Australia 17: Walking the West Coast

C2C trail

Kees is the die-hard long distance hiker of the two of us. He continued with the Coast to Coast trail after I took a break. He stumbled in after an even tougher day on the trail than the first two. He really pushed himself to the limit but did another 22 KM. The sport college he attended in his younger days, made him quite competitive…
We stayed in a lovely condo on Prevelly Beach, it even had a washer and dryer so we managed to do our laundry. That night we had a fantastic dinner in the resort: steamed vegetables, perfect steak, roast potatoes. Dinner never tasted so good. I realize that we have not had the best “input” to get the right “output”. You are what you eat and, in Augusta, the motel provided us with some white bread, juice and jam. When we arrive there, at the end of a long hard day, everything in town had just closed. The first night we found greasy fried chicken and fries at a gas station store. The second night, a small cafe stayed open ‘late’ to make us a hamburger. Not great food to hike on. After our steak and veggies dinner I could really feel the energy coming back.

It is hard to imagine the utter isolation of this trail if you are used to European or North American hiking. Here, there is NOTHING besides nature. Once you hit the trail, you are on your own. We might see one or two people in an entire day. No villages, no cafes, not one place to sit and have a drink. There is not even a bench. When we need a break, all we can do is plop down on the track in the dirt.  No tree trunk, just track and scrub. Generally there is no shade to sit in. We carry daypacks with lots and lots of water.

Gilgarra Retreat

Sometimes the track is so narrow that we scrape our legs and arms on the scrub. I try to stamp my feet in the hope that the snakes will feel us coming and disappear. It is a bit daunting to know that you are completely on your own. There is no way out other than forward. There is, mostly, no phone reception. No place to walk to in an emergency. All I do is hope that we don’t need help for there is none. Just wild bush country and us.

Day 4 saw us hike from Prevelly to Gilbarra homestead. We made it but with no energy to spare so we are both skipping day 5.
The homestead is a gorgeous acreage with a large house and outbuilding. Overhanging verandahs, roses, a pond. Our hosts made us a Thai dinner and we slept like a log. Feeling better now but glad to have a day of rest. 

The next day we continue in our quest to reach Cape Naturaliste, after a beautiful breakfast of muesli, fresh fruit salad and homemade bread. It’s a treat to get breakfast like that. Usually we are the ones serving it in our own B & B. Gilgarra Retreat has its own grapefruit, lemon and orange trees. It rained a little bit last night, but this morning the sky is brilliant blue. We almost wish for clouds when hiking because the sun gets just too hot.

We hike some 17 kilometers. The trail starts out as not too bad, although some sections were so narrow that we were scraping arms and legs on the bushes. Then we hit some steep boulder sections with no visible trail, just rocks to clamber down on along sheer cliffs with the ocean below. Gorgeous views but very treacherous clambering, and not exactly hiking.

The trail.

The highlight for today came when we actually found a bench! In the shade of a melaluca grove no less. We were just unwrapping a sandwich when, right in front of us and very close by, a huge whale breached! He came down with a thunderous roar. We watched whales on and off all day. Later on, several breached again but not so close. It was an awe inspiring moment.

With sore toes and stiff limbs we are now in a lovely old hotel. Tomorrow will be our last day on this trail and we plan on touching the corner stone of Cape Naturaliste lighthouse.

...all our roads are new and strange,
And through our blood there runs
The vagabonding love of change
That drove us westward of the range
And westward of the suns.
(From The Old Australian Ways)

We both had enough. The organization of the hike we booked was perfect. The accommodations and meals were mostly perfect. The fact that our luggage was transported was wonderful. The route descriptions and everything else, were great.
The problem is the trail itself. It seems that the entire idea of a Cape to Cape hike is fairly new and still in its infancy. They’ve managed to connect a path all the way. But the trail is still very rudimentary. In a few places it is a nice hiking path, but most of it is too rough to even be called a trail. The sections of soft beach sand and crumbling dunes to climb really did us in. The scrambling over rocks, tripping over branches and boulders, just made it plain unpleasant.
Combined with relentless sun, we are zapped of energy.

Today our luggage was to be moved to a 5 star resort. We looked at each other and said “Let’s go with the luggage!” It seemed a shame to have a room in a luxury resort and not be there to enjoy it. This is why we are now in the most gorgeous bungalow, in a quiet tropical forest. Five minutes from a glorious white sand beach with turquoise waters. Best of all: a heated infinity pool. Imagine just coming here to sleep. That would be such a waste, wouldn’t it?
We decided that it really doesn’t matter that we didn’t finish the last section to the lighthouse. We had a good time, enjoyed the views, the whales, the beaches and the experience. But we recognize our limitations.
Tonight we’ll enjoy a fancy dinner. Tomorrow we’ll catch the bus back to Perth. And then, the next exciting chapter of our Aussie adventure: the Indian Pacific train across the Nullabor desert, to Adelaide and then on to Melbourne. Stay tuned for that!

C2C

For books about Australia, click here: https://www.globetrottingbooklovers.com/books

Australia 16: Cape To Cape Hike

Cape To Cape Trail

Once we approached Perth, the time had come to move out of our camper. We cleaned and packed before driving to the rental office in the city and dropping off the unit that has been our home for two months. Then we checked into The Witch’s Hat, a backpackers hostel.

I love Australia’s place names!

Our backpacks are stuffed and very heavy. Part of the problem is that we keep finding wonderful books. We bought an iPad specifically so that we could have lots of books without the weight. The problem is not so much that we don’t like reading on the iPad, it’s that we don’t come across good books online. We find them in campgrounds, in second hand book stores, on shelves in the youth hostel, etc. So they pile up.

But now it’s down to just us and our backpacks. We are embarking on a long-distance hike along the south west coast.

Leaving the hostel in Perth, we drag our luggage to the central train and bus station to catch a bus to Augusta, the southern most tip of Australia’s mainland. he bus ride takes 5 hours of driving like a bat out of hell, down narrow winding roads. I never get car sick but I did this time...

Kangaroo Paw flower

It was a short five minute haul in Augusta to our motel. We have a nice, self contained room with a kitchenette. Augusta is very blustery - a storm is howling through town right now. Getting here was a total climate change from the 30+ weather we had been having. It was 19 when we arrived.
Now we are starting our next adventure: hiking the Cape to Cape Walk, 135 km from Cape Leeuwin to Cape Naturaliste!
Check out: http://www.capetocapetrack.com.au

We booked the hike through a special agency. This way we did not have to do any of the research and accomodation bookings, figure out where to eat etc. They book everything, sent us a big book of the trail, step by step, with hotel information, dinners booked, and our luggage transported to the next place.
We are in Augusta for 3 nights so we can wash clothes, and make our own lunches here.

We started off at the Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse, by touching the corner stone. As the plaque states, the Dutch ship Leeuwin (Lioness) reached the southern most point of Australia in 1622 and the land was mapped as ‘land of the Lioness’. Having been born and raised in The Netherlands, it’s fun to see all of the Dutch connections here.

The trail today was not easy. 25 km of bushwacking, clambering over boulders, trying not to step into deep blowholes, plowing through kilometer after kilometer of soft, sloped sand on the beach. Once in a while there was a nice section which made for easier hiking. But the Pieterspad long-distance hike in The Netherlands was a piece of cake compared to this. The scenery is glorious, but a strong wind (thank goodness it was in our back) whipped up sand that pelted us.

Day 2 was more glorious scenery, great weather (hot sun and no shade anywhere!) but also more very strenuous hiking. Whenever there’s a real path in the woods, it is wonderful. But much of the time it’s heavy slogging along the beach in very soft sand that gives way with every step. Sometimes like quicksand, it pulls you down with every step. Try that for 2 hours... And then it was up the headlands, climbing quickly.
I decided that I was not enjoying this and so I am skipping Day 3. I don’t have anything to proof. by doing this hike. The option of spending the day in a resort on a glorious beach, with a pool and wifi, was just too tempting.  Kees, however, is bravely trudging along. He loves the challenge.
The wildlife we see here includes kookaburras, a very large kangaroo on the trail and two very large (1.5 meters long) black snakes!