We got away in good time from Esperance despite some having to deal with an unexpected load of washing and headed east towards Ravensthorpe. We stopped in at Stokes Inlet to have lunch and then pushed on past more salmon gums to Fitzy’s Bush Camp – complete with resident emu ‘Milo’, just outside Ravensthorpe. We were happy to spend $15 a night to leave the van in a relatively secure camp – set up, rather than risk a free camp while we did our day trip to Wave Rock.

Fitzy’s Bush Camp.

Milo – the owners “pet” emu.

 Our start was delayed the next morning due to visiting Ravensthorpe hospital ED to get James’ suspected bladder infection checked out, but with antibiotics in hand we were on our way by 10:40am. Free of Alice, I was able to open the taps and actually sit on the speed limit! About half way to Hyden I heard a whomp and a bang, and saw one of the boys boogie boards fly off the roof! The other one must have ejected itself silently as it was nowhere to be seen. After stopping to pick up the offending board, we discovered through his tears that of course the missing one was James’ favourite. So without too much conviction, I said “don’t worry mate, we’ll find it on the way home”.

We eventually made it to Wave Rock, a 15m high chunk of beautifully eroded granite whose shape needs no introduction. In balmy 35 degrees, we walked under the wave, took some obligatory ‘surfing’ photos, then continued on over the top, past the rather ugly Hyden water catchment area and on past an interesting collection of cairns – supposedly made by bored tourists.

Julian – the human cairn.

We added ‘Hippo’s Yawn’ cave to the list, but skipped the nearby Mulga caves as it was already 3pm and headed home. About half way home, Kris piped in “we should keep a look out for that missing boogie board”. About 30 seconds later – it was spotted, lying in a ditch on the side of the road. What’re the odds eh?

Also spotted on the way to and from Wave rock was this truck perched on an escarpment.  Why? How? We can only guess . . .

That night, whilst I went outside with a camera (dodging scorpions) to take advantage of the inky skies and late moonrise, the boys were deliriously happy watching ‘How to Train Your Dragon 2′, which was spotted in the camp’s DVD hire box.

 After a quick grocery top up and a visit to Ravensthorpe Museum (who says we aren’t educating the boys) we headed south to the widely proclaimed Fitzgerald River national park.