- Start date: 4 June 2023
- Age When Completed: 43
- Direction Walked: South to North
General Comments
Fantastic journey, loved the solo time. Can’t recommend it highly enough.
Food/Supplies Comments
Combo of homemade dehydrated meals and commercial dehydrated meals. Cheese and dry sausage. Magnesium supplement. Dried fruit and nuts. Homemade jerky.
Best meal in a track town was the ribs at Philippine Magic Cafe, Walpole.
Favourite Section
Peaceful Bay to Walpole, Pindarup Plains, Schafer to Beavis, Dwellingup to Monadnocks
Highlights
Seeing a whale from just before Conspicuous Cliffs - amazing; seeing a flock of white-tailed black cockatoos whirl above my head on Pindarup Plains; meeting fellow hikers.
Personal Reactions
Much needed time out from regular life. This adventure ticked the boxes of many things I was hoping to do: process the loss of my dad, be in nature, improve my fitness after a couple of bad injuries, spend time with myself, allow my family space to develop without me.
Wildlife
Only thing I didn’t see that I would have liked to - an echidna! Saw plenty of kangaroos, western shrub wallabies, birds, lizards. Only saw one snake and it was dead (Parry Rd).
Your Best Equipment
Haha, Mt Design rain pants - total convert. Wore them everyday of the hike bar the first week (when I didn’t have them). Also, the light at hiking poles I could find. Poncho for the southern half, umbrella for the northern half.
Your Worst Equipment
I don’t think anything was the worst… I swapped out my Trangia stove for a JetBoil after the first week but that was ok, fair swap.
Advice for Others
Planning is great - but be prepared for the plan to change. Be present - earbuds in your head the whole will not allow you to hear the differences in landscapes that are constantly changing.