The Walk - Day 4

Spent some time this morning trying to find a nearby physiotherapist to check out my knee. We were fortunate that today was a short walking day and we were also quite close to Margaret River township. After calling all the physios in town I was able to get a 9am appointment, so after leaving our bags at reception, we headed off in a taxi the 10km to Margaret River. The physio very thoroughly checked out my knee, much to Deb's amusement who insisted on joining the consultation. "No structural damage" was the verdict, just muscle pain/spasms due to both the lack of walk fitness and the additional pressure on my knee due to the strapping used to stiffen and protect my ankle. So after a massage and lots of stretching exercises, we were on our way again. We caught a taxi back to Prevelly, where we enjoyed a relaxing coffee before hitting the track again.

Today's walk is only 13.7km, and we will walk into our accommodation for the next 3 nights. It is another lovely day, a little cooler today and some cloud cover so good for walking. Initially, the walk takes us through the outskirts of Prevelly, past areas completely burnt out by the fires. After a short time, we come to the Margaret River mouth. In winter, crossing the river is not possible due to high water flows, but today, after the long dry spell they have been experiencing, the river is stopped at the sandbar on the beach, so a simple beach walk and we are over to the other side.

This church survived the fires

Burnt trees at Prevelly

Looking across Prevelly to the Margaret Beach Resort, you can see how close the fires were

Prevelly beach

Margaret River mouth from the beach/samdbar

The track soon leaves the beach and wanders through the sand dunes. We shortly arrive at a very rocky headland, called Cape Mentelle, named by Nicholas Baudin after a prominent French scientist. The track becomes very rocky now, and traverses the cliff tops with great views up and down the coast, before veering down onto Kilcarnup Beach. We walk along this beach for around 3 kms. The sand is soft, but better going than previous beaches, and it is a lovely isolated walk. There are a few rock bands we have to traverse, before arriving at a large limestone rock formation called Joey's Nose. (apparently it looks like a joey poking it's nose out of the pouch, but you needed a really good imagination!). We stopped here for lunch in the shade of some low cliffs at the end of the beach.

Looking south across the Margaret River mouth

Cape Mentelle

Another beach - Kilcarnup Beach

Joey's Nose rock formation

Joey's Nose from our lunch spot

After lunch we head up a very steep 4WD track away from the beach and into the very burnt out bush. Most of the next 5kms is through this burnt out bush. It is like a moonscape, all that remained after the fire was blackened carcasses of the larger coastal trees. Growing amongst these were lots of bright green cycads, a fern like tree that quickly re-established after the fire. There are also many grass trees that have also commenced regrowth. The smell of charcoal was all pervading, and our legs quickly became covered in black soot. The track was still clearly marked, and there were even new marker posts replacing burnt out ones. We were aslso intrigued by the number of animal tracks that we could see crossing the track. Kangaroos and lizards must have been active in the area, although we did not see any. We found this section of the walk fascinating and quite beautiful, in a strange sort of way.

The steep climb up from Kilcarnup Beach

Cycads have sprung to life

The moonscape near Ellensbrook

Looking south across the Gnoocardup Plain

The Grass Trees have recovered quickly

Just before we reached the point where the track was actually closed for repairs, we arrived at our turn off point and we headed away from the track and inland towards our accommodation. A short walk later, through some lovely Banksia and Karri trees and along a quiet country road, we reached our accomodation, the B&B Gilgara Retreat.

We were greeted by Elaine our hostess, who met us on the veranda with lovely glasses of cold water. Elaine then instructed us on where to leave our boots, and it was soon obvious why: the interior of the home was beautifully furnished with large white lounges! We were shown to our room, which was quite small, but luxurious. The building is quite grand, built to resemble a country homestead, beautifully appointed and very comfortable. Dinner was served in the main dining room and Elaine and her husband Steve joined us. W also joined some other Auswalk walkers who were one day ahead of us and were able to share some stories with them. Elaine is an excellent cook and we enjoyed a beautiful baked ham roast dinner followed by apple and berry crumble...delicious!

Gilgara Retreat



Gilgara Retreat B&B