Jules Runs and Walks

  Today was going to be a relatively short day with just 20km to Williams bay. So I had time for a second cup of tea and took it easy.  I started off in thermals and a fleece as it was a pretty chilly morning but quickly changed into a tshirt as the sun came out and the hills started getting steeper. The scenery would have been similar to yesterday, but shortly after boat harbour, I could see dark clouds coming in from the sea and I could see the sheets of rain moving towards me.  By 9am, it started to drizzle, so wardrobe change again into rain jacket.  The rain changed from drizzle to a soft constant rain to an absolute downpour- and I was walking along the ridge line with no protection at all, no trees, only waist high shrubs. I saw lots of kangaroos and a huge black feral cat.  By the time I arrived at Parry beach, about 11km from where I had started, I was once again pretty drenched. There is campsite there and I decided to stop at their picnic shelter for ...

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...

32km It rained overnight so I’m carrying a wet tent again.  The morning was a bit overcast and misty and the trail a lot more undulating than I had expected.  More tingle trees, and lots of beautiful wild flowers.  I thought this one looked like a wombat and the other one is called “the pleated princess”.  I stopped at the Tree Top Walk - Maria, who I met at Boarding House, about 300km north from here, had told me that there was a coffee van with yummy cakes. Oh, the disappointment when I walked up to it and it was closed - 300km of anticipation... I treated myself to an ice cream from the gift shop instead (10:30am isn’t too early for ice cream, is it?).  I walked past the Giants campsite (named after the size of the trees around there) and had lunch on top of a hill with views of what I would later learn the track for the next couple of days. It was drizzling on and off, but barely enough to put my rain jacket on.  Today was the first time since I started...

The feeling when you have eaten most of your food and your pack feels so light that you could skip into town? That was me this morning. And the thought of a cooked breakfast got me going to arrive in Walpole by 9am.  It was a little random to walk out of the bush after 6 days of wilderness to step onto a golf course before walking into town.  I ate my way through Walpole: breakfast at Banksia cafe with scrambled eggs with spinach and salmon and a large coffee. Followed by a magnum ice cream from the supermarket, followed by a apple sized plum, followed by a veggie cheese panini from the bakery for lunch an hour later. I basically only skipped the local pub, but otherwise did my best to support the local economy.  I?m just so hungry, all the time. Not just the “i’ve been for a run this morning, I need breakfast” hungry, but just always hungry. As in “hiker hunger”. I am eating 3-4 “servings” of oats with dried fruit and nuts for breakfast and start thinking about muesli ba...

What a difference a day makes!  17 April, 32km I got up early, packed up and had breakfast and then made another cup of tea and climbed back up on the rocks to watch the sunrise.  Yesterday was pretty big and it was nice to watch the sun rise over the plains and very consciously start into a new direction for my life.  I left the Pingerup plains behind me today and finally made it to the ocean!  But first, there were about 700 spiderwebs to clear. The spiders set up their webs across the path over night, and I am sure some of them are set up to catch wallabies (or solo female hikers starting early). And the fact that some are red and hairy tells me that they are not friendly... the black ones are orb spiders, I have learned. Not sure about the hairy ones...   I kept thinking it should get flatter and downhill as I was getting to the coast, but no... still lots of ups and downs and then finally: Mandalay beach (named after a Dutch ship that sank there in 1917)....