Day 16: Donnelly River: Emus!

Gregory Brook to Tom Road. 38km

When I got up, the stars were still bright in the sky and since there?s almost no moon left, you can see them really well. As I packed up my tent in the dark, one of the poles snapped and knocked out my head torch. Classic. At least it didn’t hit me in the head, but it took a little bit of fiddling in the dark until I managed to rearrange the batteries and it came back on. There is always something... 

I started walking just around sunrise and just as I came across the first Karri trees, the morning sun started hitting them. They are such majestic trees, they are actually the second tallest flowering gum in the world. It was a beautiful start to the day. 

I kept stopping to just look up at them. 

As I was walking along, I kept thinking about something a lady in Collie had said to me - that she found it amazing and empowering that I did this walk as a woman by myself. I don?t think it has anything to do with gender ( if anyone has any doubts that women are strong and resilient (from an athletic perspective), look up Courtney Dauwalter). But what is extremely important to me and something I am very grateful for is the fact that I am actually able to do this. After all the issues with my back, sciatic pain, bulged disc and my body just not holding up over the last 2 or so years and the constant struggle of still trying to run through the pain, through the frustration and the disappointment of all the set backs.  I have now been walking for 2 weeks, carrying everything I need on my back. THAT to me is empowering. 

I made it to Donnelly River Village by mid day. At first glance, it seemed a little bleak, but there are emus and wallabies roaming around everywhere, the holiday cottages look actually very pretty and the General store is just delightful (though I did reconsider stocking up on chocolate at $7 for a bar of Cadbury- trail mix until Pemberton it is...).

 I had a delicious veggie focaccia and a coffee to then tackle my next logistical challenge: I was supposed to pick up my next resupply box here, but because I have been walking faster than expected and because Australia Post has been hibernating over Easter, the box is still at the post office in Manjimup about 25km away. It could get to Donnelly River Village by mid day tomorrow, but I really don’t want to wait around for 24 hours with very little to do (except watching emus, which actually is pretty cool). 

So, I thought I could just post in the Bibbulmun Facebook group if anyone would be able to pick up my box and drop it off anywhere south of here. The only problem with this is that Donnelly River has no phone reception. None. So I can?t even ask Birger to do this for me. The lovely ladies at the general store eventually took pity on me and let me use their office computer- so I posted on fb and send Birger a message, hoping for the best as I might not have reception for several days. And I quickly changed my booking for accommodation in Pemberton which for some reason I had booked for 2 days later than I expect to be there. 

So with all that organised (or not), I took off into the bush again. 

The weather had changed quite a bit to overcast and occasional showers, but the Karri trees still look like they are glowing. They are so stunning, but I?m going to have to stop stopping to stare up at the sheer hight of them or I’ll never get to beach... 

I got to the next camp site, Tom Road, to be greeted by two older ladies, one of them going “oh, I know you - I met you last week at Swamp oaks when I was out with my hiking group!” Well, it’s a small place, she was part of the group that I met a week ago when I felt slightly overwhelmed by the number of people. 

I set up my tent and went for a quick dip in the completely black water of the swimming hole - a bit disconcerting, but still refreshing. 

As we were all cooking dinner, Sally and Debbie and I started chatting about hiking and walks we had done - Sally is about to complete her second sectional end-to-end of the Bibbulmun track (I.e. she has walked most of the track in bits and pieces twice!) and they were telling me about the Inca trail and we swapped stories about the overland track and Larapinta. 

When I mentioned my logistical challenge to them, they had a quick think and then offered to pick up my resupply box at the Manjimup post office and drop it off on the weekend in Northcliffe as they will be passing through on the way to another section of the Bibb they will be walking. How amazing is that? 

So I found my trail angels on the trail! 

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