The outfit that I’ve organized with is called Walk 91 and they offer support for various lengths of walks, with and without full meal catering. I had opted for the “Fit and Fast 5 Day Walk”, because at the time that made sense. I will say that it seems to be challenging, even for the fit walker I claim to be! It was recommended that I begin today’s medium/hard graded walk at 7AM, aiming for a pick up at 4PM further along the track. So, I headed out to the bakery to pick up my packed lunch, ate some breakfast and was on the track by just after 7, layered up against the brisk morning. The sun doesn’t rise here until 7:30, so the early hour was dark and quiet and when the sun rose, it was magnificent.
The path takes various forms and weaves depending on the quality of the beach sections. There are decision points along the way where you can use the inland route, just up from the beach, or the sandy route along the shore, depending on the tide. Sometimes there isn’t an inland route and I found myself scrambling over rocks for a couple of kms hoping that a rogue wave didn’t suddenly appear. The sandy bit is also harder to walk with hiking boots, so where it was available I chose the inland path.
I didn’t see a soul for hours — just me and my shadow. At one point I heard a rustle in the bush beside the path, glanced at a face, but uncertain what it was I hurried along — could it be a wombat? Are they safe? Then I slowed, walked back a bit, and a koala walked across the path and climbed a tree right next to the track. And it stayed low in the branches and just stared at me as I clicked away on my cameras chatting to it the whole time. It was such a magical moment — the closest I’ve been to a koala, and it was so alert and stared as hard at me as i did at it. Adorable. There was other wildlife — I caught a glimpse of the tail of a wallaby as it pounced into the bush, and several other times during the day I heard the rustle of branches and leaves and they hopped further into the safety of the undergrowth.
After crossing the Elliott river on stepping stones (thankfully it wasn’t terribly deep), there was a long winding section through the forest, following old logging tracks. It began with a very steep climb to get up from the shore and while only an increase of a 350 ft, it was a hard slog. There were rocks cut into the path for some of these climbs, to function as stairs, but it didn’t make it much easier. (My iPhone Health monitor says I climbed 166 floors, whatever that translates to in rock steps)! It was in this section of trail that I finally saw another person — a hiker had stopped for a coffee break — these little gas burner things that are small enough for a backpack are amazing. He asked if I wanted a cuppa, but as a non-coffee drinker I declined and kept walking. There was one other group that I ran into a bit later — 6 walkers who were doing a 7 day version, so only 14km for them; they were stopping at Blanket Bay.
Which is where I stopped for lunch. And saw another koala. Lovely campgrounds and a nice spot for a break. It was 1:15PM, and I still had about 4km to go. This was the designated spot for me to text Walk 91 to let them know where I was so they could estimate what time I would arrive at the pick up spot. The trip notes estimated 8 hours for the day, and that’s about what it looked like it would take.
The trail led back down to the shore at Parker Inlet, and in order to get across I had to take my shoes off to cross the river stream which poured into the ocean. I was almost at my pick up point, but to get there involved an enormous climb back up — again with rocks cut into the hill for steps. This last km was pretty tough and I was relieved to see my ride at the top.
My accommodation was at Bimbi Camp, an interesting mix of accommodations set in a grove of eucalyptus trees. There were several old trailers that had been fixed with porches as rooms, and a couple of bunk buildings which a crew of school kids filled up, and 5 corrugated steel cabins that were like studio apartments, and some basic rooms in wooden buildings. There was horseback riding and a climbing wall, and seemed to be a sort of family-oriented self-catering caravan-type park. I had one of the deluxe cabins looking out on the horse pasture, and was invited into the main building for dinner, but was given provisions for me to make my own breakfast and lunch in my room.
Dinner was an interesting experience — at the long kitchen table were several middle- and high-school aged boys — sons and friends of the couple who own Bimbi — and an older Australian couple who were walking the GOW with a different provider. The chef/owner, Frank, prepared a delicious meal, and then he joined the table proceeded to talk petty much nonstop about his views on most everything. Clearly leaning conservative—he was happy to see Trump in office — liked his ideology (as if the short-fingered vulgarian had any ideology)! When he got to the opinion that Saddam Hussein was basically a very effective leader — good schools, free medical care, oil as revenue for Iraq — and although he was a dictator, aren’t all dictators a bit crazy, I had to bite my tongue.
It got worse, and I tuned out and finished my meal and was quite anxious to get back to my room and to bed. Seriously, where do these people come from?
