Get creative and enter our writing competition that will be judged by author Cristy Burne.
Submit a short story of your adventure on the Bibbulmun Track for a chance to win 1 of 2 personalised signed copies of Cristy Burne’s fantastic new book Off the Track!
Closes: 23rd November 2018 Word Limit: 500 words Theme: Your Bibbulmun Track adventure Prize: 2 major prize winners each will receive a personalised signed book, runners up will receive a special activity sheet, book mark and more. All entries will be published on The Bibbulmun Track Foundation website.
The Parks and Wildlife Service are currently undertaking a number of prescribed burns.
Prescribed burning to reduce fuel loads.
Make sure you stay up to date with closures and diversions along the Track.
Where prescribed burning operations impact on the Track, temporary diversions will be put in place. Where the Track is diverted, walkers should follow the Waugal trail markers on yellow metal posts. Walkers should always adhere to instructions on signs posted on the Track for their own safety.
Prescribed burning operations are dependent on appropriate weather conditions and as such, dates for operations are often not available until the day of the burn.
As soon as we know a burn is about to take place, we will post the information on the Realignments/Diversions section of the relevant Section by Section guide.
The Bibbulum Track is now twenty years old and showing wear and tear at various places along its length often due to erosion from rain made worse by the Track running almost straight up and down hill in places. Conventional repair methods have produced short-lived results requiring frequent time-consuming maintenance. Wind has also accelerated erosion along the south coast particularly at Conspicuous cliffs where the delicate sand layer has disappeared in places to expose the underlying limestone base.
The rising popularity of walking and mountain biking has lead to developments in durable trail design, construction and maintenance, which are being applied to the Track in a strategic programme of realignments or stabilisation.
Walkers will have experienced recent realignments in the Perth Hills District near Mann’s Gully and Waalegh and Canning campsites where realignments have been designed and constructed to cross the slope rather than go straight down like the old route, with the intention of eliminating erosion from rain. The presence of rock in several areas provided a solid base enabling the route to descend before returning to join the existing alignment.
While realignments using the new design principles might produce a more durable trail they do require a range of lengthy and sometimes costly approvals and might bypass some of those spectacular views for which the Bibbulmun Track is renowned, such as the top of Conspicuous cliffs. In such cases boardwalks or stabilisation of the existing trail using plastic cellular pavers are options.
A group of Bibbulmun Track Support Volunteers has been trained by Parks and Wildlife staff and earlier this year assessed sites of erosion and inundation between Conspicuous cliffs and Parry Campground. The report recommended a mix of stabilisation and realignments some of which will be constructed over a number of years.
Following the findings of the 2017 Vision Workshop other sections of Track have been selected for possible realignment or stabilisation and, if feasible, will be included in an overall improvements programme for implementation by the Foundation’s maintenance volunteers supported by Parks and Wildlife.
There still seems to be information out there that states that, in remote areas where there is no phone signal, by dialling 112 (instead of Triple Zero, 000) on your regular mobile or smart phone, that you will be connected to the emergency services.
So what’s the deal – what is a furphy (false) and what is dinkum (true)?
Let's break it down.
DINKUM: 112 is a secondary emergency number that can be dialled from mobile phones in Australia.
DINKUM: Special capabilities, including roaming, once only existed when dialling 112, however mobile phones manufactured since January 2002 also provide these capabilities when dialling Triple Zero (000) to access the Emergency Call Service.
FURPHY: 112 calls will work if there is no mobile coverage by any network.
DINKUM: All that 112 will do is a) override your locked SIM card (tied to one specific phone network) or b) if you have no SIM card, allow you access another mobile network if it is available (probably Telstra as they have the largest coverage in Australia) to make the call.
FURPHY: 112 calls can work on regular mobile phones/smart phones when there is no mobile network via a satellite network. Satellite phones use a different technology and your mobile phone cannot access a satellite network.
DINKUM: If there is no coverage by any mobile phone network, then you will not be able to reach the Emergency Call Service via a mobile phone, regardless of which number you dialled, even if you have the Emergency + App.
DINKUM: 112 is an international standard emergency number which can only be dialled on a digital mobile phone (that is, 112 will not work on a landline phone for example). It is accepted as a secondary international emergency number in some parts of the world, including Australia, and can be dialled in areas of network coverage with the call automatically translated to that country’s emergency number. It does not require a SIM card or PIN to make the call, however phone coverage must be available (any carrier) for the call to proceed.
DINKUM: There is no advantage to dialling 112 over Triple Zero (000). Calls to 112 do not go to the head of the queue for emergency services.
FURPHY: It is the only number that will work on a mobile phone. Calls to Triple Zero will also get through if there is network coverage (any carrier).
FURPHY: Emergency services can be contacted using the Short Message Service (SMS) on your mobile telephone.
