We started the day with the obligatory walk around and over Wave Rock, which was after all the point of coming to this place. I can see why some people described it to us as "under whelming" as it is not very high nor very long. But is interesting to discover how such a rock formation comes about. Its a result of differential erosion - different levels of soil moisture erodes the buried granite at different rates and soil moisture is at its highest somehwat below the surface (as surface moisture is evaporated by the sun). You will be pleased to know that there ends the days science lesson.

Across the road from our campground Nina visited what at first sight would seem like a strange attraction for this part of the world; The Lace Place a display of lace from all parts of the world and from a wide range of time periods. As well as a very extensive display of lace samples there was some intriguing tid-bits from the history of lace. For example did you know that

  • in the 17th century, to be fashionable, one had to be christened, married, executed and buried in lace.

  • King Charles I in 1635 prohibited the import of foriegn lace. This led a thriving trade in smuggled lace and weight wise, lace was more valued than gold.

Today we had our first substantial stretch of about 100 miles of unpaved road. It was a generally good surface though with small wash boards for most of the distance. The Troopie handled it with no problems.

The day was, however not without its problems. This time "old people" problems not vehicle. While we were walking over Wave Rock this morning Nina had a fall. A couple of painfull cuts to one hand, cut knees and a smashed lens filter on her camera. As the day wore on she realized that there was some pain in her arms and shoulders from the impact.

Not to be out done I managed to take a slide on some gravel while closing a cattle gate and ripped the skin on my right arm. The problem with getting old is that ones skin is not as tough as it once was so what would have been a minor event 20 years ago now "bled like a stuck pig". Later in the day the nurse at the Medical Clinic in Coolgardie patched me up with some fancy "fake skin" called fixomull and a tetanus injection. All free.

We camped the night in the Tourist Park in Coolgardie, it has all the expected facilities. This town was going to be one of our stops anyway as there is a pharmacuetical museum here we planned to see. But that will now be tomorrow.