Peaceful Bay

I slept for over 10 hours. I chatted to the guys over breakfast and left camp in beautiful sunshine just after 7. 

Today was going to be a 34km day, so I had hoped for an earlier start, but I guess my body needed the rest. I had been debating and checking maps with the guys last night about walking along the beach instead of a big loop inland, crossing an inlet via canoe and then another big loop before getting back to the coast. They both said the inland trail was really pretty and the canoe crossing is kind of iconic for the Bibbulmun track, so I tended towards doing it. 

The views along the coastline were spectacular and I really enjoyed the walk to Peaceful Bay. 

At Lacroix beach sat a big kangaroo just looking at me. 

Grouper bay was another nice beach. 

Peaceful Bay is mostly a caravan park with a fish&chips shop, but 10 am is a) a little early for fish and chips, even for a ever hungry hiker, and b) it was closed today. So I had a huuuuge coffee and a muffin instead before moving on. I also had to buy a new gas cylinder for my stove and annoyingly, the little shop only had very large ones for sale. Apart from not going to be hiking for that much longer, together with my water refill, I was suddenly carrying at least 2kg more than before my coffee stop. 

Anyway, the longer inland route it was and it was indeed very varied and pretty- coastal views, lots of kangaroos and little ups and downs through peppermint gum forest. 

As I was walking, I had a lot of thoughts about work today - I have received a few really lovely messages from some people on my team about my resignation and they are really the ones I will miss (haven’t heard from the ones I won’t miss 😉 - might be mutual...). It will be sad not to be working with some of them anymore*. 

Those thoughts took me through to where the track seems to end - the sign is pointing straight at the water. Just as I arrived, a girl got out of a canoe having crossed from the other side. She said there were 2 more people coming from the south, so we needed to transfer canoes over to the other side. So we tied 2 canoes to the one I was going to paddle over, she helped me lug my backpack in and off I went. Well. Anyone who has ever seen me in a canoe knows that I tend to go in circles. I have no idea how to paddle in a straight line (which is why Birger and I always take double canoes and I just keep paddling and he does all the steering). So I really went the scenic route across the inlet - towing 2 canoes and a sideways breeze didn’t help. It probably took me 20 min to cover the 200m crossing 😂. But I made it. 

That achieved, I had lunch with a view of the inlet and then walked on. 

There was a bit that had recently burned on one side of the trail whereas the other side was lush and green - what a contrast! 

The Rolling green hills dotted with kangaroos turned into pretty steep hills - I really hadn?t expected a cardio session combined with leg day today! 

I eventually came out of the dunes and hit the beach - where I was almost attacked by a dog. A lady with a 4WD fishing on the beach had her 2 dogs run loose and one of them, a German shepherd came charging towards me, barking and growling with the hair on its back standing up. She immediately came running after it - it was very scary, because the dog was obviously aggressive and she was obviously concerned (none of the usual “oh, don’t worry, it just wants to play”, but she was screaming at it to come back to her! She eventually got in between me and her dog and I walked off, slightly shaken. 

The walk along the beach was beautiful though and I stopped at the end and went for a swim in a corner protected by some rocks. The water was surprisingly warm, maybe 21, 22 degrees- I had expected much colder, given there’s not much between here and Antarctica. 

I only arrived at Boat harbour campsite around 5:30pm, but I had the best day - the scenery is stunning and I’m soaking up every minute of my last few days on the trail! 

*i have since writing this and being able to post it been asked who I was thinking of in my “angry emails” that I mentioned - rest assured, no one who has access to the blog!!!