Hyden

Today we traveled 400 km to Hyden. Hyden is a town close to 400 km out of Perth. It is home to the famous Wave Rock. In the morning I was up at 6:28 AM and Dad was already up. I got out of bed and made myself a hot chocolate. After a breakfast of untoasted bread and a hot chocolate Dad and I hooked the caravan up to the car. After checking if we had left anything behind We hit the road and headed towards Hyden.

The drive was pretty uneventful and except for a stop just out of Lucky Bay to photograph some Kangaroos, we didn't stop until we needed fuel for the car. Then we reached Hyden and set up the caravan. After setting up the caravan we had lunch. We have now run out of Avocado and Mayonnaise. Tomorrow when we reach Perth we will go shopping for fresh fruit and veggies.

After a quick lunch Dad and I put on our hiking boots. My sister and Mum put on their runners. Then we set off along the track to Wave Rock. First we stood at the base of wave rock and Mum, my sister and I pretended to surf. Then Dad took a photo. One feels really small at the base of the rock that is nearly 15 meters high. After wandering around the base of the wave we proceeded up a trail which led past the Hyden Dam. It holds 29 Megaliters. Just 30 olympic sized swimming pools would fill the dam up to full capacity.

Along Wave Rock you will see cement and stone walls, these are to divert more water to the dam. We did the Hyden Rock walk which leads you up Wave Rock and on a loop around the top of the wave rock plateau. The walk goes for about 2 km and is easy grade. Along the way there are information signs telling you what type of tree a particular tree was. There was also an interesting sign which was about Gnammas. Gnammas are a type of freshwater rock pool on the plateau of a hill. We saw about 30 of them on the walk. They fill up with rain water and can be up to 20 cm deep. They are supposed to contain Fairy shrimp, Back Swimmers and some other minute creature who's name escapes me. They are probably microscopic as I couldn't see anything swimming in the Gnammas.

There are also things called Armchair Hollows. These are deep hollows in the rock about 5 metres deep and up to 10 metres long. These pools are called Armchair Hollows because three sides are naturally formed in the rock and the fourth side has no wall. You wouldn't believe how much greenery is growing in these hollows. You actually walk through one on the trail. There was a Sandalwood Tree growing on one pool. Theres no water in the hollows at the moment because there haven't been rains big enough to fill them up. After the walk we went to the Toy Soldier Museum.

The Toy Soldier Museum was really interesting and it contains over 8000 toy figures. It pictures all the different wars and the 2 World Wars. There is a massive table about 10m by 10m that was divided by country. The soldiers were in all manner of craft from Boats to Planes and Tanks. It was very interesting to see all the different wars and the little info slips next to them. There was also an old school classroom in which there were 3 wax life-size figurines of students and 2 school teachers.

After that we walked out of the Toy Soldier Museum to the souvenir shop and cafe. They have a really good display of all the Australian birds of prey. There was a life-size Wedge Tailed Eagle and other stuffed birds. The shop also had these really cute hand puppets of Australian animals like Kookaburras and Kangaroos. After that we walked back to the caravan and Dad and I had a shower. After having a shower I started writing the blog. Then Mum and my sister went and had a shower as well. After that we had dinner. Dinner was fried sausages and Mashed potato. After dinner I finished writing the blog then we had dessert. Dessert was some cookies that we had bought at the souvenir shop and cafe. After that I went to bed. I slept really well.