We started the journey up to Wave rock, and this time there were no mishaps on the way. The plan was to get up there as early as possible, and then make our way back to Perth. Once we were there, we took a walk to see the perculiar shaped rock that did surprisingly look like a wave. The official line on it is below:-
Wave Rock, a granite cliff, is 15 metres high and 110 metres long . Its rounded shape has been caused by weathering and water erosion which has undercut the base and left a rounded overhang. This happened about 60,000,000 years ago when it was exposed. Water from the springs running down the rock during wetter months dissolve minerals adding to the colouring of the wave. In 1960, some crystals from Hyden Rock were dated as being 2700 million years old, amongst the oldest in Australia.

After taking a photo of us surfing the rock (we have now done winnebago surfing, valley of the giants tree top surfing, and wave rock surfing, but not the real thing yet!) we walked down to see the Hippo's Yawn, a rock that looks like a hippo yawning. We walked back to the van, Tom went back via the bush trying to find tiger snakes (e-numbers were kicking in again removing the fear of the things biting and killing you) and we then went to Mulka Caves to see some authentic aboriginal hand paintings. The cave is associated with the following Aboriginal legend:-

The name Mulka comes from an Aboriginal legend associated with the cave . Mulka was the illegal son of a woman who fell in love with a man with whom marriage was forbidden according to their law.It was believed that as a result of breaking these rules she bore a son with crossed eyes. Even though he grew to be an outstandingly strong man of colossal height, his crossed eyes prevented him from aiming a spear accurately and becoming a successful hunter.Out of frustration it is said, Mulka turned to catching and eating human children, and he became the terror of the district. He lived in Mulka's cave, where the imprints of his hands can still be seen, much larger higher than that of an ordinary man.Apparently, his mother became increasingly concerned about him. When she scolded him for his anti-social behaviour he turned on his own mother and killed her. This disgraced him even further and he fled his cave, heading south.The Aboriginal people of the area, outraged by Mulka's behaviour, then tracked down this man who had flouted all the rules. They caught him near Dumbleyung, 156km south west of Hyden, where they speared him to death. Because he did not deserve a proper ritual burial, they left his body to the ants: a grim warning to those who break the law.

To be honest, the paintings weren't that spectacular and one or two may have been added there at a more recent date, but what do we know?

We made the long journey back to Perth where we checked into Hay street Backpackers, took a walk around Perth, got wet through because it was chucking it down, went for a bite to eat where we waited over an hour for one meal to turn up, walked out of there and had a steak sandwich then went to bed. Our tour of South Western Australia was over. It had been great.