Bibbulmun track - 7th section - Northcliffe to Walpole

The section started with a massive blow. A sign on the Bibbulmun hikers board in Northcliffe had a diversion posted for a proscribed burn - they closed 35km of track and replaced it with a 65km diversion. Brutal both because of the increased distance and because it effectively added an extra day to the section. Extra days = extra food = extra weight.

Disappointing. We dutifully stocked up on extra weight from the somewhat-underwhelming general store and set off from the hotel-motel (actually what it was called) at 6am to undo all the good work the washing machine had put in the day before.

The terrain has changed substantially from the previous section - where before it was karri and jarrah trees it is now sandy plains covered in scrub. The first day the sand was deep enough in places to really slow us down. The loss of trees shading us also meant that we really felt the two hot days (27 and 25 degrees respectively) that started the section.

Day one and we saw the result of the proscribed burn in the distance. The sky darkened with smoke and there arose an ash cloud which looked like a volcanic eruption in the distance. A substantial wind picked up - it wasn't clear whether that was correlation or causation but it certainly added to the atmosphere. It was uncanny, and as we got into the shelter at Lake Manjinup ash started to fall from the hazy skies. The sun was orange through the smoke all afternoon and the next morning had a stunning sunrise.

We left Lake Manjinup and started out for Dogpool in cool, breezy conditions that lasted about fifteen minutes before being replaced by baking sunshine and a plague of flies. Whoever said the fly load decreased south of Dwellingup was obviously on crack. We decided that there were too many flies to stop for lunch so instead we mission-walked as fast as possible to Dogpool. It would have been a rather sub-optimal day if not for the shelter, because Dogpool was awesome. Hot day, cool river with various cascades and our last campfire before entering the total fire ban area. Swimming in the river, got to wash our clothes, mysteriously didn't get eaten alive by mosquitoes. Enough said.

We pushed some hard days through the diverted section, which deviated North on to the Mundabiddi mountain biking trail. It rained and was thankfully a bit cooler which both kept the flies down and our spirits up.

The rain persisted long enough to bring our spirits down again after getting a thorough soaking during a nine-hour walk down to the coast. It was amazing to finally see the sea at Mandalay beach  but we experienced all four seasons of weather that day and by the time we got in (after some hard slogging up steep, deep sand in the dunes) we were wet, tired and desperately in need of showers. Thankfully our was only 6 miles to Walpole the next morning and I'm writing this from a comfy room in the local YHA.

Today is day 33 of the walk. In theory, there are only seven more to go...

Bibbulmun track - 4th section - Balingup to Donnelly River Village

I want you to imagine a long, sandy beach. A thousand miles of beach, and then count every single grain of sand on that beach, and on the sea floor, and everywehre else on the planet. That is how many jarrah trees is feels like we have seen over the past 400km. You can imagine our excitement, therefore, when we were at last presented with something a little different - the mighty karri tree.

These are massive. There is no other word for it. Ramrod straight and up to 90 metres tall - more than double the tallest trees we've seen so far. And yes, you can tell you've been on the trail a while when you get this worked up about new trees. Still. They're awesome.

Callan and a Karri tree

Donnelly River VIllage is a pretty surreal place. There is a level of tame wildlife which is almost eerie following the occasional brief glimpses of stuff out in the bush. There are emu chicks here, which are adorable, and adult emus wandering about, which are basically modern-day dinosaurs. I am sat writing this on a picnic bench with a gigantic emu watching me from the other side of the table. It's quite distracting, if I'm honest. It is big and actually kind of intimidating. Seems content to just watch though. And growl, occasionally, in the same manner a T-rex might. I mean, look at those feet.

Donnelly River Village otherwise has a general store selling surprisingly little (but which does do milkshakes and hot food) and not much of anything else. We've run into our old walking crew who we got left behind by before Balingup and have had a quick catchup with them, and will be meeting my (Callan's) dad who is going to walk with us for the next few days. We've rented a holiday cottage for the night instead of staying in the tent (seems nicer what with the jetlagged father and all) and will head out tomorrow on an even-shorter-than-planned day due to a diversion in place. Will be planning some serious tree-oogling tomorrow.

PS - for anyone planning to do the walk, there is a very nice camping area between the last shelter and Donnelly River Village. No water, but fire pits and gorgeous surrounds. Of note.

Bibbulmun Track - Arrival

So we decided to walk the Bibbulmun track - a walk we’d never heard of just a few weeks before. 600 miles from Perth to Albany across the bush of Western Australia. A mixture of things drew us to it - being on the right side of the equator to mean that is was in condition, long enough to be a challenge and really well set up with free shelters to stay in on the way.

Flights booked a few weeks beforehand, we only ended up having 48 hours to prepare for the trail after returning from a trip to Holland. As well as packing for Australia we also needed to cram in lots of loads of washing, a job interview, arranging a wedding caterer and dropping the Puff (our cat) off with L+J for a few months.

The flights were as you might expect - reasonable food and movies given it was Emirates but no real opportunity to sleep. Arriving in Perth at 1am we promptly lapsed into unconsciousness, only to wake into the daze of seven hours of jetlag. Having eventually dragged ourselves out we then spent a day in Perth - a mixture of sightseeing and picking up necessary bits and bobs. King's Park botanical gardens were great and the ridge on which they were bad provides a lovely view over the city. We caught our first glimpses of Australian wildlife in the raucous, rainbow-feathered parrots. Back down in the city centre, the old courthouse museum revealed a little of the (occasionally dubious) history of Australia, including amongst the difficulties of settling the land some gems about enslaving British children and Aboriginies. A colorful past, to be sure.*

We managed to find everthing we needed in Perth: a snake bite bandage for the inevitable venomous predators we are sure to encounter, camping gas and we then popped into Woolworth's (Australian supermarket, not failed British newsagents) for enough food for the next 8 days. Unfortunately the first section of the trail is the longest without resupply so backpacks started out the heaviest they were ever going to be whilst we were least used to getting them (just imagine planning and them carrying your next 24 meals with you!). It also took us a lot of time to decide what to buy with new Australian food on offer (Timtams: yes, vegemite: no). Just a short journey by bus to Kalamunda the next day to start the trail.

*not that British history of the period is a cauldron of loveliness either, mind.

South Downs Way

It seems that I have stumbled into long distance walking after a rather impromptu and excessively painful 42 mile jaunt around Jersey. Almost everything I have done after that seemed slightly inferior until last week. With a week of annual leave to use and a thought about saving money we opted to stay in England. A throwaway comment of 'we did think about walking the South Downs Way once' became the inspiration, and I set about arranging the logistics of walking 100 miles.

The Start of the Route

I always love organising a holiday, particularly one of this kind that requires an itinerary. It is always very satisfying to research routes and accommodation, giving a sense of anticipation before the holiday and achievement when you turn up and people thankfully seem to expect you.  Perhaps not ideal walking weather in early March, but we prayed for the best and opted to stay in relative comfort with B&B's and family rather than camping.

Our itinerary was based on the time we had off together - 7 days. Allowing for a day of faff and travel giving 6 days of walking. We walked the South Downs Way from Eastbourne to Winchester. I'm not 100% sure why I picked that way, maybe something about being far away and feeling like you are walking home. In retrospect it was the wrong decision - we are very accustomed to wide open plains and fields as found around Winchester but the cliffs at Beachy Head would have made for a spectacular finish. Walking East would also have provided a helpful wind, instead of being blasted backwards by 50mph winds over the first few days. Not as frustrating as cycling into a headwind but a consideration.

Neither of us had walked long distances for multiple days before, so some preparation seemed apt. Training is not a word to which we are accustomed, the normal plan being: we're young it'll be al-right, but after failing to complete the Welsh 3000's last year, we wanted to finish this. Both working different shift patterns there wasn't much time to train, but we snuck in a few 8-20 mile walks.

Below is our itinerary before leaving (we ended up walking substantially longer distances than this, I'm slightly unsure why as we generally stayed close to the path).  I will write more about each individual day later.

	From	To	Miles
Day 1	Eastbourne	Rodmell	20
Day 2	Rodmell	Pyecombe	15
Day 3	Pyecombe	Amberley	17
Day 4	Amberley	South Harting	20
Day 5	South Harting	Warnford	15
Day 6	Warnford	Winchester	14