Category: Damn Long Walks

These two days have been my favourite days. Blue skies, but not too hot, 24°, views to die for along the coast, long beach walks on mostly hard sand, a few short scrambles up sandhills but mostly well formed tracks with steps and plastic grating, a canoe crossing and an inlet crossing.

I think I enjoyed this part of the track the most because I could see ahead and behind. There was views out to sea, around the coast, back across sandhills and way over to farms. After weeks of flat walking in forests full of giant trees where I could only ever see 20 metres ahead I really enjoyed having an ever changing view.

One snake slithered away from me each day and quite a few kangaroos were hopping around.

We had an estuary to cross using canoes. There is a boat shed on each side and a total of 6 canoes. Peter and I arrived to find only one on our side which was a bit inconsiderate of those on front of us. But we managed to get both our packs and ourselves safely stowed in the canoe and we were off. Peter has done a fair bit of kayaking so I paddled and he did the steering. We went along the side until we were about 100 metres passed the boat shed on the other side. Then we turned and let the tide and the wind take us over to the boatshed on the opposites side. It worked perfectly but I managed to get one shoe wet getting out of the canoe. Grr.

Now there were no canoes on the other side and we knew there was a group of at least 6 section walkers coming behind us. So Peter set off with 3 canoes towing behind his one like a mother duck and her ducklings. The people on the other side were very grateful. Peter brought one back with him and then we left them to it.

That night there was only the 2 of us at Boat Harbour Campsite. That was a first.

The next day was equally lovely with views for miles and the sun out. I had to cross Parry Inlet and managed to time my arrival just as a surfie was crossing towards me.

I conned him into walking across with me to ensure I took the right route. There have been stories of people waist deep and giving to turn back. But my wet suited trail angel got me across with only the hem of my shorts getting wet.

Then it was 7km along a beach followed by a steep little climb up off the beach. A km on a sand road was followed by a very steep km up to the William Bay Hut. I was pleased to arrive so picked some flowers to brighten up the place. Peter tells me we are not supposed to pick wildflowers so don’t tell anyone.

At William Bay Hut woke next morning to Peter telling me that we had a visitor.

I left at 7am after a night of fighting off mosquitoes. The day looked okay but half way to Peaceful Bay it began to rain just a little. There was a lot of close foliage through the sand hills so I arrived very wet at the caravan Park about 10.30am

I had walked 22km along 4 beaches, then up over rocks and sandhills with the last couple of kilometers being hard work on  soft sand.

It was Aussie windy and cold on the top

I was very happy to arrive and even happier to be told that Bibbulmun Track walkers are allowed to sleep in the camp kitchen rather than pitching tents in the rain. I made my bed on the table and used my mask as the fluorescent lights stayed on all night. One guy made his bed under a table and hung his coat down the side to keep the light out.

The very expensive fish burger and a packet of Tim Tams went down well for lunch. I had fish and chips for dinner as well. Two fast food meals in one day is allowed when one has walked 800km in 7 weeks! There wasn’t much choice for eating out as there was only the one shop.

We waited until the rain stopped at about 8am before heading off. 12km along the track is the Giant Tingle Walk, a busy tourist attraction. There is a coffee coffee that opens at 11am on a Sunday so that was my motivation for the walk today.  The bush was beautiful, green and lush and proved to be one of the best days so far.

The coffee cart was amongst a huge carpark that was filled with tourists coming to do the Tingle Walk amongst the forest. As I had been walking amongst them for 2 days I didn’t see the need to pay for a tour. Maybe some othertime.

I went straight for the coffee cart and told the guy that I had walked nearly 800km to buy his coffee, carrot cake and chocolate brownie. A bit a flattery goes a long way so I ended up with 2 big pieces of carrot cake for the price of one. I ate them with my coffee and took the brownie for my dessert.

Giant Hut was another like the others. I now appreciate the variety of huts in New Zealand as these ones are all much the same. Peter arrived, as usual, about half an hour after me. Then a bit later 2 couples arrived to spend the night with us.

One older American couple,  the other Aussies who are planning to walk Te Araroa next season. They had heard I was ahead of them so they were keen on catching up with me to pick my brains. I was wrapped up in my bed chatting with them as they made ready for the night.

It rained heavily overnight and was expected to stop about 10am  so Peter and I stayed in our sleeping bags until then. No use going out in the rain if we don’t need to.  The others were double hutting into Peaceful Bay so left all coated up into the rain.

I finished the book I had picked up in Walpole so started to read one that was at this hut. It is a James Bond book, the first I have ever read. I haven’t even watched any of the movies either but when there is only one book to read I have no choice. To tell the truth I am, surprisingly, actually enjoying it. So 007 will come along for the ride with me for the next few days.

The walk today was easy going through the last of the Tingle Forest, along an old rail track then towards the coast.  I had missed the rain but still got wet from the overhanging bushes.

Then back into the sand dunes, along the beach and then more sandhills to the hut. It was easy going as the track was stepped and well looked maintained.

As I approached the beach I experienced wind for the first time on the trail. It wasn’t too cold and  dried out my clothes as I headed to Rame Hut. I could see the hut in the distance which was a first for the trip.

After breakfast with 79 year old Mary and her boys, I wandered off with my pack filled with 7 days of food, enough to get me through to Denmark (the town not the country).

The day started alongside the peaceful inlet, through a caravan park where I stopped for a juice and another bottle of water.  The day was looking to be a hot one.

However I spent most of the day under the cover of the magnificent Tingle tree forest. This was the nicest days walk of the whole track. Easy under foot as the volunteers had obviously been there recently trimming the edges, some small hills but nothing too taxing.

I saw one snake today that obviously saw me before I saw it and was slithering away into the undergrowth as I skidded to a halt.

I stopped at the Giant Tingle tree chatting to a big family from Singapore.  Tourism has returned post Covid-19 so there was lots of people here putting money into the local communities again. It was a bit strange to see so many people in there nuce clean clothes amongst the trees. I am quite happy with being the only human in the bush.

The Frankton River hut was home for the night. It was the first hut i have come across on stilts  probably because of its close proximity to the river. I had my lunch, a wash then went down and sat at the river’s edge and read my book in the sun.  Peter had arrived soon after me and ud thd same.

John, the hobo  who seems to live on thd track had arrived looking even scruffier and dirty than last time we shared a hut with him back about 3 weeks ago.  He is about 45 ish and carries a lot of heavy cheap gear, smokes and drinks coffee and seems to only eat 3 minute noodles. He us a nice  quietly spoken man who is a bit if a mystery.  I try to get some background from him but dong get many specific answers. He seems to have been wandering along thd track for a few years now and prior to that he says he lived in the bush in the Snowy Rivef area for 9 years.

He is heading back to Warpole so I suggested he pop into the Opportunity Shop and get himself some clean clothes and have a shower. He agreed that maybe it is time.

After seeing this sign I put my whole pack into one of the big boxes as didn’t want the dirty river rats scratching at my stuff.

John put his tent up on the platform and I didn’t hear any rats in the night as my new set of earplugs are keeping out all noises. Also I don’t even think the rats would want to get you close to John.

Peter and I had decided to double hut the next 2 days even though there was a “huge” mountain to climb. This would get us into the young of Walpole where we were to have a rest day.

The two young girls were doing the same and we were all up with the sun at 5 am and I was off by 5.45am. It only takes me 45 minutes to get up and go as I have a good routine perfected over about 5,000km of hiking.

As I should have expected the mountain had me huffing and puffing for about half an hour and wasn’t hard at all. It was overcast and through lovely Tingle Forest. These are very old breed of trees dating back to the Gondwana days when Australia was joined to Africa. I am not sure where the name Tingle comes from.

I had the billy on when Peter arrived so we patted ourselves on the back as we both finished the last of our food.  Then it was mostly downhill for about 10km into the town of Warpole where I am giving a rest day.

Last night we went up onto a granite rock behind Woolbales Hut to watch the sun go down. I managed this little climb without a problem. The sunset wasn’t very striking but the view to the coast was welcomed. I really needed a change if scenery. This flat walk gives little chance of ever seeing very far ahead.

Today there was more wet parts underfoot given that we are walking through a low flat drainage system that leads west towards Boke Inlet. Then the sand started.

The wild Southern Ocean is reached via Mandalay Beach which was a good half way stop for me.

The reports told of a hard beach walk and huge sandhills to climb before the day was finished. The sun was out and temperature about 24° just as one would expect at the beach. So I sat and rested, drank heaps of water and checked out what was left of my daily allowance for snacks. (Daily allowance is 6 dates, 12 cashew nuts, half a protein bar and 2 snakes). I was pleasantly surprised to see that the snakes had bred and I had a cute wee baby one.

The walk along the beach was only about 1km so nowhere like my 100km of beach walk at the start of Te Araroa. I am glad I know what hard really is as i gave something to compare with. Consequently this little beach walk wasn’t too bad at all. Peter and the girls all stopped for a swim when they reached the beach but I didn’t. The signs said not to swim and the hassle of getting dry with a 10cm square towel put me off.

I wanted to get the huge sandhill out of the way and get out of the hot sun. Not many photos today as I didn’t have much charge left on my phone. The sandhill wasn’t so big. I believe it is all about managing expectations. Expect the worst so when I get better than that I will be happy. I have learnt that what Aussies think is really hard os nothing compared to what I have done in the past. So at the end of the day I am happy.

I saw a beautiful tiger snake coiled up on the side of the track. It looked at me then slowly slithered off into the bushes uncoiling as it went. So I am happy with that snake encounter and do not need another one.

I also came across a wild cat that hissed at me before running off into the bushes. It looked and acted very much like my daughter’s mad cat Maizie who died recently. Maybe she hads been reincarnated.

We continued on for 2 days across the Pingjup Plains. Over 700kms walked now. This was a nice change as the track was getting a bit boring.  I could see ahead as the vegetation was lower with the track nicely cut through it.  The puddles came regularly and I just sloshed on through them. The last day was quite hot 25° so the big puddles were quite refreshing.

At Mount Chance hut we had a full house as we were joined by young Aaron, Steve and a couple of young women. The table was busy.

Mt Chance is just a big granite rock behind the hut. I headed up to have a look at the view but got freaked out half way up and just sat down and read my book there. I felt rather silly as I have climbed much higher and more difficult mountains many times before. Maybe I am getting more sensible in my old age.

Wool Bales Hut is apparently named because of the rocks that look like woolbales. I haven’t seen any yet so they must be South of the campsite. 8 of us here tonight including one Northbound man from Tasmania. Tomorrow we hit the Southern Ocean. I am not sure whether I am looking forward to walking on the Sandhills.

I had a curry dinner at the pub and a good sleep in a bed with sheets and no snorers or mattress rustlers. 

Eggs Benedict and a large cappuccino at the local Cafe before heading out behind Peter to Gardner Campsite. It was only 16km away and provided my first taste of the sand to come. It was a change underfoot, but not necessarily a good one.

I played tracker all day guessing the footprints I saw. Kangaroos, horses, pigs, snakes and humans were all users of this section of the Bibbulmun Track.  One very large kangaroo hopped along the track in front of me for about 50 metres before jumping into the river and disappearing into the bush on the other side. I went across the bridge.

There were a few little creeks today with bridges. The water is flowing but is brown from the tannins in the plant life.  It just doesn’t look attractive to me at all but the locals insist it is good fresh water.  No wonder people come to New Zealand and are so impressed by our  beautiful clear rivers.

Only Peter and I here at Gardner hut tonight as the rest of our crew were having a rest day in Northcliffe. The drizzle had stopped by noon when I arrived.

Just as I finished that last paragraph man hobbled into the camp. It was 79 year old Wayne from New Zealand.  I had seen his name in the book  a few days ahead of me and he had heard about me from Darcy and others.   He had a bad knee so had decided to turn back to Northcliffe rather go any further into the  8 day stretch to Wardpole.

Wayne is on his 3rd Bibbulmun track and agreed with me that it is one that can be walked by anyone at any age who is up to a damn long walk.  He also told me he had walked Te Araroa over three seasons so, like me, he has another long trail for comparison.

The next day was another short one. The hut book had lots of snake sightings so I was kind of hopeful that today would be my day to meet a real live snake.   The sun was out and I was on the sand most of the day.

My eyes were darting all over the place; up ahead as far as I could focus, (not far) then a sideways sweep followed by down at my feet. Repeat, repeat. It is quite hard work especially with  sticks that look like snakes all over the ground.  But no snakes for me that day.  Peter came in after me and he had seen one.

The day was an easy one because we are now on the Pinjerup Plains which means it is quite flat.  When there has been a lot of rain thd track becomes flooded as there is no where for the water to go. Stories abound of hikers walking for kilometers in waist deep water but I have timed it right.

The usual hut routine om arrival.

• Take off pack
• Take out food bag and place on table marking my spot.
• Pump up air mattress and lay out on sleeping platform marking my spot.
• Put sleeping quilt and liner and on mattress. Obviously my spot.
• Fill pot with water from tank and find a private spot to have a wash and change into hut clothes
• Hang walking clothes and shoes out to air
• Make lunch of soup and crackers salami and cheese
• Find a spot in the sun to read or use phone.
• Maybe have a nana nap.
• 4pm eat a handful of chippies as Peter lights the fire.
• 5.30pm prepare dinner. One pot pasta, rice or instant  mashed potatoes with some flavour and protein.
• 7 pm Hikers midnight so off to bed.

The Maringup hut is on the banks of the Maringup lake and we are now only about 3km (as the crow flies) from the coast.  The sky is changing, as is the vegetation. No really big trees any more, lots of cutty grass and sand underfoot.

Alas there was only 4 puddles that I sloshed through like a good Kiwi does.  Peter scrambled through the bush or took his boots off and went bare feet rather than get wet feet. Funny because they are happy to stand in the shower and get wet feet!

About 3pm Scott and Jess arrived having double hutted from Northcliffe.

All night I could hear something gnawing away. I shone my torch around but couldn’t see any of the “lovely little native marsupials”.  Frogs croaked all night and the birds were singing at 4.30am. So I didn’t get much sleep at all because my earplugs were not sealing. They are very dirty and I will get a new set out tonight.

A 26km day, very flat and quite a few large puddles to wet my feet.  I could see how this whole area would be under water in the rainy season.  sometimes there was boardwalk and sometimes boardwalk that was not quite long enough.

The sun came out on and off but I still didn’t see a snake. I lost my hat again but Peter found it again.  The last 3 km along a dirt road seemed to go on forever but I arrived 6hrs 30 minutes after leaving. Not too bad.

Jess and Scott were already there chatting with Alan(UK) who is on his second Bibbulmun, this time going North.

Dog Pool hut is another of the new ones, replaced after the old one was burnt.  The river with its  brown foam would be very inviting if it was hot enough. But being only about 20° I guess it a miss.

By 5pm we had a full hut with 19 year old Aaron from Perth and 2 women in their 20s meant the average age dropped by about 75%. This meant that the conversations changed from where we had walked or traveled in the past, our families and retirement plans to tree hugging, sustainability, dislike of plastics and mining and self improvement stuff.

Peter made the last fire for the track as no fires are allowed going South. I will miss sitting around the fire, especially as it gets quite cold in thd evenings. I am surprised about this as I rarely needed to wear my puffer jacket on Te Araroa but have worn it every day here. I had though Australia would be all heat and flies.

Having no daylight savings means it is dark by about 6pm and light at 5.30am. So we are early to bed and early to rise.

It was raining when I woke after a rest day in Pemberton. So I watched a Netflix movie then had breakfast at the Crossing Bakery across the road. The Breakfast pie sounded good but wasn’t. The coffee was good.  So I left about 9 am with 22km and a 2pm arrival time scheduled for myself.

Sharon had headed back to Perth so left me a bright yellow rain poncho whuch I wore all day. There was showers on and off but I was dry and comfortable.

The others all left before me but I caught up with 79 year old Neville. He hadnt done any hiking for 25 years but was determined to compkete the Bibbulmun Track before he turned 80. He had suffered with a very sore and swollen knee for a few days but was determined to carry on.  Even having his wife come to meet him didn’t convince him to go to the doctor as he knew he would be told to take  long rest. So he bought a knee brace from the pharmacy and plodded on slowly up the hills and even slower down the hills arriving 2 hours after me in amazingly good spirits.  He puts his tent up every night too. These old guys sure know how to “harden up and handle it”.

The local tourist attraction is the Gloucester Tree which can be climbed. Sadly it was closed so I didn’t have to do it.

As soon  as I opened my food bag I realised that I had left my  bag of food containing salami, cheese, a carrit and 3 boiled eggs in the fridge.  Thankfully we only have 3 days before the next town and Peter graciously shared his cheese and salami with me.

Most of the crew were in bed by 6.45 but a couple of us stayed up sitting around the fire for another hour or so.

There was a big plastic bin to put our food in so I didn’t need to test out my rat proof system. I was into bed with my eye mask on and sealed my silicon ear plugs well so I didn’t hear any creatures at all.  Hear no evil, see no evil = know no evil.

The next day, to Shaefer Campsite was overcast with numerous short ascents and decents so 22km in less than 5 hours.  I just toddled on listening to some podcasts.  I was getting a bit cold and slightly miserable by the time I arrived. So I was quick to get my pot of soup on then I climbed into my sleeping bag and cuddled up with a movie.

Peter soon arrived and got the fire going so I spent the evening hudled around it talking with 2 French Canadian sisters who were on their first night out of 5, going the opposite way to me.   One had a mattress that went down very quickly so I helped them find the hole the next morning before I left for Northcliffe.

Thursday 13th October was a flat 12km walk into the small town of Northcliffe (population 412). Not much to say about these 4 days of walking really. Some changing from green bush to farmland then parts that were sandy.

The Visitors Centre had a good range of hikers supplies and the General Store had everything from lotto tickets to S-bends.

Peter and I had booked rooms at the pub ($65) but no check in until 2pm . So we conned our way into the dining room at 10am to get out of our dirty clothes so we could take them to the little laundrette. I washed everything except my rain pants and puffer jacket as we had an 8 day stretch ahead of us. At least I can start with clean clothes. They won’t stay like that for long. I have a set for walking in and another set for at camp. That is it.

I sat in the bar by the fireplace waiting for my room to be ready and made a couple of phone calls. As I spoke I was feeling a bit warm so undid my jacket, forgetting that I was naked underneath. The poor guys at the bar nearly fell off their chairs!!