I got up this morning and went for a big walk along the Esperance foreshore. They are in the throes of a major overhaul so there isn't a lot of beach to walk along. Esperance reminds me of almost any town in Australia with a shore front, an esplanade along the shoreline full of motels and holiday units.

The big difference to most places I've seen is the loading dock attached at the western end...

All over the beaches over this side were these mounds of sea weed all over the beaches...

This billboard sign was on the side of the museum in town and it made me smile..

I left Esperance and drove the 45 Km east to see Cape Arid national park only to be turned back at the gate, closed due to flooding!! They've had between 50 - 150 mm in this region in the last 5 days and a lot of dirt roads are closed which is a bit restrictive as I like detouring off the main roads, you can see more interesting things, when you can get to them!! So I drove back through Esperance and headed to Hyden to check out wave rock.

There's a lot of gold mines in this region but you can't get close to them! So I took a picture of one from as close as I could get...

I arrived at Hyden where wave rock is... I was going to cut across from Norseman via a couple of national parks to here yesterday but the road was closed due to all the rain they've had over here last week.

And here it is, wave rock... Pretty awesome!!

I got out of my car and was immediately set upon by an overweight bloke who talked incessantly and used the words "me" and "I" way to much, you know the ones that tell you their whole life story. Anyway we walked and talked, mostly I listened, from the car park down the path towards the wave. I even stopped to read the little eco signs along the path hoping he would keep going, he didn't, nor did he stop talking so I could read!I noticed he had a limp so I walked faster....That worked, the combination of obesity, talking and limping made him stop at the first seat! Saved, I thought... he caught up when I was spending time at the wave.... oh well... climbing the rock though, now that fixed him and at last I had peace in this awe inspiring beautiful place

Wave rock.....I had to.....

Built on the side of wave rock is a dam which is the water supply for Hyden. 

You can walk up to the top of wave rock. All the way along the top is this concrete "water wall". It is made to capture the water that falls onto the rock and direct it into the dam.

The view from the top of wave rock....

Then there's a nice bush walk to another rock beside wave rock where there is a formation called hippos yawn... for obvious reasons when you see it..........

Pretty cool....

From Hyden I continued south west and stopped in a town called Narrogin. A good night sleep and I'll head for the south west corner of the country tomorrow!

572m Km today

Total 5239 Km driven and 28 Km walked (yes I brought my pedometer!)