1 Day Wave Rock Tour - Perth, Western Australia

We took a 1 Day Wave Rock, York, Wildflowers, and Aboriginal Culture from Pinnacle Tour ($215) The tour wasn't a very pleasant one because our entire journey got delayed as we waited for almost an hour for a couple to turn up! Our coach suppose to leave the city at 8am but we waited for the couple until 8.30am. So, exactly 8.30am the tour guide decided to start our journey without them.

After we have departed half an hour from the city, the tour guide got a call from his manager asking him to pull over as he is driving the couple to meet us. So we came to a halt beside the highway and waited for the couple for another half an hour. Once the couple stepped into the bus, reason given to us was their taxi driver didn't turn up at their hotel this morning! Eventhough all of us wasn't very pleased with the waiting game, we decided to put it aside as not to spoil our journey.

Our first stop of the day is York which is the oldest inland town in Western Australia. We were given 30 minutes to have our morning teabreak at Cafe Bugatti (own expenses) and to walk around the town before heading back to our coach. 

York - first township founded in Avon Valley

 York Post Office

Next stop was the Corrigin Dog Cemetery. This dog cemetery was started in 1974 by Paddy Wright in memory of his best mate Strike and is now home to over 80 dogs.



Corrigin Dog Cemetery - a tribute to Australian working sheep dogs

Strike - Paddy Wrights best mate

We had our late lunch around 2pm at the Wildflower shop. We only have 1 hour to have our lunch and to walk around the Wildlife Park and antique lace collection. So we have to gulp down our food instead of enjoying it in order not to miss the Wildlife Park. When we went into the Wildlife Park, first thing that came into my mind was is this a Wildlife Park? The park was not well maintained and there's only few animals sitting inside the cage. There's no proper labelling and the animals look so tired and abandoned.



Our lunch

We had our lunch at the Wildflower shop

Albino kangaroo at the Wildlife Park

Our 4th stop of the day is the Hippo Yawn.

This is what we read from the description of Hippo's Yawn:

Hippo's Yawn is a tafone (the Italian word for a window or aperture) within a very large boulder. In geology it refers to the large hollows or caverns which develop a big boulder like this. These hollows are commonly caused by the scouring action of wind and water. However in the case of Hippo's Yawn it is most likely that salts like halite and gypsum from the salt lakes just north of here have crystallised out within the original boulder, exerting enough pressure to break it from within.

Tafone generally form from the inside, expending outwards. Eventually the outer casing or shell of the rock is breached, forming a window like the one you can see at the rear of the yawn. These continue to "grow", ultimately undermining the structural stability of the host rock.

These processes are extraordinarily slow, taking place over vast spans of time. So, while watching a hippo yawn might normally be fascinating, in this case the process is so slow that you might not want to wait... Eventually, perhaps a millions of year's time, the whole yawn will thin so much that the rock will crumble, at last laying the sleepy beast to rest.

Hippo's Yawn

Finally we have reached Wave Rock! Wave rock is a 15m high concave wall of granite. Streaked with black and orange algal remains, it is a spectacular site - but despite its name, it has nothing to do with the ocean.



Wave Rock

Rocks scenery

Next is the Mulka's cave. Another massive granite outcrop and one of the most significant Aboriginal rock art sites in Western Australia.

The Legend of Mulka:

Mulka was the illegitimate son of a woman who fell in love with a man to whom marriage was forbidden. As a result, Mulka was born with crossed eyes. Even though he grew up 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, Mulka turned to catching and eating human children, and he became the terror of the district. He lived in Mulka's Cave, where the impressions of his hands can still be seen much higher than those of the ordinary man.

His mother became increasingly concerned with Mulka, and when she scolded him for his anti-social behavior, he turned on his own mother and killed her. This disgraced him even more and he fled the cave, heading south.

Aboriginal people were outraged by Mulka's behaviour and set out to track down the man who had flouted all the rules. They finally caught him near Dumbleyung, 156km south vest of Hyden. Because he did not deserve a proper ritual burial, they left his body for the ants - a grim warning to those who break the law.



Art work in Mulka's cave

Mulka's hand print

Mulka's cave

Before heading back to the city, we stopped by Babakin Hall for our afternoon tea break which turn out to be dinner instead since we reach there around 6.40pm! By the way, you need to pay $7 for the teabreak. We reached the city around 9.30pm an hour delayed from the initial schedule.



Afternoon tea break - $7 per person

Pinnacle coach