12/10: The Bibbulmun Guide book read that Long Point to Walpole, skipping Mt Clare was a really tough strenuous walk but could be done by experienced fit determined hikers, barely but possible. So we had geared up for an 8 hour hike into town. I didn’t sleep well at all, heard Mel rummaging around in her tent taking pills around some late hour of the night. Every noise I heard & the moon hung bright in the sky. Deb set her alarm going off at 4am. We were up & at it, packing up & having breakfast, hitting the trail at a planned 6am. Today marks our 6th wedding anniversary as Deb sung us happy anniversary to the happy birthday tune. Can’t say that will ever happen again, was a lovely gesture! Everyone was going into Walpole besides Daisyfish whom was staying at Mt Clare today & going into Walpole tomorrow. With all our noises & lights shining, she gave up on staying in her sleeping bag & got up to join us. Drew was packing up his tent as we were heading off ahead of schedule at 5.45am.

The morning was cool but didn’t require extra layers of clothing. The sun was rising, peeking through the clouds as we set off. Perfect weather in fact & best time of day to start walking. We had prepared for a hard slog of 13kms into Mt Clare expected to arrive there at 10.30am. Whilst we were on sand, it wasn’t too bad the sand wasn’t really soft but the track in places was severely overgrown with bushes. I made the mistake of not wearing my gaiters & my lower legs got scratched up badly by all the prickly bushes I had to push through. By 7am, the sun was feeling warm, on sand dunes, you are exposed with no shade, the heat reflects off the sand & makes you hot, sweat & drink more. We pushed through at a slower 3.5km/hr but pretty good considering, the track wasn’t as bad as yesterday. We veer away from the ocean making our way back inland. Lots of birds & soaring eagles about. At times, the cool breeze spots along the track were a relief. We didn’t stop for a break until we got out of the exposed dunes & were under the cover of the forest. Immediately it was much cooler & made for pleasant easy walking. Then we just had a short but steep climb up to Mt Clare. Ambles had no trouble whatsoever & kept moving up. I struggled due to probably having had a cold, kept having to stop, break, slow my breathing back down & continue. At least I wasn’t having to blow my nose every 3 seconds anymore, was feeling better but tired. We arrived early at Mt Clare by 9.20am. Deb & Mel were there having a break. We took a break again, I was hot from the climb up but cooled down quickly, it was freezing cold there! But a beautiful spot, we are now in Tingle tree land. Amazing giant Red Tingle trees surrounded the shelter. Ambles was trying to hurry me up as I wrote in the trail logs book & took photos.

The last part into Walpole was 10kms, a gentle downhill into town through the cool forest. Ambles was focused on getting to the pub he took off, his speed increased & I had to keep texting him to slow down. He was on a mission & didn’t worry about leaving me behind to walk into town alone on our anniversary! Poor form I say!😆My feet were hurting as I kept having to walk faster to catch up & keep up. At least the day was perfect weather wise. Some clouds had rolled through & it was cool under the trees. We crossed Rest Point Road, Ambles looked right knowing his favourite place in the whole wide world was there – Rest Point Caravan Park. Cars zipped up & down towing Caravans & boats, he pulled a sad face as we continued into town. Through the golf course & over the Walpole River. The last kilometre truly sucked, on hard flat pavement around the new housing estate with very modern looking new homes. My feet hurt sooooo much! I just wanted to be sitting in the pub already! But we made it 12.20pm just in time for lunch – straight into the pub on the outskirts of town. Joined by Deb & Mel for lunch. They hadn’t showered yet but were staying there so had dumped their backpacks & boots in their room. Their meals arrived quickly but ours was delayed, & we ordered the same time. I sat waiting & waiting while watching Deb & Mel eat their meals. Torture! Eventually our meals came & I mowed down a BLT with chips. Ambles had a dozen oysters followed up with a small fish n chips. We all had pints of beer. Double lot of beers, except I chose a Bourbon & Coke after my first pint of beer.

Unfortunately we had to leave at some point & make our way across the small town to the Tree Top Walk Motel where we were booked to stay. It was a very slow shuffle with a belly full of grog & food & numbed feet over to the visitor centre to fill in the log book, another slow shuffle over to the motel. Drew & Elbow had arrived & were walking about. They were staying at the backpackers but couldn’t get in to 3.30pm. Well that truly sucked! Elbow was sitting & waiting outside the cafe / bakery with newspaper & drink while he waited. We were in our room by 2.30pm – we were at the pub awhile 😂.

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Walpole was the southern terminus end of the Bibbulmun Track back in 1998. If that was the case today, we would have finished our journey. But now, only 2 weeks remain until we walk into Albany. 2 weeks today! So hard to believe. So we spent the afternoon soaking in our own spa bath filled with Epsom salts. Of course we showered the grime & funk off our bodies before we hopped in! Our bodies turned into wrinkly prunes before we got out. Felt well & truly cleaned. Ambles went to the IGA, came back with a fishing rod & bait didn’t he?! Plus extra fishing line to carry & go hand fishing along the track.😆 There was only one washing machine & dyer at the motel to use & had to wait my turn. Had all my clothes in so ended up eating in the restaurant there in my camp shorts, a bikini top with my mont-bell jacket over it. Classy😆. The restaurant was absolutely lovely. Had it to ourselves briefly before other couples rolled in. Had real golden oldie songs playing softly in the background. Sounded like from the 50 & 60’s. The food was so so good, but for the first time on this trip, I could not finish my meal! I was starting to feel unwell, sickish, sore tummy & I guess the day’s walk plus the other 9 days walking had caught up with me. I was feeling so tired & exhausted. It was our anniversary & all, but I ended up going to bed early after dinner, was totally worn out. So glad to have a couple of rest days to recharge & recover. Ambles stayed up longer enjoying another glass of vino & reading his newspaper – catching up on the news😁.

11/10: Everyone’s sleeping mats crunched loudly whenever someone moved on their mat. Must have been the flooring in the shelter, mine had never been so loud before. Had a sleep in to 5.10am & it was slightly drizzling with rain outside & very overcast. Not at all cold. Ambles was in a very slow mood & took ages to pack up saying he could stay here another day. My cold was a lot better but my body felt tired, my feet weren’t interested in any walking today. We had an 18km day ahead but hitting the sand meant it was going to be a challenge. I left just before Ambles & he quickly caught up, he walks so fast now, checks the time, realises he is doing 4.8 to 5km/hr & tries to slow down.

Mine seems to be 4.5 but today I was slower. Putting my feet back into wet boots that quickly turned my dry socks wet was no fun. I knew my feet were going to be wrinkly & prune like & start to hurt quickly into the walk. Rain came in but didn’t linger long. This whole section to Long Point is speculator for wildflowers & orchids. I could walk around the remaining puddles on the track before veering into stunning forest, blooming with colour, over granite mossy rocks that were wet & slippery giving me flashbacks to my Mt Cooke slide so I was extra cautious & slow through them. We were headed to the coast which was 10.5kms from Woolbales to the view over Mandalay Beach. The going started to toughen up climbing up & over sand dunes pass more amazing flowers. I could even see slivers of ocean blue. Ambles fast pace turned back into his old Ambling pace, no one can maintain a fast pace in soft sand. Well, not normal people anyway😂. When we arrived at the view spot in front of the ocean, Deb & Mel were there sitting on the seat & soaking it all in. It was an emotional moment, a huge milestone that we had walked all this way inland & arrived on the coast. From here on, we walk eastwards towards Albany along the ocean. Ambles let out a loud whoop!, truly a special moment I will remember forever more.🙂

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Deb & Mel continued along as we soaked in the views. We had rain earlier, now we had blue skies, some light clouds & sunshine. You couldn’t ask for better! We continued down to the beach & walk 1 kilometre along Mandalay Beach. We instantly had flashbacks to trudging through soft sand along the Cape to Cape last year – joy o joy!😏While it was about 6kms to Long Point, the going was tough & a lot slower going. It was quite warm out on the exposed sand dunes. I saw only half a tiger snake heading into the bush. Not bad considering it was prime snake time. It was so hard trying to go up those soft sand dunes, I take a step & my foot slid backwards. I was breathing so loud & hard I reckon anyone from kilometres away would hear me. The views were absolutely stunning & I have so many photos! It didn’t feel like a good day when I started but boy! Turned out to be my most favourite! It took us to almost 1pm to get to camp. My feet were really hurting & I ran out of water in my water bladder as I drank so much water. Ambles knee was playing up again. Deb & Mel were chatting to a guy called Ali in the shelter. He is a nobo & was sleeping in his tent when they arrived. He came from Mt Clare, is a recovering drug addict trying to straighten up his life. He was packing up to move on as he wasn’t interested in a group of us sharing the shelter, rather wanted to be by himself. He carry’s all these tinned food, backpack looked pretty heavy as he took off at a sprint walk towards Woolbales. He was nice enough & reminded us of Wayne & Tim, similar personality & drug / alcohol recovering addicts.

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The afternoon flew by quickly as Daisyfish, Drew & Elbow rolled in. The sun disappeared behind clouds & the temperature dropped as we all rugged ourselves up. Completely different to the warm evening yesterday. Whoever looks after this shelter really puts a lot of effort into it. So immaculate clean & tidy. New looking retaining walls & white gravel stones make up the floor. Smelt like the wood had all been treated with lacquer recently. The only issue being the toilet is back up the hill, a bit of a walk through soft sand. 8th toilet with no toilet paper.

So many side trip walks to beaches & coves but we have no energy to go exploring. Today was a huge day, we plan an early night tonight & an early start tomorrow – town day! But another big 22.5km walk to get there. Ambles was missing a campfire tonight, “Darn! All these dead back boys around! Could have a campfire & keep warm!” We can finish our vino off tonight but will there be more vino after Walpole? Ambles is threatening to drop vino weight from his backpack…..again…..

Snake sightings Ambles 3, Rose 4.5😂

10/10: Some loud owl started hooting at 2.30am, kept Ambles awake for ages. I slept well, waking, rolling over & going back to sleep, repeat. I took 2 Sudafed tablets as my sinus was so blocked up I could only breathe through my mouth, those tablets sorted it out & knocked me to sleep. Then on 5am, we didn’t need Ambles alarm, a chorus of Kookaburras erupted into laughter right next to the shelter. Deb & Mel get up at 4.30am these days, leave early so they can reach the next campsite before midday.

Today we were meeting our trail angels with more supplies of food & most importantly, Ambles new free standing tent he ordered online. The ZPacks tent was going into the car & the Big Agnes copper spur 3 was replacing it in the backpack. The new tent weighing 1 kg more than the ZPacks tent so Ambles was tossing up not carrying the goon bag, for one second…..but the goon bag had to come as well….as the bourbon as well……as the honey whiskey 😂😂😂. So I set off before Ambles as I planned to do the spur trail up to Mount Pingerup summit. We know Ambles don’t like ‘extra side walks’. I had to allow time to do the extra & meet our Trail Angels on Broke Inlet Road by 10.30am, halfway to the next campsite, today was a total of 21kms. It was beautiful & heavy with mist, drops of dew fall from the trees landing on the shelter roof, we thought it was raining. Continued onto the Pingerup Plains where it looked like some enchanted landscape with the mist all around. Like some dwarfs will suddenly appear or the hobbit. Made for great walking, no flies & cool. My head full of head cold & my eyelids heavy & droopy. I caught up to Daisyfish & we chatted & walked until we got to the junction of the summit walk. It was an easy incline path up to the summit took only 15 minutes without the backpack! The mists had lifted & I had a great view at the top over to Broke Inlet & the surroundings. Climbed up on a large rock where I enjoyed my muesli bar while gazing out. Coming back down I passed Elbow with the same idea & Drew was sitting back at the junction waiting for him.

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The morning had quickly warmed up to blue skies & sun at 9.30am as I made the last kilometres to the road. I had spotted & took two great photos of different Orchids & feeling damn pleased with myself. As soon as I was 20 feet away, I saw a very familiar car there, my other trail angel Kerry had turned up to surprise me! Got onto the road by 10.15am to Kerry & her dog Stig, Ambles checking over his new tent & my parents that were our planned resuppliers. Oh marvellous! Double delight! My mum had fetched us delicious chicken & salad wraps with cold coke. I also snuck in a Mishka pineapple mix drink. Ambles was offered a beer but he declined. Sorted through what we needed. Kerry offered us yummy fruit salad, so had fresh fruit & apple, all these treats you don’t have on trail make you miss them, they do taste so good out in the bush! Kerry had read we were suffering from bouts of cold so got me a packet of Codral cold & flu tablets, a lovely thought & well appreciated as Ambles didn’t have many left for both of us. It was such a lovely catch up with all. I was feeling so meh, with my head cold but now felt great. We set off slowly after a big break, was hard to get the feet going again. As everyone drove off, it was just the two of us, trudging along another 10.6kms to Woolbales. And it was quite warm now with not much shade. We quick smart marched on not wasting time & had to unfortunately wade through more swamp puddles. My boots were dry, now a heavy sodden mess again. I slipped on a spot of slippery mud underneath through one puddle, fell in the drink I did. Mostly got my shorts wet, caught myself before my whole body & backpack fell in. We had caught up to Drew & Elbow, was surprise to see them still walking. I tried to keep up with Ambles but he walks too fast now & was eager to get to the campsite so left me alone to finish the last few kilometres.

I finally managed to work out taking a photo of those tiny orchids. Got me my 3rd orchid photo & felt so pleased. But that was short lived. Had a headache coming on, was starting to pound & make me feel sick. Besides I still had one more swamp to wade through, the longest one about 300metres. I remember other hikers had mentioned this one. Luckily I saw no snakes as it was warm & we were going through narrow, overgrown bush at times. I arrived at Woolbales last, was so not well, went to rest on the picnic table, dropped my backpack & lay there a moment before removing my wet boots & socks. Took me awhile to feel better while Deb was helping Ambles set up his new tent inside the shelter. Had to go clean myself was so filthy from the dirt, the wading through swamps. The toilet is the first you see before the shelter & it has a terrible lean on it. The whole thing is sloping downwards, when I sit on the toilet seat I feel like I’m going to go with the whole toilet block, tumbling down the hill😆. The 7th toilet with no loo paper. Ambles was hungry again so made himself some noodles. I had a cuppa & some white chocolate Mum gave me – lifesaver! Was back to my chirpy self again.😊Deb was grateful for a block of cheese my mum got for her & Mel. We don’t see Drew & Elbow, they tent outside & don’t come to the picnic table to join us. We squeezed Mel’s tent inside with ours, Deb & Daisyfish. Looks like tent city inside the shelter all 4 tents. Our new tent is nice & cosy inside. We all prepared & had our dinners very civilised at the table. Ambles offered some red wine around that Deb & Mel enjoyed a cup each of. The water tank has a resident snake living under it. I didn’t see it but Deb did, said its head was poked out from under the tank & it was smiling at her😁. Like Mount Chance, there’s no water close by but a granite dome hill top you can go up & get views from. This one is smaller but easier to get up there. I see the Broke Inlet very close by now. But no ocean, hidden away! Ambles joined me for the sunset then like everyone else, we retired to our tent. Tomorrow we not only see the ocean, but reach it & walk along the beach! How wonderful after spending so many weeks in the forests. Our next trail town is only 2 sleeps away!😁

9/10: I slept so good despite my blocked sinus. Had a sore throat since Northcliffe which has advanced to a horrible cough & runny nose, nothing new, my nose has been dripping constantly due to the cold weather. Yes, Ambles shared his bug with me🤔. Heard something rattling with our pots on the table, Ambles said it lifted the lid off the pot to see what was inside, only water for the morning cuppa s so scampered about trying to get into the plastic food box, couldn’t find anything as we were so paranoid we hid everything in our tents. The critter soon went off disappointed. Us & Daisyfish sounded super healthy this morning coughing, wheezing,hacking, spattering & sniffling away. Ambles regretted going into the river yesterday, he smelt of river water last night said it’s worse than his funk Body Odour. And his coughing started up again. Can we have a pharmacy vending machine like on the Camino?!😂

We were slow to leave, Took longer than usual to pack up. Today was a flat 19.5kms so, meh, no rush! Ray looked happy in his tent, good decision for him! He always props himself up on his left elbow lays like that for ages, reading or cooking. So Ambles has trail named him Elbow. 😆He goes, “Elbow is on the move!” We were the second last pair to leave after 7am, before Drew & Elbow, those two meander & take their time anyhow. A pleasant cool cloudy morning, birds singing, the river water cascading loudly, what a picturesque spot. Would love to return to this campsite 😊in Autumn before the rains flood the plains!

Today sees us walking through the start of the Pingerup Plains. Didn’t take long to see Kangaroos again, the first in weeks. The second kangaroo watched us approaching by the roadside for awhile before bounding off. We follow Tom Road again for many kilometres before veering onto another dirt road, mostly flat & easy walking. Wasn’t too far out when we came across a familiar face. Simone was yo-yoing back to Kalamunda in 19 days, hiking 50 to 60kms a day until 8.30pm & putting up her tent wherever she is on the track. And she has lost a lot of weight & looks good! Beaming, she was overjoyed to see us again telling us everyone knows about us, we are popular names on the track. Everyone in front told her to say hi to us. And a lot of people love how we are taking our time & enjoying the track. Deb & Mel are also very popular. All four of us have become celebrities 😆. We spent a good half hour catching up on trail news before continuing in different directions. She remembered the promise of having a vino from Ambles when we bumped into each other again, but took a rain check. Can’t believe Simone will have done a yo-yo end to end in the time it took us to do one end to end!😂

The Pingerup Plains ended up being nice, a whole different landscape & vegetation to see. The only problem was the blow flies, & so many of them that’s all you hear buzzing around you. The swamp parts of Track were easy to navigate around only Ambles plodded through them without a care. At least my boots didn’t get drenched but my feet were hurting so much. We took a break & the blowies buzzed around me – 50 odd of them. None went near Ambles! I think they are attracted to the colour blue….

Elbow & Drew leapfrogged with us along the way, Elbow’s backpack looked awkward as. It was super high above his head & was leaning over to the right. My shoulders ached looking at it. Reckon I spotted an Emu lurking in the distance before the shelter. But it took quick haste. Arrived in good time at 12.30pm for lunch. My poor feet were wrinkled white with another blister on the heel. My hankie covered in blood & nose snots needs a bleach soaking! Rank as! Don’t have much left in the food bag, looking forward to a resupply tomorrow! Us, Daisyfish & Deb put our tents up in the shelter while Mel, Drew & Elbow tented outside. Walked up to Mount Chance summit in front of the shelter for fantastic 360 degree views of the plains. Still overcast, still lots of flies. The toilet seems to have a resident snake living close by it. Ambles heard it. No snakes seen today by either of us. No campfires now, so dinner & off to bed to escape the bugs😁.

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8/10: Maringup shelter was much more appealing in the morning. The winds died down overnight & I got a good sleep. I think it was Adrian’s sleeping mat, was the loudest mat to date, every time he moved, the mat crunched away super loudly. Heard a dog barking at one point. Ambles heard a loud car horn woke him up during the night. The morning was calm, cool with a lovely sunrise over the lake. One could hear the ocean this time. Ambles was not pleased about today being almost 26kms long & wanted an early start, so we got up 4.30am. We compromised as he wanted to get up at 4am! Deb was up early like us as well, she had her tent packed up & all by 5am! We left at 6.20am, the first out of camp. We took on a good steady pace 4.5kms/hr. Not long into the walk, we encountered more water to wade through, the morning consisting of walking through Karri Forest, low swamp lands, open grassy plains & wading. The first puddle I tried to go around, sliced a nice paper cut on my thumb on some sharp plant leaf & decided to wade it after that grumble grumble! The second puddle had a boardwalk like some do, this one however stopped short of the dry land so had to wade again – bloody useless walkway! I stopped for 10 minutes after 2 hours where Ambles just keeps going, leaving me behind, I walked alone for 2.5 hours. Lucky for me as Ambles saw his 3rd snake, a big fat black dugite slithering right towards him before taking a left turn & disappearing into the undergrowth. Today was warming up – finally! Blue skies called for my hat & sunglasses which were collecting cobwebs by now. 😊I haven’t seen any Roos or Emus for weeks now, well it feels like that.

Saw Deb & Mel behind me a way off, expecting them to pass me but they didn’t. Caught up with Ambles & we had a 20km mark break for a good 20 minutes. He said he had been hallucinating seeing water ahead on the path but getting there & finding no water. Maybe he has dreaded daymares about more water wading! Feet were getting sore. The worse was yet to come, no more wading but a long trudge along Dog Road, a dirt road, mostly flat but long & hard goes up to the campsite under the full glare of the sun. Deb & Mel appeared behind us again, I figured maybe Mel was having troubles. She had trouble with yesterday’s wading, undid her strapping tape on her foot so she was hurting again. I was struggling to keep up with Ambles that quicken his pace, put my pole down right next to a tiger snake I didn’t see until I saw it’s long body slither away quickly from my pole. Not a fan of seeing snakes! We arrived into camp 12.35pm, taking us just over 6 hours to get here. Pretty good. This campsite is by far the best one, I would consider the jewel of the track! Right by the flowing Shannon River. Another Rammed earth shelter as the old one burnt down with Gardner shelter in the 2015 bushfire. First thing Ambles did after getting his backpack off? Go down to the river & hop straight in with his walking clothes, boots & all! Didn’t think about the temperature first. Found it freezing cold & quickly got out! As soon as I removed my sodden boots & socks, some cheeky ass March fly landed on my big toe for a bite! Yep, the marchies are awful here! Sprayed myself head to foot with repellent spray.

Daisyfish was there already as she had a short walk in. Enjoyed her free camping spot last night. Al was chatting away to her when we arrived, a section hiker that now only hikes the good bits so bypassed Maringup to avoid the swamp parts. He is moving on later to free camp further on. Poor Mel was suffering on arrival. Had a bad day. She had hit the wall so to speak. Ray & Drew arrived 2.30pm, Ray decided to tent as he always sleeps in the shelter. Said it has been too noisy in the shelter to Mel.😏Yeah, he didn’t say a word (not that he talks much anyway) to Ambles this morning or afternoon. Think he was annoyed with us waking him up at 4.30am! Coz he says he don’t get up until it’s light outside. Oh how I will miss his enjoyable company tonight😁. Decided I’m going to have a swim (finally!) after lunch, it really wasn’t too bad, I stayed in for quite awhile enjoying it! Deb & Daisyfish came in to join me but didn’t linger long as they found the water too cold like Ambles. They just looked at me like I had gone mad, while I merrily splashed about😆. I averted my eyes while Drew went down, stripped off nude & went in for a wash in the river. All us hikers do that, modesty is no option on the track!

Now why would you want to leave this glorious spot?! We had the most peaceful & relaxing afternoon enjoying beautiful sunshine for a change. At least my socks have dried & my boots partially dried by the sun😂. We do have more wading tomorrow & the next day unfortunately. This is the last campsite with a campfire ☹️. And Ambles decided not to bother lighting it up as it was a warm evening ☹️☹️. Now all of us are in tents, 2 in the shelter & 4 outside. Lock away our gear as we been warned of a critter in our midst at this shelter, chews through backpacks, earphones, clothes pants & food bags, a super vermin critter! Everyone is very quiet tonight, retiring to their tents by 6pm. Deb used the last of the toilet paper in the toilet so makes number 6 shelter with no toilet paper – Ambles is still counting😆. And the mean toilet seat pinched my bum!

Snake sightings, Ambles 3, Rose 4.

7/10: It bucketed down for awhile there during the night. Unsure if it was heavy rain or just sounded heavy on the shelter roof. Being inside the tent felt cosy, much more warmer with our own privacy. Deb is always up first in the morning, gets out of her tent, goes into the shelter to get her food bag & starts making her coffee. Ambles alarm already went off at 5am, however he didn’t move, was enjoying an extra lay in which he normally doesn’t. Had to poke him to get some movement! We all packed up, the tent didn’t take too long to pack, however Ambles was slow getting ready as I waited for him ready to go backpack on, while Deb waited for Mel. Spotted a leaping spider orchid on the way out & further up the track those warty hammer orchids. Tiny little things, took me so long to get my stupid camera app to take a photo. All the phone camera apps were not focusing on my subject making me irritable as Birdman strode pass. His thing is Birds & mine is flowers. Caught up & passed him, then he leapfrogged me again commenting that there is no bears here questioning me on my bell. Must have been upsetting his subjects. That & my backpack was extra squeaky today. You know when you get that instant dislike for some people…….😆got to a large swamp puddle covering the entire track & well off it on the sides which you had to wade through, Birdman decided I could go first so he can gauge how deep the water is. Emerged on the other side to Ambles complaining about waiting for me to catch up. Mr fast pants has no patience now.😂Our boots & socks were sodden wet & heavy now as we continued along. I tried to take more photos of orchids again with my useless phone camera apps while mozzies tried to feast on me so Ambles had fast tracked again & after him saying we will walk together now, decided not to wait for me & go. Thanks to my useless camera phone apps, I had to walk alone the rest of the way, including 6 more swamp puddles to wade through, one was so deep the water came up to the bottom of my shorts. And my boots were all sodden with water again. Saw another tiger snake – a big one on the side of the track. Wasn’t even warm, today was cool & overcast.

Got to Lake Maringup at 11.30am, was an easy 18km day & made it there in good time. Ambles was preparing noodles for himself, trying to boil water over a fuel stove that wasn’t lit, 😂Deb & Mel were drying out their tents, boots & socks. Great spot with the Lake right out the front. The shelter was rebuilt after a tree fell landing on the roof on New Year’s Day 2001. Was freezing cold but, the winds were coming from the ocean 2kms away, which I couldn’t hear the ocean over the winds. But we are so close now to seeing the ocean! The lakes water was warm but was congested with water reeds, bushes  & trees making it unappealing to really go out for a swim, plus you would freeze once you came out of the water back into that cold gusts of wind. We have our tent up in the shelter but don’t think it will be much warmer inside it, we are inside the cold wind tunnel coming up from the lake. Ambles got the campfire going early so we could try to dry socks & boots. Yep, aren’t gonna happen, will be putting on wet boots in the morning. Birdman & Daisyfish blew in for lunch & both decided to hike a further 8 odd kms & free camp somewhere for the night. Daisyfish wanted to lessen tomorrow’s long 25km day. Ambles wanted to do the same but I was like – Hell to the no! I was looking forward to staying at this campsite in particular. The Bibbulmun tracks Jewel Campsite, which we were lucky to make as often in wintertime or heavy rains, the track is diverted away from this campsite because the river has risen above the track. Ray & Drew came in later as Ray smug faced, said he had avoided getting his boots wet by walking the long way around each puddle hence it took him longer to get here. It’s surprising how quickly you can go off some people?!😆The winds blew all afternoon, getting stronger & blowing stuff away not tied down. If Windy Habour, close by, is like this then I don’t need to go there!

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Someone has kindly donated a Uke with a tuner that Ambles seized the opportunity to play some music but not much considering he hasn’t been playing an instrument at all in weeks. Ambles was drying his socks by the fire – a bit too close, burning a reasonable unfixable hole through one of the socks toe ends- oops😂. A happy faced smiling Adrian from the UK turned up late afternoon, thur hiking the opposite way to Kalamunda. At this time of year, you don’t get Nobo’s only the occasional one. Everyone hikes Sobo Springtime. Adrian has a ravenous appetite, the opposite to Ambles. We all enjoyed his company over dinner at the picnic table. Another quiet one as everyone tootles off to bed before the sun goes down. A second last campfire…..already missing them.😕

Snake sightings: Ambles 2, Rose 3.

6/10: As always, first night in a trail town, sleep does not come easy, despite a proper bed & soft pillows. Hollowbutt Cafe is the only place to get breakfast & it opens at 8am, however Drew said someone is there at 7.30am & will let hikers in early for breakfast. So we had a lay in before packing up our gear & heading down to the cafe. It was after 7.30am, Mel & Deb were already there waiting outside. Ambles was like, “I can’t be bothered waiting around, I’m just going to start walking!” I said, “Alright, see you later!” But then Drew & Ray came down & opened the door which was unlocked, asked the lady by herself inside & she said we could all come in. So grabbed us a long table to all sit at & order big hearty cooked breakfast’s. Today was a pretty easy 15.2kms to Gardner shelter, mostly flat with short little hills, nothing compared to what hills we had hiked over already. We left at almost 9am, briefly chatting to a man riding the Mundi Biddi to Albany, leaving town along the old disused railway track. This section was spectacular with wildflowers. So many colours, new wildflowers to look at. And so lush & green.

The track out seem to take us around in circles before leading us out alongside the Gardner river. There were some swampy muddy patches but easy to get around & not too bad. We hear there is much worse ahead up to the knees even in places! So I wear my gaiters now, for the wading in swamp holes & for snakes. Some of the way is now on soft white sand indicating the change soon to the ocean & beaches. I find the sand already tiring & it’s not that bad! Ambles new found walking pace has finally achieved in us walking a similar pace & being not far apart now. I spotted a big sized black cat on the track, it hadn’t noticed us as it was busy burying its poop in the sand right in the middle of the track. Finally it was satisfied, cotton on to our presence & shot off like a rocket into the bush. Ambles left me a love note in the dirt at one point while I was taking photos. It was hopeless stopping for a break, the mozzies were quick to find my exposed limbs for a feed. Ambles was ahead of me & decided to rest his backpack on one of the red posts with the Waugal markers. The post was barely in the ground & fell over. So I came across Ambles scratching his head, trying to correct the post but the track broke into 2 directions & he was like, “Which way we go?” I checked Guthook & as we cross a bridge in 100 metres, picked the path going to the river, rearranging the post so the markers point the correct way, I had picked the correct path.

This whole area still in forest was severely burnt in 2015 by a pretty nasty big bushfire. It has regenerated well & you wouldn’t really know. The old Gardner shelter was destroyed as well as 40 odd kms of the Bibbulmun track burnt out. The rebuild again same as Possum Springs & Brookton with the rammed earth design & ample toilet space to change in. Quite like this style actually! Just 2kms from the shelter we passed Ray & Drew just lounging on the side of the track, eating their lunch. Was a perfect day for walking, not hot, coolish temperature. My snake avoidance luck had run out, first spotting the tail end of a black snake slithering into the bushes by the track, then less than 20 feet further on, was startled by the sight of another snake, this one a tiger snake, quickly slithering off the track as well into the bush. Then I had those cute little birds that I don’t mind at all, making sure I continued pass their nests. Supervising my progress along the track. Arrived by 1pm as Deb & Mel were settling down for lunch. They had forgot their block of cheese & salami they left behind in the motel room which was for their lunches to Walpole. That made me realise I had left my collection of small butters in our motel room fridge – damn, damn, damn!

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We settled for lunch & Ambles decided he wasn’t putting up with all the mozzies & march flies & strung up the ZPacks tent, the first time we are using it, in the shelter. The Gardner river runs beneath the campsite but didn’t look too good for swimming, the banks deep, overgrown with bushes & slippery. So gave it a miss. There is a log right across one side to the other & I imagined there would be some daredevils seeing if they can walk across & not fall in. Yeah, wasn’t gonna try that either! We had us, Ray, Drew, Deb & Mel. Daisyfish came in at 4pm followed shortly after by another thur hiker. He walked briskly into camp no worries, having doubled from Schafer today. A Dutch guy calling himself Birdman, as it turns out he is an avid bird watcher with a hefty set of binoculars. I think as he walks alone, he gets into camp, sees people & starts talking, & once he starts, he don’t stop! Deb had asked him what birds he had seen on the Larapinta trail this year as she had also walked the trail before the Bibbulmun. So Birdman went to get his notepad & started rattling off a long list of bird names from his notepad on birds he saw on the Larapinta trail. He waffled on for 5 minutes at least! Deb looked at me saying, “I wish I hadn’t asked now!” By the end of the list, Deb goes, “Wow! I think I didn’t see even a quarter of those birds!”

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Today’s box in the shelter contained a surfing magazine that Sandals enjoyed reading yesterday as he loves surfing & he had the campsite to himself. He has changed from walking the length in 25 days to 40 days. He must have made an error & put his age down twice before. Also there is a James Herriot Vets Might Fly book, an opened packet of milk powder, a big empty gas canister, an empty jar & hanging above a made bow of a curved stick & rope with no archer. We had dinner & enjoyed the campfire that Drew got going with Deb fetching more firewood for. Everyone seems to go to bed earlier & earlier now by 6.15pm! Not us, we stayed up longer enjoying our 3rd last campfire. Really enjoying my Luci light now, reading my book no longer by my head torch.😊

5/10: Heard the downpour of rain on & off all night. Would splatter loudly on the roof. Seem to ease off around 5am time, ready  to get up & head into town! A leisurely lazy 14.5kms awaited us. The sun came out briefly & the birds started chirping but that didn’t last long as the clouds closed in again. Had a good nights rest full of dreams amongst listening to the rain & thinking how flooded it was making the pingerup plains for us 😕. As I gave Ambles one of my porridge sachets for him to have 2 days ago, I had pea n ham soup instead. Wasn’t as good, I’m a routine person sticking to eating the same foods daily normally. Ambles was about to heave on his backpack & realised one of his bottom tube bars on his backpack had slipped undone, so Drew helped him to push it back into place.

Today was an easy flat walk, no nasty steep inclines, nothing strenuous. We say goodbye to the Karri Forest as the landscape & vegetation changes so quickly. Black boys make a comeback which is so nice to see them again. There was more burnt woodland through the remaining forest, another reason I dislike walking through is because all the logs & tree stumps, everything you could sit on is charred black. You sit on it, you get a black ass. You lean against it, you get black stains on yourself. So I just keep moving without taking a sit down break. We move through swamp lands & muddy patches to give us a taste tester of the next section out of Northcliffe. Pass farmlands with lots of moo cows staring at us. A lot of dirt road walking, taking care to quickly move aside when a large truck comes flying through! Then the track continues through taped off areas so you go under the tape & keep moving…..straight into muddy disgusting ground covered in land mines of sloppy runny cow poos. Barf-o-rama! But it gets nicer yes. Head onto a nice single track over the Gardner River & alongside it. Ambles stopped to speak to two hikers going north. One carried the same Aarn backpack. So Ambles learnt today he was missing an extra buckle on each side of the shoulders from the other hiker. Well he discovered he had those buckles all along, they were tucked under & not noticeable. So now he can take proper weight off his shoulders with these buckles – yahhhh! An improvement again.

We arrived in at 10.30am. Went straight to the cafe for coffee & a pie each. Sandals, Drew & Ray were there ordering food & drinks too. Sandals is hiking out to the next camp this afternoon. He joked to Ambles about how swampy the next part is & how Ambles was going to be sucked down into the muddy water by the heavy backpack he carry’s. Haha, Ambles didn’t see the funny side. A young guy gave us our coffees & spilt Ambles cappuccino all down the side of the cup & onto the saucer. Ambles looked so unimpressed 😂. Northcliffe is a pretty small town. Got a hotel & motel, we were in the motel with a room next door to Deb & Mel. Had us a decent shower & freshen up, off to the pub for beers & lunch. Ambles ordered 15 chicken wings with a bowl of chips & another bowl of salad – couldn’t finish it his eyes were bigger than his stomach 😆. My pizza was yummy! I sorted through our box, organising the next food drop, organising what stayed in the box. Get that back to the visitor centre & do some quick laundry washing. Run the usual errands. Bit of shopping, the ladies in the general store very friendly & helpful, then can kick back & finally rest up. Blue skies now & looking that way over the coming days. We continue on tomorrow with our next rest day scheduled in Walpole, another 7 days away. Again there is a serious lack of phone signal along the way so our blog will be delayed. We do our best……😆😆😆 

Our day finished with dinner at the pub sitting with Deb, Mel, Drew & Ray. This time Ray was joining in the conversations. Our steaks weren’t done well, over cooked & tough. Ambles been having a real carving for vanilla ice cream. Had some after lunch & more for dessert. No special nightcap drinks tonight. We all hike out tomorrow after breakfast. Looking forward to this next section 😊. Snake sightings: Ambles 1, Rose 0.

4/10: A young 25 year old man called Sandals(Track name), came in at 7.30pm last night. He loves night hiking, doesn’t faze him. End to ending south bound to Albany planning a total of 25 days to get there. I was guessing this is the last we see of him, probably going straight to Northcliffe or beyond today. Another 21km day to our next shelter, this one involved more ups than downs. After a super good nights sleep, we set off at 7am. Ambles did up a rig to hang our food bags now due to increasing vermin presence in shelters. The weather was holding off, it hadn’t rained much last night. Rain was in the air but was largely just drizzling rain on & off. Sometimes it would fall heavier in which case we used our umbrellas. Back over the trestle bridge we went, the winds were quite gusty as leaves & small branches fell to the ground. I hoped nothing large would fall off a tree as I was passing under. The winds didn’t last too long.

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I had a good steady 4.5km an hour walking pace that Ambles was managing to keep up quite well with despite his cold. I could hear him coughing away so knew he wasn’t far behind. My most enjoyable part was when the track was following the Warren River for a bit. Today was much the same as yesterday in terrain & landscape. Barely much wildflowers about but a lot of bird life. Ambles left knee started hurting again despite the fast pace as my left knee started to hurt as well in sympathy. We had been going steady paced & stopped at 11am for a short break. We had 5kms left & I was getting annoyed as I started up again saying out loud, “And where are the damn Orchids?! I keep looking & there isn’t any!” Just at that point I glanced to my right spotted two gorgeous yellow/pink looking orchids. Alright, happy now! The rain started up again a bit more persistent this time as we briefly walked alongside a farming property with moo cows mooing at me before heading back into the bush, soon after stumbling onto Schafer Campsite close to 1pm in the afternoon. And what a lovely spot with a dam outside the front, the Dam is owned by private property nearby but the owners have roped off a small section for hikers to use for swimming in. Deb & Mel were having lunch as we put our backpacks down, next instant the rain came down in bucket loads, we had timed our arrival just perfect! Not far behind us were Ray & Drew, followed last by Sandals whom’s actual name is Ben. But he plans to continue & camp by the track further on. I know why he calls himself Sandals now – because that is what he hikes in. No socks even, just open type sandals, his feet must have been battered & poked at by all the twigs, logs & branches that we have walked though. They were the most dirty looking feet on the track. But Ben is quite nice, stayed & chatted to us. Ray keeps to himself at camp only says hello, goodbye or goodnight, where Drew is pretty easy going, will strike up a conversation & mingle with the others in camp.

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After the rain came the sun – surprisedly! The afternoon turned into a pleasant day of some blue skies & a little sunshine. The sun must of heard me complaining! I decided I would go in the Dam which runs deep so I was able to wade in & submerge to my neck. The water wasn’t that cold either. Felt refreshed & clean after my swim with the little fish in the water. Apparently there is also Marron in there. Then while enjoying a hot chocolate drink, Daisyfish came walking in with Tim & Kirby. She is having 2 rest days nearby the shelter at a cottages accommodation. And she left us a pack of double choc Tim tams 😋. It has been a very sociable afternoon. Down by the Dam then by the campfire that Ambles got going. I would say it has been a wonderful day, despite feeling tired on the walk. Once you get into camp, it feels so good to take off the backpack & rest up the afternoon.

Sandals enjoyed our company so much he decided not to hike on, putting up his tent & drying his clothes & sleeping bag by the fire. Everyone migrated to bed by 6.30pm before it even went dark.

3/10: I decided on a late start & a leisurely 22km stroll to Warren. Ambles was the opposite, he got up 5am, had the usual porridge & coffee for breakfast & left just shy of 7am. I stayed in bed until 6.45am, got up, dressed & went downstairs for breakfast. Had 2 freshly baked huge croissants with jam & butter. Left the Pemberton hotel by 8.10am making my way back up the street & to the Gloucester tree again. Felt harder this time with a full pack. It was humid & overcast with a slight drizzle. There were cyclists at the tree, this time I walked on pass & headed down the track.

I know it was forecasted to rain hard tomorrow so wanted to enjoy & take lots of photos today. I really enjoyed being back in the forest with the Karri trees. There is so much beauty out here. The birds were out in force, so many varieties of birds singing to each other. Ambles was thinking as he was going slow, I would catch up. But that never happened, I walked alone the whole way, meeting only a family returning to Pemberton from Warren Campsite. The track weaves out of town but back on itself, you aren’t out of town really for the first 6 odd kms. I took the 300 metres detour to the gorgeous Cascades on the Lefroy Brook. Had a quick 20 minute side detour then was back on my way enjoying those pimply up & down hills. Ha! Wasn’t really, body had gone soft with 2 days rest, felt like those small inclines were hard work!

I thought soon, we will be leaving it all behind these tree forests for the flat plains, took my time enjoying every part of the track searching for Orchids but not finding any, now it was 12.30pm still nowhere near the shelter. You think a lot when you walk alone. I only had to take out my umbrella once briefly, the rain held off today which was nice. Took my second break enjoying my cream donut from the Bakery yesterday. Still had Ambles Custard Tart that was getting squished in my backpack. But he didn’t want to carry it himself. The last couple of kilometres saw me walking along a flat but beautiful old rail formation. The last kilometre again no surprise was a steady uphill incline as Warren Campsite sits up on top overlooking the valley. I had arrived after 2pm, really took my time! Deb, Mel, Ambles & 2 guys were all there resting. I was last in to camp! Ambles had eaten his noodles so I didn’t bother getting lunch, had a cuppa & wandered down to the old River Road trestle bridge which is another 1.6kms south but was worried I would miss getting photos tomorrow if it is raining heavily. A quick walk there & back took less than an hour, the wooden planks disintegrating, parts breaking off here & there. Ambles had got a fire going with the firewood & axe already supplied, lucky he had dropped his own axe, sending it back home with his big knife. Backpack is slightly lighter now😁. He had done alright, but still coughing, still feeling unwell. He wasn’t impressed I had got him a custard tart yesterday that had to go in the fridge, which meant the fridge had to be turned on making it’s hilarious sound all night. He still ate his custard tart amongst the grumbles.😆

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The box containing the log trail book is packed full of reading material. We have a Readers Digest from 1988 the print font is so large! Who magazine which surprisedly is quite recent from August this year, a pile of friction books, a file book on bushfires in WA with pictures to make you feel comfortable in the bush & an old sad looking twirl chocolate bar still in its wrapper. The fire pit has seen better days. The walls are crumbling & the iron cooking tray & billy holder are missing in action. Still holds a fire which is the main thing!

Mel was nursing two sore feet now in her bed while Deb enjoys the warmth from the campfire. I’m not familiar with the new guys yet, they are Ray & Drew from Sydney in their late 60’s end to ending to Albany, well Drew is, Ray joined him at Balingup & they are scheduled to finish on the 26th of October same as Deb, Mel, Daisyfish & possibly us if we have another extra rest day. It was a pretty quiet night, I know I was tired, everyone else wasn’t interested in staying up either. We can crawl into our sleeping bags & listen for the rain when it comes. So 6.30pm everyone retired to the sounds of Kookaburras, other birds chatting goodnight, an owl & the wind picking up, blowing through the trees.

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