Wednesday 13 September 2023 marks the 25th Anniversary of the opening of the Perth-to-Albany Track, now known to us as the Bibbulmun Track. As part of the anniversary, a range of festivities are being held in the communities along the length of the Track between July and September, with opportunities for walkers, young and old, to get involved.
On 13 September 1998 the ‘new’ Bibbulmun Track was officially opened in Albany. The Track had been significantly realigned, extended from Walpole to Albany and upgraded with the addition of timber shelters at the campsites. An official function was held at the Bibbulmun Track southern terminus to open the Track and farewell a group of walkers, 11 of whom completed the first official End-to-End. Along the way they were accompanied by sectional walkers. The event was called ‘Bib Walk ‘98’
On 13 September 2008, the 10th Anniversary celebrations - the journey of a decade, culminated with the conclusion of an end-to-end walk in Kalamunda. Over 100 walkers joined the end-to-enders for a part of the eight week journey. The celebrations included gatherings at every Track Town and they brought together hundreds of people who share a passion for the Bibbulmun Track as well introducing many people to it.
We will be commemorating this amazing milestone in the tradition of previous celebrations. We will be holding an End-to-End walk.
The celebrations begain with a special ceremony in Kalamunda on 14 July. A small group of End-to-End walkers are on their way to Albany. At each town along the way we are having a community celebration and the End-to-Enders will be joined by a new group of walkers (sectional walkers) to walk the next section. The distance between towns varies from three to eight days and people are invited to register for these sections. The anniversary celebrations culminate in a gathering in Albany after walkers finish the Track.
We invite local walkers, volunteers, community groups and schools to get involved with the festivities.
Applications to join as an end-to-end walker closed August 31st, 2022.
Make sure you are subscribed to our e-news, Bibbulmun Bytes or even better, become a member and keep an eye out for information in the Bibbulmun News (our member's only magazine) and member only notifications.
The Bibbulmun Track Foundation (BTF) is delighted to hear that Alcoa is establishing a mining avoidance zone of 8,344 hectares covering the town of Dwellingup and its surrounding area.
This will assist enormously in preserving the environmental and recreational values of approximately 5,000 hectares of natural forest land. It will protect important animal and bird habitat, especially that of the endangered and vulnerable black cockatoos.
Equally as importantly, from the perspective of the BTF, the decision will protect about 15km of the Bibbulmun Track as well as 16km of the Munda Biddi Cycle Trail.
The new mining avoidance area within Alcoa's bauxite mining lease will connect with land the company has already ruled out for future mining.
Alcoa has stated that any potential future mining will predominately be to the east of Dwellingup and will be subject to environmental review and approval.
Further information, including a map of the avoidance area, can be found at:
Schools are invited to join in the 25th Anniversary celebration through a physical activity challenge in Term 3 (17 July to 22 September).
The aim of the challenge is to undertake some type of physical activity to progress along the Bibbulmun Track and keep up with the progress of the end-to-end hikers on the full colour poster provided.
Participating schools will be provided with various resources and those schools / classes who recorded the most physical activity during the eight weeks will receive prize packs of age appropriate Bibbulmun Track books.
Djeran is marked by the arrival of a cooling breeze from the southwest, night temperatures begin to fall and the morning air, heavy with petrichor foreshadows the coming rains of Makuru that will restore life to our parched bushlands, and walkers to the Bibbulmun Track.
The firewood banksia, bulgalla (Banksia menziesii)
The flowering of the firewood banksia (Bulgalla) heralds the onset of Djeran. Heavily laden with nectar (mangite), these flowers were soaked in water to provide a sweet drink. Banksia nectar is valued by many of our native birds and mammals, including bandiny (New Holland honeyeaters), ngoolyak (Carnaby’s black cockatoo) and noolbenger (Honey possums). Perhaps fewer will know of the importance of Banksia for our native bees.
Banksia bees (Hylaeus alcyoneus) rely exclusively on the pollen and nectar of banksia for their reproduction, and a banksia spike with newly opening flowers will become the source of considerable acrimony for male banksia bees. Unlike introduced honeybees, our native banksia bees are solitary. The females nest within holes or crevices in dead branches, either on the banksia itself or on a nearby fallen tree, and they will visit banksia flowers to collect pollen and nectar with which to provision their young.
The males will defend a nectar rich flower spike in order to control access to the visiting females in the hope of mating with them. A male will not tolerate the presence of other males, and will grapple with and bite any rival that tries to visit or usurp his flower spike. Males will defend the same flower, sometimes for days, until such time as its nectar rewards decline and the females move on to a new flower spike. The largest males are better able to defend flowers and obtain the most matings, a process, recognized by Charles Darwin as sexual selection, that has led to reversed sexual size dimorphism. For typically female bees are larger than male bees, but the reverse is true for banksia bees.
A female banksia bee in search of pollen and nectar.
Rather than forgo the opportunity to mate, the smaller males will adopt an alternative mate-searching tactic. Although unable to defend their own flower spike, they patrol many flower spikes in the hope of meeting and mating with a female outside of the territories of the larger males. Banksia are magnets also for introduced honeybees, indeed honeybees outcompete our native banksia bees and reduce their ability to produce offspring. But look closely next time you pass a banksia, particularly on the southern coastal heaths, and you might be lucky to find them.
Leigh W. Simmons
Leigh is the author of the fascinating book Naturalist on the Bibbulmun. His book is available from our shop and all royalties are generously donated to the Bibbulmun Track.
