Friday 13 November

The WOW Wilderness EcoCruise was this morning’s adventure. This tours the Walpole-Nornalup Inlets Marine Park, passing through the Channel we crossed the inlets and then walked to Shelly Beach. This is a beautiful pristine spot, typical of the beautiful beaches along the southern coast of WA. The tour guide is part of the experience and is a non-stop talker who links everything back to his beloved Walpole.

WOW Wilderness EcoCruise

Photos of Walpole-Nornalup Inlets Marine Park

Photos from Shelly Beach Hike

Another Photo of Walpole-Nornalup Inlets Marine Park

After a picnic lunch in Walpole we both enjoyed a massage. While waiting for Drew to have his massage I had a brief chat to a hiker currently doing the Bibbulmun.

We drove the Knoll Scenic Drive on the way back to the caravan park – beautiful tall timber forest right down to the waterline of the inlets, magnificent!

Knoll Scenic Drive

Cliffs on Nornalup Inlet

Wilson Inlet Heritage Trail and Camp Oven Cooking

 Thursday 12 November

This morning we packed up our van and headed out of Albany to Coalmine Beach, near Walpole.  We stopped near Denmark to walk the section of the Wilson Inlet Heritage Walk that was not part of Wilson Inlet Heritage Trail Parkrun. This was a lovely wide and relatively flat walk on the inland side of Wilson Inlet.  Wilson Inlet Heritage Trail

We collected the last of our Bibbulmun Track gear from Big 4 Denmark Ocean Beach Holiday Park, then off to Coalmine Beach.

We have checked into the caravan park we stayed in while hiking the Bibbulmun Track. Coalmine Beach Caravan Park has a lovely, relaxed bush setting. Coalmine Beach Holiday Park  We spent the afternoon camp oven cooking – pork roast and crackle with roast vegetables followed by rocky road cake!

Peak Head Track, Torndirrup National Park

 Wednesday 11 November

Today we finished all the mundane jobs of cleaning and sorting, grocery shopping, buying fuel, booking things etc.

In the afternoon we walked the Peak Head Track in Torndirrup National Park.  Like so many of the walks in this part of Western Australia it is dramatic – with sweeping seascapes, granite boulders, wildflowers and strong winds. Beautiful!

Torndirrup National Park   

Peak Head Track

Tonight we had dinner at the caravan park with a gentleman we met in Pemberton, when we were all doing the Bibbulmun Track, who had just finished his adventure - well done.

Kalgan River

 Sunday 8 November

This morning we had the luxury of a sleep in and a short walk alongside the Kalgan River before moving back into Albany.  Kalgan River

Drew took his boots into Anaconda to show them the disintegration one boot, and not the other, had experienced on the Bibbulmun Track. His boots had been new for the Cape-to-Cape Track.  Anaconda have lodged a warranty claim with the manufacturer, and we will see what happens.

The remainder of the day was spent on life administration, sorting out our hiking gear and beginning the long process of cleaning up from our adventure.

Parkrun and Celebrations

 Saturday 7 November

Mt Clarence Parkrun this morning was an interesting experience, as both felt like our bodies had forgotten how to run. We got it done!  Mt Clarence Parkrun

As we could not stay tonight in the same caravan park (it was booked out), we packed up the van and moved to Kalgan River Caravan Park and Chalets.  

https://kalganrivercaravanpark.net.au/

My next top priorities for me were a haircut and a pedicure.  I can assure you that walking 1000km does not make for pretty feet and some maintenance was in order.

In the evening we had dinner at Due South in Albany with a group of people we met on the Bibbulmun Track – a great way to celebrate our mutual achievements.

https://www.duesouthalbany.com.au/

https://www.bibbulmuntrack.org.au/

Bald Head, Torndirrup National Park

 Wednesday 30 September – 182295

Today was my final test of whether my calf might be up to resuming the Bibbulmun Track. We drove to Torndirrup National Park to walk the Doggerdirup/Bald Head Walk Trail (Distance 13.81km, Time 5h 10m, Ascent/Descent 775m).  

Torndirrup National Park

Trails WA Bald Head Walk Trail

This walk was described as having stunning views, and it did not disappoint. There are several sections where you can see to the ocean on both sides of the ridgeline. There were wildflowers of various sorts, including the most stunning banksia blooms I have seen in the wild. The trail surface is a mix of granite, sand, boardwalk and steps.  There has been a significant investment in boardwalk and steps to combat erosion and improve safety on this trail. We were surprised at how many people we saw walking part or all of the walk; it is very popular. Being Albany, there were times of significant wind – the spots with the best views also had howling wind.  On the way back we also got to enjoy horizontal rain in one of these areas.

Driving out to Torndirrup National Park two unrelated warning lights came on on our dashboard. As soon as we finished our hike we headed straight to Albany Toyota (who had done our servicing yesterday). They were fantastic, they looked at it straight away, worked our what was wrong, kept us informed and had it fixed within the hour at no additional cost to us. Very good service.  https://www.albanytoyota.com.au/