11 April, 26km I had the best night’s sleep- it wasn’t too cold (well, I was sleeping in my thermals and with a beanie) and I guess I was pretty hammered from walking 43 km yesterday). I sent Birger a birthday message via the Garmin and realised that it actually looks a lot like the phone I had when we first met 😂 anyone remember the Alcatel with a bulky antenna?! As I was leaving, I noticed the sign showing the path in the other direction. Yeah, it’s going to Kalamunda...in like...555km... It was a bit overcast as I took off and started to drizzle- and looking at the sky, I was pretty sure that it was going to be a question of when , not if I was going to get rained on. The trail was easy this morning, and it sometimes looked like I was walking through a green tunnel - less burns, more undergrowth. I crossed over some very green farmland, saw an emu running along the path ahead of me and made pretty quick progress towards Pemberton. I took a break at Big Brook...
16 April, 41km: Dog Pool to Woolbales I left Dog Pool before sunrise and walked into a beautiful dawn. The first 20km to Mt Chance, I was flying along very flat sandy paths and forest roads and arrived just after 10am. I climbed up Mt. Chance (not much of a climb - total height above sea level a whooping 159m). Great views of the grassy plains I’ve been walking through pretty much since Northcliffe. But even at the top still no phone reception- I haven’t had reception since Warren hut on Monday! The trail crosses through a lot of what looks like (and is described as) swamp and flood plains and the fact that there are lots of board walks and little bridges tells me it may not always be this dry... at the moment, it is dry and there are swamp bottle brush dotting the bush with red pom-poms everywhere. The afternoon was less easy walking, another 21km to the next shelter, through more grassland, but also sometimes pretty overgrown swamp that looked like...
Before reading this: please keep in mind that this blog is mostly intended for myself, I would like to be able to read back on my thoughts and feelings in a year or so from now. I thought about posting this, but I think it’s an important part of the “journey”. I turned on my phone after breakfast to find a message from Birger saying he had an eventful night and to call him as soon as I could. Perth went into COVID lockdown at midnight (because they’ve had one case - this may seem slightly unusual to all non- Australians, but that?s why we are doing so well here- one case, everyone stays home, they contact trace over the weekend, things are (usually) back under control) and if he flies into Perth today, he?ll be in the middle of the lockdown zone and will have to isolate in a hotel for at least 3 days or until further notice. Based on what has happened in other places, like Melbourne, there is obviously a risk that he could get stuck for a very long time... So, ...
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