The Bibbulmun Track, Western Australia. Days 32 – 37

For the past +/- 30 days we have been enjoying the beauty of trees, trees, trees. We’ve had karri trees, marri trees, jarrah trees and every other tree in between. They really are magnificent trees and fine examples of the power, and supremely clever design, of Mother Nature, but even I can have too much of a good thing.

After a couple of weeks of forest walking, I started to feel a little claustrophobic as the looming trees came right up to the edge of the path and extended as far as the eye could see. Coming from, and living in, a more open landscape with rolling hills and plains, I longed to spend hours not minutes walking through a paddock or two, under a large patch of blue sky, enjoying vistas that stretched for more than 50metres.

And then my prayers were answered…we saw the SEA…but not before we got our feet wet on the Pingerup Plains.

Days: 32 – 37

Dates: From Thursday, 12 October to Tuesday, 17 October 2023.

Stages: Gardner Campsite to Lake Maringup Campsite = 16.5km

            Lake Maringup Campsite to Dog Pool Campsite = 25.6km

            Dog Pool Campsite to Mt Chance Campsite = 19.7km

            Mt Chance Campsite to Woolbales Campsite = 21.3km

            Woolbales Campsite to Long Point Campsite = 18.8km

            Long Point Campsite to Walpole = 23.6km

Total Planned Distance: 126.4km    Total Actual Distance: 125.5km

Progress: 774/1,005km

Terrain: The flat terrain continues, especially as we hit the Pingerup Plains – notorious for delivering wet feet, ankles, knees, thighs and waists.

Average Daily Ascent: 320m           Average Daily Descent: 326m

Weather: Clear and cool, then warm, then hot, then too damn hot for hiking!

General Comments:

• Our tramily now numbered six people, including three West Australians walking sections only, Ralf from Frankfurt in Germany, and us. The section hikers are very handy for local intel, especially if they have already walked a section up ahead. They can tell you what the terrain is like and give you a heads-up about the prevalence of snakes! GULP! Unlike a lot of other hikers, we see our very first snake on Day 33 and that was at 745am in the morning! They are early birds like us!
• Snorers! Ugh! That is the downside of sleeping in the shelters – you are subject to the nightly snoring symphony and various other nocturnal rumbles. I size up each new hiker as they arrive at the shelter and try to estimate their propensity to snore and potential decibel levels. I can usually pick ‘em, but sometimes I am surprised about the volume that emanates from the most unassuming of torsos. Pack very good ear plugs! You have been warned!

• At last, we strike some gentler terrain. Yes, there are still short climbs each day just so we don’t get too comfortable, but it is not the steep roller coaster we have experienced on many, many days up until now. The path follows fire and access trails, providing a nice wide space for walking and snake spotting. The countryside also opens up a little although the scrub can vary from waist high to more than head height, again blocking out any chance of a view.

• This gentler terrain is good practice for the Pingerup Plains up ahead. If you look on the internet, you will find numerous photos of people wading through the Plains, with water up to their waist. We knew (from the local intel I mentioned above) that we wouldn’t experience water that deep, but knee high or thigh high could be on the cards. Being plains, any rainfall just lays and does not drain away. The soil seems to have a ‘peaty’ or swampy consistency and I suspect there are numerous natural springs in the area, topping up water levels. It turned out that we could avoid many wet patches by bush-bashing off the path, but eventually we had to bite the bullet and just plough through large puddles up to 50m long. There was simply no avoiding them.

• I hit a bit of a rough patch on this section, both mentally and physically. For those of you who have completed long walks, you will understand that some days it becomes a mental game, battling all the negative thoughts in your head, especially questioning ‘what the hell am I doing out here’? I had a long rant in my journal and got that out of my system, and I was as good as gold the next day.
• My sore toes, on the other hand, delivered a World of Pain on a daily basis and I started to question whether I would actually make it all the way to Albany. I resorted to walking in my sandals on one day (not the safest choice due to the risk of snakes) and it did my feet a tonne of good, or at least, gave my toes an extended break from my boots.

• Pack some tropical strength bug spray and a head net for this section. The mozzies are ferocious at the best of times, but once we hit the Plains they doubled their efforts AND we had days of mongrel biting March (or Sand) flies, plus thousands of ‘normal’ flies. It was enough to drive you spare and sometimes I felt like that Pig-Pen character out of the Peanuts comic strip, such were the number of flies hanging about my person.

Highlights:

• We enjoy some absolute crackers of campsites on this section. Maringup shelter is only about 30m from Lake Maringup which is perfect for a brisk birdbath, glorious sunsets and sunrises over the water.
• Dog Pool Campsite becomes my all-time favourite campsite of the entire Bibbulmun Track, despite its less than attractive name. It has a beautiful rammed earth shelter, right next to a rushing river. The river has a series of small cascades and rock pools, and these pools are easily accessible. It was pure delight to sit in one for my daily birdbath and for multiple visits to refresh my tired feet/legs and sore toes. While the water may have a definite tannin colour, you feel a million dollars afterwards. Then there was the joy of lying in your sleeping bag at night, listening to the water tumble along. Beautiful white noise.

• The beauty of Dog Pool campsite was only overshadowed by the glorious sight of the ocean when we scrambled over the final sand dune to see Mandalay Beach. The sweeping views up and down the coastline was a sight for sore eyes after 35.5 days of trees!
• All this new openness was good for the soul and we couldn’t stop taking photographs. Not a tree in sight! There were plenty of shrubs and scrubby bush though and, to our disappointment, kilometres and kilometres of soft sandy trails to walk on. Ugh! Oh well, you can’t have beach without sand.
• Being a bush kid not a beach babe, I had not really considered the difference between walking through soft sand for hours on end compared to walking on forest paths. I quickly realised that our kph (kilometres per hour) may have to be dramatically revised down. No matter, we were making our way ever closer to Walpole and our last rest day.

I’d like to take this opportunity to wish you a very Merry Christmas and happy Festive Season. I hope it is full of love, laughter and peace.

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