20060421_1812 Hippo's Yawn, near Hyden. Western Australia. This was a "secret womens' place", where Aboriginal women used to give birth. Hippo's Yawan and Wave Rock can be seen on a bus day-tour from Perth.

20060421_1817 Wave Rock. The black marks streaming from the cliff-edge are due to algae. The Aboriginals believed this represented the hair of a witch-like figure who stole children. These children are the little stars which can be seen in the Milky Way. Occasionally one of those stars fall out of the sky, and is seen as a 'shooting star (meteor)'.

20060421_1824 Pool on the top of Wave Rock. Wave Rock was an important meeting place for Aboriginal people. Using the steam from boiling water, the Aborigines would crack holes into the top of the rock, where fresh water would collect when it rained. The top of Wave Rock is today used as a water reservoir, with the help of a concrete retaining wall to create a watershed.

20060421_1827 Wave Rock A photograph like this appeared in the National Geographic, and Wave Rock was soon declared a National Park.

20060424_2001 Church in New Norcia, an active (though small) Catholic monastery in Western Australia. Originally founded by Spanish monks as a mission to the Aborigines. One of the bus tours which visits the Pinnacles stops by at this town.

20060424_2004 Graffiti on the wall of the church, New Norcia. This graffiti was drawn some time during the 1960s, hence the astronaut and the 'hippy' like characters in the middle row.

20060424_2006 Graffiti on the wall of the church, New Norcia. Aboriginal workers still live close to the monastery and are involved in teaching the many high-school students who visit New Norcia, usually for a week. New Norcia was the original site of Western Australia's Catholic boarding school, but has now permanent students now. New Norcia is also well known for its bread and nut-cake.

20060424_2013 Ceiling of the chapel in the girls' boarding house, New Norcia.

20060424_2019 Cervantes beach. Cervantes is a lobster-fishing town close to the Pinnacles.

20060424_2030 The Pinnacles, Western Australia

20060424_2034 Pinnacles, Western Australia.

20060423_1906 Bathurst Lighthouse, Rottnest Island. The first settlers in Rottnest Island were farmers. This is pretty hard to imagine, since the soil is arid and most of the internal lakes have become salty. Later, Rottnest Island became a prison for Aborigines and juvenile offenders.

20060423_1911 Bathurst Lighthouse, Rottnest Island. Rottnest Island is just a short boat ride from Perth's port, Fremantle. This has proved to be treacherous to many boats approaching Fremantle. The Rottnest Island coast is dotted with shipwreck sites. This is the second lighthouse to have been built on the island.

20060423_1912 While walking with a volunteer guide, a pleasure boat was noted to be smoking. Fourteen people escaped from this boat unharmed.

20060423_1917 Burning pleasure boat, Rottnest Island. Needless to say, the events occurring off-shore seriously delayed the walking tour!

20060423_1921 This burning boat appeared on the evening news. Everyone was rescued from the boat, and the boat later sank.

20060423_1931 Rottnest Island was discovered by the Dutch, who reported that is was filled with rats. The 'rats' were quokka, which are actually a marsupial.

20060423_1934 Quokkas on Rottnest Island. There are now more quokkas on Rottnest Island than before Europeans came to Australia. This is because of extensive land-clearing on Rottnest Island, which has increased the amount of vegetation which the quokkas like to eat. In fact, it could be said that the quokkas are too numerous and suppressing certain types of vegetation on Rottnest Island.