Brendan Curtin (brendan cutin)

Track Towns and Supplies

• How many days did you stay in Track Towns? 11
• Did you have any issues finding food/supplies? No
• Do some multi-day trial hikes and find out what food you like and how much you need. Most hikers bring too much food and that's extra weight to carry. If you're buying dried meals like Campers Kitchen or Back Country etc make sure you try them first. I added salt and spices to all of them to make them palatable to me! No matter what you eat it wont be enough to maintain body weight. As a rule you will have a 1000 Cal deficit per day which for me meant a 6-7 Kg loss in body-weight over the whole journey and that's without feeling hungry!

Particular Track Towns that you would return to:

• Balingup
• Pemberton
• Denmark
• Albany

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Your Story or Advice for Others

General Comments
Challenging but a fantastic walk-climb-wade-paddle-swim, meeting great like minded people along the way. Can I say that small injuries are inevitable along the way. My left knee left me limping for several days. A small right hamstring pull left we limping for a week. I taped both up when they happened and forged on. Things somehow healed up faster from the movement I think. Niggles are not an excuse to stop, even if you feel they are!

Your Best Equipment
New Naturehike single man tent, new Bushbuck inflatable R5 mattress and borrowed down sleeping bag. Sleeping well is key. Also new Merryl boots (wide fit) last the the journey well. Good boots are also key.

Your Worst Equipment
I did enough trial hikes to jettison anything that did not work (like a cheapo mattress that went flat), and also things not needed (like plate and plastic knife). So nothing was really bad for the long hike.

Advice for Others
Don't believe a single word other hikers tell you along the way! You are on your own, investigate yourself and make your own decisions. Conditions can change rapidly. At one crossing I was told the water would be knee deep, turned out it was neck deep after a wet night!

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Trip Details

How you completed the Bibbulmun Track:

• All at once

• How many days did it take you to complete the Track? 44
• Who did you complete the Track with? Solo (primarily)
• Was undertaking your hike the PRIMARY/MAIN purpose of your TRAVEL from where you currently live? Yes
• What first prompted you to walk the Bibbulmun Track? Word of mouth/friends
  

What did you use to navigate the Track?

• BT Maps
• App (please specify)
• - AllTrails

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Your Experience

• Availability of information: Good - While its bad I think to know in advance all the challenges in each section, some indication would be great of the effort rating.
• Amount of Wildlife Encountered: Fair - A few kangaroos, emus and echidnas - but generally sightings were minimal. Lost of birds, eagles etc if you knew what they were! Lost of snakes and lizards, mostly Dugites in my opinion. Two very long (2m) and fat Dugites sat on the track approaching the Denmark wind farm. They refused to move despite my stamping and throwing pebbles! I decided to be brave and tippy toe past them thinking "don't bite me" on each step. Neither reacted and I live to tell the tale! In general though, so as not to scare people, the snakes are shy and even when surprised, will scamper off by any escape route. You quickly get used to them and recounting snake sightings are always part of the fun back at the hut.

Favourite Section
Its all great, but in spring the wild flowers were profuse and mostly so in the Pingerup plains. The forests were also great as were the amazing coastal walks.

Highlight of your trip
My wife also asked me that but I had no answer! A bit part of my motivation was for the sustained mental and physical challenge. The tracked delivered that no worries. You cant go past the fun of meeting so many different people from diverse backgrounds - but the track is a great leveler! Actually crossing the Torbay inlet in shoulder height water was fun, but I did this in high winds and alone. I had to make 5 crossings to split up the gear so I could manage the load safely. Not sure this enterprise is entirely recommended for an old guy alone, but I'll remember it!

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