In Search of an Orchid on a Wave

So, why not make a long trip for a tiny percent chance to find a teeny tiny pygmy orchid?

For me, the day started out perfect, the sunrise outside our kitchen window was inspiring!

I didn’t sleep well the night before, there was the smell of smoke all around us and as we drove eastward, we could see we weren’t really getting out of the smoke at all.

Didn’t really seem to take that long to arrive at the place where the map said the orchid could be. It took some doing but we finally found the tiny thing. We were quite happy about it, too!

After awhile of not finding another orchid like it, (odd, usually when you find one you find a dozen more easy), we then went through the town of Kondinin.

I was having second thoughts but we pressed on. I have always regarded Australians as “understated” in their speech to say the least. So when you see a sign that says, “Catastrophic”, and you’ve smelled smoke all night long, you sure get the feeling you might should turn around – NOW.

We passed this brown falcon, but we just had to turn around for a photo!

We arrived to Wave Rock, and I went back to get my forgotten phone in the truck. I saw a sign that said something about a trail, and I thought the “trail” looked something like a Lost in Space television show set. Here John showed me a rock that was completely hollow inside and he demonstrated by getting in from the underneath.

Before we got to the wave rock, we couldn’t help but notice all of the Ornate dragons all around the place. There were so many! We watched them for a long time.

Finally at wave rock. It was easy to do the math and realize my first time here was nearly 7 years ago. We came with Laura.

A good place for a selfie.

Just like 7 years ago, John tries to defy gravity and run up the rock. He soon found out he had the wrong shoes on. Didn’t stop him from trying again and again. Which attracted a little attention. Soon enough, those gals in the back of the photo, became a captive audience and started taking their own photos.

Unlike 7 years ago, this time John took me to see a cave. There’s an Aboriginal Legend associated with the cave. The dominant art in Mulka’s Cave is hand stencils. The age of the pairings is difficult to establish. Although research has shown Aboriginal culture to be at least 40,000 years old, archaeological excavations in the floor of Mulka’s Cave suggest that use of this site was relatively recent about 400 years ago.

The stencils are made by placing the hand on the rock, then blowing over it with pigment. When the hand is removed, a negative impression remains. Hand stencils were made for many reasons, but most commonly, they were used as a form of signature left by those who had rights to the area.

There are also some line paintings which are often outlined with the finger or with a fibrous twig dipped in crushed ochre mixed with water. Stone artefacts and bone remains were  also found in association with old camp fires which have been dated to about 400 years old.

Then we took a small hike around to what I guess is the top of the cave, the rock part over it. We saw more ornate dragons there as well.

The view from the rocks was lovely as I looked out.

Always nice in the middle of no where to find a bathroom. (Or as they say here, a toilet). Now prior to this day, the worst two public restrooms I had ever been in, and I hadn’t really made up my mind which was worse, was in Spain. This place, to my surprise, surpassed those awful restrooms in Spain, and that is saying a lot.

Couldn’t escape the memory of that toilet fast enough. We were on the road, and it was looking like we were going to have an interesting ride home.

On the other side of the road, the sun was trying, but the storm ended up having its way.

An outback windmill and a sunset is reason enough to stop to me.

When the sun finally did set, I was afraid that we would be driving home, still relatively far, for hours in the dark.

No boring ride home for us. we had millions of stars