January 17 – Wave Rock and Drive to Hopetoun

After breakfast at a nice downtown restaurant called the Dome we headed out to our next stop but in a very round about way.  We are back in wheat country. 

Along the way we saw a kangaroo sitting in the middle of the road.  He waited long enough for us to get a couple of pictures before he headed into the brush. 

We headed north through the countryside to the small town of Hyden for lunch.  While there we saw some large grey and pink birds.  It turns out they were Pink and Grey Galah,  Apparently they are very common in the area an a members of the cockatoo family.

Then it was off to visit The Wave.  For being out in the middle of nowhere it is certainly a major tourist draw.  There were two large tour buses there and lots of cars…and everyone getting their pictures or selfies in front of the Wave.  The Wave is a pretty incredible rock.  It rises 15 meters (almost 50 feet) and is about 110 meters (360 feet) long.  And it looks just like an ocean wave just about to break. 

There were other wind and water swept rocks although not as dramatic.

The other really interesting rock formation there was the Hippos Yawn.  And it looked just
like a giant hippo yawning.

The route took us through Ravensthorpe where we saw another painted silo.  This one was painted with banksias, a type of flowering plant native to Australia.

Then it was the very very long drive to the town of Hopetoun on the ocean.  There was only one place to eat, the Port Hotel. Food was fine but just too much of it.