Snoopy
- Start date: 3 October 2010
- Age When Completed: 38
- Direction Walked: North to South
General Comments
52 walking days, 4 days at Uni, 1 exam day, 4 sick days, 7 rest days = 68 days from start to finish.
Enjoyed watching my fitness grow, and the weight fall off. The people you meet along the way (well most of them) really make your walk. Shane, Joel McGarvey, Liz Harding, Gipcgirl (Tanya), Gordon and Taste on Tour will always hold a special place in my heart.I had to study during most of my journey, and duck up to
Perth for a uni session, and race to Albany for a uni exam. It was nice to leave my books behind to do the coastal section. Unfortunately I got sick at Mandalay Beach and had to pull out. When I went back to do the bit from Mandalay to Walpole I had to do south to north due to logistics. It is amazing to see how much work has been done by DEC and BTF over the last little while. 99% of the Track was in tip top shape and a pleasure to walk. The refurbished shelters were luxury. It was really nice not to get so dusty and dirty in the shelters. Well done.
Food/Supplies Comments
I dehydrated a lot of food before setting out. That enabled me to have lots of variety and I didn’t get bored with my food. I did pick up some things in towns along the way but Balingup didn’t stack up to reports and very expensive as was Peaceful Bay.
Favourite Section
Not the Pingerup Plains…very hot through there and lots of overgrown bits. I enjoyed most of the rest of the Track though.
Highlights
The people met (except the one who wakes up by alarm at 3am then takes 4 hours to get ready to go), morning tea at Glen Mervyn Dam with BTF and DEC vollies, getting into Albany in 3 hours 45 minutes from Hidden Valley on the last day with Gipcgirl and Pack Animal, Pack Animal leaving Torbay at 2 am to catch me before I left to tell me that Taste of Tour had my Visa Card that I lost somehow on the Track (people doing special things for you), the fact that my body held up to the challenge.
Personal Reactions
Screaming when I saw my first snake of the Track, nearly pulling out when I hadn’t shared a shelter and hardly seen a soul during my first 7 days on the Track. Being totally blown away when I got to Balingup and seeing the Bib Track poster for the first time since starting and realising how far I’d come in those first three weeks. Being blown away at what one can achieve when one wants to.
Wildlife
Snakes 16 (including the 6 foot dugite resting on the fence surrounding the bottom of the dunny at Mandalay Beach, less than 50 cm from where I had been lying in the shade hoping to get better), 5 splendid blue wrens, countless white and red tail black cockatoos, monitor, bluetongue and skink lizards, big bizarre bugs and beetles, the standard amount of kangaroos and tonnes of emus and not just at DRV.
Your Best Equipment
Marino clothing…doesn’t stink much, keeps you warm in the freezing rain, no different from another shirt when it is hot, dries quick. I’ll be getting more. Spot Tracker - I hired one for the duration. Could let family know when I got to the campsite, they could see where I was every 10 minutes as it sent out a signal, I could push one button and get help from family like I did when I was sick, or if it was life threatening, etc. I could push another button and it would go to the emergency services…didn’t need that one. Best bit of reassuring kit…and looking at where I have been online blows me away.
Your Worst Equipment
Everything is too heavy. Saw so much really light stuff that people have got overseas…and for relatively cheap. Time to get on the internet to have a good look at what is available.
Advice for Others
Don’t worry that you aren’t fit enough, you soon will be! If you get stuck sharing campsite with someone you don’t like, have a zero day! It saves your sanity.