Epilogue

 
Now that we have been back in Melbourne for a few weeks, I have had time to reflect upon our experience on the walk and get it into context. The real highlights of the walk were:

• The scenery - spectacular beaches, gorgeous turquoise waves, pink granite headlands and crazy  limestone rock formations
• The vegetation - so different from the east coast. Lots of unique native plants and shrubs. We would love to see it in the wildflower season when the rainbow of colours would be breathtaking.
• Karri forest - just stunning!
• The accommodation and the hosts - very comfortable accommodation, well suited to a walking holiday with very obliging hosts who were interested in our walk
• The locals - everyone we met was keen to talk about our progress on the walk and wanted to make sure we enjoyed the experience. There seemed to be a sense of community ownership of the walk and a caring attitude to walkers

We would have loved a bit more time on the walk to stop and enjoy the beaches, but I guess the focus is really the walk, so we had to stick to it to achieve the target each day. Walking at our pace would have meant extending the walk by a couple of days to give us time to relax during the days walk.

Would we do it again? Certainly not the full walk! We reached our limit in terms of kilometers walked each day and the number of consecutive days walking. But, we would certainly return and tackle some sections again, with time to relax and swim. We could easily spend a week or more in the area, retracing some of our steps and enjoying the spectacular scenery again.

How did this walk compare to the Great Ocean Walk?  The C2C is longer each day and more days walking. But there is much more climbing on the GOW, steep climbs up to 400m which is much higher than the C2C. The C2C track was generally harder though, with deep sand, limestone boulders and granite rock hopping. The GOW did have some difficult deep sand tracks, but the C2C beaches were harder. Overall, I'd say the C2C was a harder walk. As far as the scenery goes, it is unfair to compare. Both walks have different, but equally spectacular scenery. The C2C was extra special for us as it was quite different from the east coast scenery.

Visiting the West also allowed us to spend time in the Karri forests, which were a real highlight for us. We have a deep desire to go back and venture further south west to visit the bigger, older forests around Walpole and Denmark, and to also visit the Tingle Tree forests. Tingle Trees are another tall eucalyptus tree with huge bases that you can drive through! Western Australia was an eyeopener for us both. There is so much to see there including beautiful, beaches, coral reefs, the Pilbara, wildflowers, forests and spectacular outback. I think here on the east coast we have been seduced by the Queensland Tourism juggernaut into thinking Queensland is the only place to go for a holiday. Well, we may never go to Queensland again now. The West has so much to offer that Queensland now looks decidedly bland and boring in comparison.

What's next? Well, I mentioned the Bibbulmun Track in a previous post. This track traverses the SW of WA, from Albany to Perth, a total of 1000 kilometers. It passes through all the spectacular forests as well as the stunning southern coast from Denmark to Albany. And no, we will not be walking the entire track! I reckon we will self guide along selected sections of the track, maybe 17 kilometers a day with plenty of rest days. We will concentrate on the forest areas around Pemberton, Walpole and Denmark, and walk in spring, the wildflower season. In fact, we have already selected a date later in 2013.........................

Our next challenge!

Post Walk - The Karri Forests & Busselton

How luxurious it felt this morning to enjoy a long sleep in. So long in fact, that we only just made it to the restaurant for breakfast. We enjoyed a very substantial breakfast and, as the day was beautifully warm and sunny decided to walk the 100m down to the beach for a swim. Bunker Bay is a truly magnificent beach, the water was a gorgeous turquoise colour and the water was warm, clear and refreshing. We spent a long time floating in the water, resting our tired bodies. The water and waves were very therapeutic. We interspersed swimming with sunbathing on the soft sand and after a short time we were feeling very relaxed. I commented to Deb, that it was strange we were the only people swimming. The only explanation I could come up with was that either it was too cold for the locals, or the beach was dangerous. I found out later that it was the second option......a Sydney man was killed by a Great White at this beach while surfing last September! After our swim, we spent time just relaxing and resting in the resort. It is amazing how easy it was to just sit and do nothing after spending the last 7 days walking.  We had booked another night here so we could recover after the walk, so we were in no rush to leave. After enjoying a relaxing day and another nice meal in the restaurant, we retired to our room to watch a DVD. Deb had unfortunately chosen a movie about a young surfer who lost her arm to shark attack...how appropriate!

Bunker Bay beach.....perfect!

We had a few days to fill in before our flight back home so, after a researching with the locals, we decided to hire a car and head inland (we had had enough of the coast for a while) to the big Karri forests around Pemberton. Deb and I fell in love with forests when we lived and horse rode in Gembrook, and after experiencing the Karri forests during the walk, we were very keen to see the bigger forests deeper into the South West. Deb found a place to stay near Pemberton so we headed off for the 3 hour drive. After passing through sandy sheep country, we gradually drove into much richer country with deep red soils and then the forests started. We were not disappointed. The Karri forests were amazing! Pemberton is a small timber town right in the middle of Karri country. It is surrounded by a number of National Parks that have been established to preserve these beautiful forests. We stayed here for two nights in a beautiful cottage at Big Brook Cottages, 8km out of town. The cottage was very comfortable, well appointed and with a lovely BBQ outside on the patio, and small wood heater to keep us warm during the cool nights. They were surrounded by beautiful native gardens that attracted the local parrots. We were able to walk out the driveway from the cottages and head straight into the forest to admire these beautiful trees.

Karri forest near Pemberton

Walk in the Karris near the cottages

Big Brook cottages at Pemberton

A local Ringneck or 28 Parrot

We also visited the National Parks, the Gloucester Tree and the Bi-Centennial Tree. These spectacular trees are Fire Lookout Trees, very tall (70m plus) Karris that have had fire tower platforms built into the top of them. They are unique to WA, nowhere else in the world are fire lookouts built into tree tops like this. Amazingly, anyone can climb to the top of these trees, in fact, it is actively encouraged! In my opinion, it is also very dangerous. The ladder is a series of steel reinforcing steel bars, hammered into the trunk in a spiral stairway around the trunk. There is minimal safety mesh on the outside of the rungs, but it would be very easy to slip between the well spaced rungs and fall. I'm amazed that in the nanny state we live in these days, the authorities have not closed them, but good on the local tourist associations for keeping these historically significant trees open to the public. Deb was keen to climb them, but on seeing them, changed her mind. I attempted to climb one, but after only a few rungs, could not go on. I'm not the best working at heights and the very open space between me and the ground made me feel very uncomfortable. We did see a number of people climb them, apparently without too much drama. Maybe on our next visit when we are not as tired??

Karri Tree

Karri forest

1939 regrowth Karri Trees

Climbing the Bi-Centennial Tree

The Bi-Centennial tree

We really enjoyed our time at Pemberton. The self contained cottage was ideal for us to cook our own meals for a change (BBQ's) and we felt very relaxed after our stay. My only regret was not trying the local delicacy, Marron, a large fresh water crayfish, found only in the SW parts of WA. Pemberton and the local area reminded us very much of Gembrook, with beautiful rich red soil farms, surrounded by magnificent eucalyptus forests, misty mornings, fresh crisp air and starry nights. While in Pemberton, we discovered another walking track, The Bibbulmun Track, but more on that later. We will definitely be back!!

Karri Trees

On Friday morning, we headed back to the Busselton to return the hire car. We had booked a bus for early Saturday morning to return us to Perth airport. We thought we could spend some time looking around the town which is a popular beach town for holidaymakers from Perth. Doug (remember, our bus driver in Augusta) had suggested we look him up if we were in Busselton, so we called him to let him know we would be in town that afternoon. Well, he proceeded to organise a full day schedule for us, including staying at his farm on the outskirts of Busso, tickets to a show in town at the Repertory (theater), another car for us to use while in town, a tour of his farms and a lift to the bus stop on Saturday morning! Unfortunately, we would not be able to meet his Indonesian wife as she had to suddenly return to Indonesia after her father tragically fell off a ladder and passed away. Yes, true story.

Doug's farm at Busselton

Deb and Sonny

So another unexpected adventure transpired. Doug greeted us like long lost friends and after a cuppa, showed us around his farm, introducing us to his very old dog Sonny, the horses and Brahman cattle, and showing us around the large assortment of farm machinery he had accumulated over the years. The farm was a typical old farm, stuff everywhere, a grubby old shack for the farmhouse and an add on park unit for our accommodation.  We then did a tour of the district, visiting his old family farm (just the same, old and pretty grubby), meeting his son and their family and learning some of the history of the area. It turns out that Doug is a direct descendant of Alfred Bussell, an original settler whom Bussellton is named after. Doug then had to head off to complete a bus run, so we spent the rest of the day touring around town, inspecting the Busselton Pier, the longest wooden jetty in the southern Hemisphere at nearly 2 kilometers, and other local sights. The pier was used to ship local timber out for export, and was regularly extended as drift sands made the water too shallow for mooring ships.

Busselton Pier

Unfortunately, Doug could not get tickets to the Repertory (The show was The 39 Steps and the tickets were all sold out) so Deb and I went out to a restaurant for dinner and caught up with Doug later. We returned to the farm as the rain started and it then proceeded to pour all night long. The unit was basic, but  comfortable, but we were kept awake all night by two owls hooting,  just outside our window, continuously.....hoot-hoot hoot-hoot.....hoot-hoot hoot-hoot.......hoot-hoot hoot hoot.......Even the furious storm outside did not shut them up!

Our accommodation at Busselton on the farm

Next morning, Doug left early for his bus run, so his mate Phil (also with an Indonesian wife) took us to the bus stop. I'm still amazed at how hospitable Doug was, and how trusting. We were given a car and his house keys and left us alone without really knowing us at all. He was one of those people who trusted his judgement, and for whom material assets were of no value, apart from their practical use. Meeting Doug proved to be one of the memorable events from this trip.

Our bus trip the Perth was uneventful and we made it in plenty of time to catch our plane to Melbourne. We returned to cold and wet Melbourne, tired but very relaxed, satisfied and and very, very happy.

The Walk - Day 7

Today is the final day or the walk! We are eager to get going, but have to wait until 8am for the kitchen to open for breakfast. The weather has improved overnight. After experiencing more showers last night, the rain has gone and although there are some dark rain clouds around, the sun is shining through them this morning. It looks like the rain has finally gone and we expect the day to warm up as we walk. Today, we have 17.5km to walk, mostly fairly level walking along good tracks, ending with an "Access for All" (ie wheelchair friendly) section the last 3.5 km to Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse.

After a hearty breakfast, we swing our backpacks onto our backs for the last time, and head off out of the hotel, down through the gardens. We walk along the quiet streets of Yallingup until we reach the beach. This beach has been home to many surf competitions over the years, and still hosts a major Masters championship every year. The beach has a reef just offshore and at low tides it forms a beautiful lagoon for snorkeling.  Due to the tropically warm Leeuwin Current that flows down the coast and around into the Great Austalian Bight over autumn and winter, the Yallingup Reef has the southern most population of sub tropical fish in Australia.  Today, the tide is up and we join the locals out for their morning exercise, walking north along the short beach. At the end of the beach, we climb up steep steps over the sand dunes and onto the narrow track, which winds through the low coastal tea tree scrub. We get great views back towards Canal Rocks as we wind our way north. The track passes by Mt Duckworth Campsite, a small cleared area used by hikers, and on along the cliff tops.

Ready for our last day!

Yallingup Beach

Climbing the steps at the end of Yallingup Beach 

We are now walking along the top of steep limestone cliffs. All the rock around us is limestone, weathered into amazing shapes and formations. There are even stacks next to the track that look like stalagmites. Sections of the track are just pure grey limestone and it can be tricky walking over the often slippery, smooth rocks. We have to be careful not to get too close to the cliff edges, as the limestone is friable and easily breaks. Evidence of this can be seen along the beaches below where there have been many rockfalls and slippages. In some places, even the vegetation has been calcified and it hangs over the cliff faces like rock ornaments.

We stop at a very spectacular viewing seat, fixed out on a point on the limestone, with 180 degree views up and down the coast. It is still windy, but the sun is shining through the dark clouds, making the ocean look very spectacular. A great place for our morning cuppa!

Limestone Stalagmites beside the track 

Calcified plants on the rocks below the track

Limestone platforms below the cliffs

What a view! Viewing seat on the limestone headland. See the smooth weathered limestone. 

The track continues north and soon we have our first look at the Sugarloaf, a rock formation on the coast that is just 4km from the walk's end. Before we get there, we have to negotiate a steep climb down the sand dunes to Kabbijgup Beach. After a short walk along this beach, famous for its Three Bears surf break, we climb up yet another set of stairs onto the cliffs again. The sight of the Sugarloaf has really motivated us now, the end of the walk is getting close and we power ahead. I find myself getting really focused and into a walking rhythm, lost in my own thoughts as I pace it out along the track. Its quite a rewarding time as my thoughts recall the last 7 days walking. Despite the difficulties of the walk it has really been a great experience and I feel very satisfied that we are now so close to finishing the walk together.

 Kabbijgup Beach with The Sugarloaf in the distance

Looking south back along the track

After about an hour we arrive at the Sugarloaf. Rather than take the diversion down to the rock, we continue up the hill onto the boardwalk and find a seat in the sun to enjoy the view and lunch. It is quite warm now and we enjoy a lovely break, looking back down to the Sugarloaf and northwards to Cape Naturaliste.

The Sugarloaf

Not much further to go now

After lunch, the walking is easy as we traverse smooth paths and boardwalks designed for wheelchair access. We pass through more peppermint eucalyptus trees, low heath and tea tree as we follow the coast northwards. After about 40 minutes, the track turns inland and soon we get our first view of the lighthouse. 20 minutes later and we have arrived at the Keepers Cottage/Cafe, where we are given directions up to the lighthouse. It is a great feeling to have finally reached our goal, still in one piece and still smiling! The Cape Naturaliste lighthouse was built in 1903 from limestone blocks carved out of a quarry at nearby Bunker Bay.  It is quite a small lighthouse, only 20 metres high, but it stands on a bluff that rises 80metres above the sea.

We follow Cape To Cape tradition, and touch the lighthouse to symbolise the end of our journey. After a brief look around and some photographs, we head back to the cafe for a celebratory cold drink. We are feeling very tired, so tried to get a taxi to take us on to our accommodation for the night. However, it was too expensive for the short ride so we decided to walk the last couple of kilometers to Bunker Bay Resort. It proves to be a tricky walk, with a very steep, rocky downhill section to Bunker Bay, but the reward was walking along this most beautiful beach in the late afternoon.

Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse

The end.......touching the lighthouse!

The last beach walk - Bunker Bay

We were soon checked into the 5 star Quay West Resort and relaxing in the spa bath in our very comfortable room. Later, we enjoy a beautiful celebratory dinner at the resort restaurant and retire to a very well earned sleep in our luxurious room.

Bunker Bay

Quay West Bunker Bay Resort

The Walk - Day 6

It was pretty hard getting up early again today, especially as we could hear the rain and the wind outside. Today we are scheduled to walk the longest distance, 24.8kms. However, we had already decided to take a shorter option and reduce it to a much more reasonable 17.5 kms. It was not so much the distance as the time it takes to walk on these slow tracks. The recommended time for the long distance was 9 hrs, without breaks! Our host told us that most walkers made the decision to shorten the day, as had the other Auswalkers we met.  While we had breakfast, the rain eased a little so we packed our bags and prepared to head off. This was the end of our stay in beautiful Gilgara, so we bid farewell to Elaine and headed off with Steve to the new starting point. When we arrived at Moses Rock car park it was definitely not walking weather. As we drove closer to the coast, the wind strength increased dramatically and at the car park is was blowing a gale and raining heavily. We decided to head further north to see if the weather was any better. At Smiths Beach, there were some signs of a break in the weather, so we we decided that it was worth waiting for a while. Steve dropped us off at a resort Cafe and we settled in to some comfy chairs with a coffee and waited. A feature of today's walk that I was very keen to see was Canal Rocks, so I was determined to do some walking today as long as the weather was not unbearable.

Waiting for the rain to stop

 We waited around an hour and a half before the clouds receded a little and the rain stopped. Putting on our backpacks, we headed off in a southerly direction into a strong breeze and a few spots of rain. After heading along a wide track next to Smiths Beach, we commenced a very difficult climb up a mass of granite boulders. The track was difficult to find at times amongst the rocks, as it steadily climbed around the headland. At the top of the climb, we walked along the cliff tops with great views across the angry ocean towards Canal Rocks. After passing through some tea tree thicket, we arrive at Canal Rocks Rd, and follow the road down to the carpark adjacent to the rocks.

Smiths Beach through the rain

Rocky climb at the end of Smiths Beach

The top of the rock climb

Granite rocks south of Smiths Beach

Canal Rocks are granite-gneiss rocks that have been eroded along faults in the rock bands, resulting in deep linear gullies that have then filled with sea water. They are quite spectacular  and we spend some time walking out along the bridges between the rocks. There are quite a lot of fishermen right out on the ends of the rocks, braving very big waves and strong winds to try their luck. While we had a rest and a cuppa, we met a lovely elderly couple who offered to drive us to our next hotel if the weather got too bad. He was over 70, and had walked the Cape to Cape 20 years ago. He was still very fit, and had completed the Kokoda Track last year!

Canal Rocks in the distance

Stormy skies

Canal rocks

Canal rocks

Bridge across Canal rocks

Canal rocks

 
After our rest, we headed off south again along a very picturesque section of coastline. Initially we climbed very steeply back up the main road to a lookout, in pouring rain. We certainly needed our wet weather gear and I started to wonder if the rest of the day's walk would continue in this heavy rain. Just as the rain was starting to seep down my neck, it stopped and the sun started to peer out from between the heavy black clouds. After a brief stop at the lookout we continued south, along a rocky track winding through the scrub down a ridge and emerging on the cliff tops again.

Canal rocks from Rotary Lookout

 

A rocky section of the Track

We soon came to a very steep set of steps on the edge of the cliff.  Deb stopped and worriedly asked me if we had to go down these steps. They appeared to just drop off into space on the edge of the cliff. On closer inspection, they looked far scarier then they really were, and once we stepped down the first couple of steps, the path turned sharply left and, hugging the cliff, dropped gradually down to the base of the cliffs. We then passed above a very rocky beach, across a stream and then along a wide path to Wyadup Rocks, a rocky headland jutting out into the sea. By now, the sun was out most of the time, and the wind, while still strong, was blowing the rain clouds away from us to the north.

Looking north towards Smiths Beach

Bob at the top of the steps

Down the steep steps to Wyadup

We stopped here for lunch, trying to shelter out of the wind as best we could. Today's walking was a bit challenging, not just the track, but the adverse weather as well. But it had its rewards. I love wild weather (I think I'll be a "storm chaser"  in my next life!) and the views across the ocean on days like this are really spectacular, especially with the brooding black sky.

Looking across to Wyadup Rocks

Wyadup Rocks

Lunch in the sun

Idijup Beach

Local

After a lovely quiet break, we head off again, the track taking us along a rocky beach before climbing inland a little through the coastal heaths. Suddenly, right in front of us, a family of Kangaroos appears. I'm pretty sure they are Western Greys, but the white markings on the face are quite unusual. They are not really worried by us, and continue to graze as we walk past. Shortly afterwards, the track drops down through a rocky path to Injidup Beach. As we walk along the beach, the sky gets very dark and it starts raining again. I hurry along to the steps that climb steeply up from the beach, and struggle to climb them quickly with my problem knee. We shelter for a short time in the car park as the storm flurry passes. A quick conference and as we have good phone reception here, we decide to call it a day. It is nearly 3:00pm and the next section of track is quite long and there is limited phone reception now for some time. Although we had not walked very far today, we had seen some great coastal scenery again, and I was very glad we saw Canal rocks.

The track leading to Indijup Beach

Indijup Beach and Cape Clairault

I called for a taxi, and 45 mins later are being dropped off at Caves Hotel in Yallingup. This heritage listed hotel was built in art deco style, and has been maintained in this style over the years. The hotel was originally built in 1905 to accommodate visitors to the nearby limestone caves, and became a favoured honeymoon location in the 1920's and 30's. In the 1960's it became famous as accommodation for the surfers who had discovered the superb surf in the local beaches. It had a lovely country charm, very art deco interior with lots of old photos and surfing memorabilia. Our room was beautiful, with a huge spa and opening onto the wide 1st floor verandah. We enjoyed a lovely relaxing spa and a good pub meal for dinner, before retiring, dreaming of our last day's walk tomorrow.

Caves Hotel, Yallingup