A black swan, for which the Swan River in Perth was named.

We climbed up on top of the rock and looked out over a salt lake.

We all hopped off the bus to see if there was any way we could move it on our own (there wasn't) and to take photos. We enjoyed the adventure of it all! But then we did the responsible thing and, after turning around (thank goodness for four-wheel drive), stopped half an hour later at the first house we came to and told the guy who lived there what had happened. He said no worries, went in to get his chainsaw and to call his mates on the fire service so they could go open the road.

And then there was this coathanger in a tree near the parking lot. You've just really gotta wonder about that.

Our view from the back of the bus.

Tony, our driver had thought that we'd miss it, but it lasted longer than he thought and when we turned off onto the road that would take us to tea we drove right into the middle of it--a deluge of rain, and wind that buffetted us, the gum trees, the brush, and the crops.

This is the only place I've ever been where they had the restrooms in the proper proportions: 2 women's restrooms to 1 men's.

The area was replete with wildflowers.

As we were headed to evening tea, we saw a storm way, way off in the distance.

Wave Rock is one big hunk of granite shaped like--yes--a giant wave. The resemblance is made even stronger by the vertical streaks of algae. At the top of the rock is a retaining wall that allows rainwater (when they have any) to be collected in a dam.

We were soon able to see the rain falling, miles off, and the lighting strikes that just went on and on and on.

We made our way through the storm to Babakin, where the Country Women's Association that would be serving us tea was. We pulled in, and it was this little building on the side of the road. A man came out to meet us to let us know that they'd lost power in the storm. Just as we'd (ok, Tony'd) pulled the truck around so that we could use the headlights to light the inside a little bit, the power came back on. And what a feast they'd laid on for us. Ron and Margaret were our hosts, and everything on the table was made by Margaret. One of the cakes was a jelly cake, with graham cracker crust, condensed milk and lemon center, and a port-wine jelly topping. Fantastic!!

Ron and Margaret serving our tea. They were warm and welcoming and quite wonderful.

We'd been on the road for about half an hour when we rounded a bend and suddenly came up on this tree blocking the road. It was pitch black out (it looks lighter outside because of the really high ASA, wide-open aperture, and slow shutter speed), so we were really happy Tony saw it in time.