacks of washing to catch up on. So Nikki and l got stuck into it. What do you think the blokes did? You got it, why not wash the vans!!! Whilst we all attended to making things clean again, the kids had a ball playing pirates together with their makeshift swords made out of long sticks. They get along so well for most of the time and love seeing them use their imaginations with their games. By the time we all finished washing, filling all the clothes lines by the way, l knocked up a quick spag bol for us. The kids enjoyed a communal shower with the awesome warm water. After the shower it was time for dinner but Meg decided that she wasnt going to eat it and had a huge meltdown over it. She ended up finishing the night with going to bed on an empty tummy. Everyone had to sit and listen to her serenading us with her crying and yelling to be let out of the van. She eventually got the hint and tired to sleep. One good thing about one being in bed already meant that l got to have the rare one on one time with Boo. We laid on the bed and she read her book to me. I was amazed at how far her progress had come with her reading. She is growing up way to fast. Really enjoyed this time with her, great having our giggles together. The day had quickly disappeared from us and it was time to hit the hay, it was to be an early rise tomorrow.
We woke early to drive the short 250km to Wave Rock. Made good time arriving at 10:30am. We walked the short way to Wave Rock and were greeted with the huge colourful rock that felt like it was towering above us, the wave ready to crash. Even though it was monstrous, l was a little disappointed as l was expecting it to be bigger. Can you believe how stuck up l am now with these natural wonders, definitely desensitised. Apart from the beauty of the rock, the heat is the other thing l noticed. Out in the bush and without that beautiful sea breeze, the weather has changed to a dry heat with sticky bloody flys!!! On the wave of the rock the kids automatically tried running up the side to try get to the top, was quite funny seeing them all slide down gracefully on their bums!! It was really quite steep and the surface was as smooth as a baby's bottom. The rock itself had all different lines of colours running vertically up the rock ranging from white, tanned, light brown to deep red/brown. Looked stunning. Pretty amazing that it was formed due to rain and weather and not by the usual inland sea formations that is usually the story behind these wonders in Oz. We all hiked up to the top, most of it by climbing steps. Easy grade walk really. Pretty funny that there was a small sign with a picture of a stiletto on it stating not appropriate footwear to be wearing to climb the rock. Classic.
When we got to the top the kids went crazy running about climbing all the rocks lying around. We tried to figure out how to get to the "hippos yawn" (another rock formation) by walking but ended up going around in circles, so after a little while we headed back down to the bottom to make our way to the car. Not before stopping for some more pics and posing the not so original pose of surf stance on the rock.
We got back to the car and drove the short way to "Hippos Yawn". I was more fascinated by this than Wave Rock l think, most likely because l had been seeing photos of Wave Rock alot in the brochures. It was a huge boulder that had a small cave in it, with four small boulders that we naturally placed to look like four teeth in each corner of its mouth. Essentially looking like a hippo yawning. Kids had a great time exploring the small cave, Wil and Hazza climbing all the way up the cave to the top of the boulder. Boys will be boys....but then again, Emma was the one to find a small gecko and catch it. Maybe its Cronan's being Cronan's, awesome kids being kids!!
We didnt stay long and ended up driving back to the caravan park, another 250km. Somehow we hadn't noticed this truck balancing on the edge of a small cliff on the side of the road on the drive up to Wave Rock. We quickly pulled over and took some quick pics, it looked so cool and you would only find this sort of stuff out in the middle of country! By the time we got back to the park, we had a quick lunch then hooked up and headed off, next stop Albany......just going to take a few days to get there.

Bell Xxx