Our newest Bibbulmun Track offering – Northcliffe to Walpole
Our newest Bibbulmun Track offering – Northcliffe to Walpole
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One of our big dreams is that one day we will offer guided walks covering the whole of the Bibbulmun Track. Not at once, but as sections, like we do already for Albany to Denmark, Walpole to Denmark, Pemberton to Northcliffe, Pemberton to Donnelly River Village, and Collie to Balingup.
For the last few years we’ve added a new sectional tour each year, and now there’s only one more piece of the puzzle to add in order to be able to offer the entire southern section of the Bibbulmun Track: 140 km between Northcliffe and Walpole.
So, last week we packed our maps, camera, note pads and an irresponsible number of snacks and went exploring to see if it was possible to fill that gap.
And we’re very happy to say that in autumn 2015 we will be offering a nine day tour covering the entire 140 km of Bibbulmun Track between Northcliffe and Walpole. It’s very exciting!
We last walked this section back in 2008 and we loved it because it was so different to the other sections we’d walked. It was remote and wild, with a great variety in terrain and vegetation.
South of Northcliffe the terrain is very flat through what’s called the Pingerup Plains. We’ve heard some people say that the Pingerup Plains is boring but for us it was anything but. In fact, it was like walking on another planet.
The vegetation, and the abrupt changes between types of vegetation, was mind blowing. Look at the size of these Kingias! Made me want to bring out the tropical music and lay down with a cocktail:
Below is Simon contemplating the Pingerup Plains and the Broke Inlet in the distance back in 2008. We imagined this as the African savannah and in our mind’s eye saw herds of wildebeest and elephants roaming the plains toward the water:
Last week’s visit to Mandalay Beach brought back wonderful memories of our first trip here. In 2008, we’d walked over a month to arrive at this rugged and spectacular coastline for the first time. from here the terrain gets a bit more bumpy as you head toward Walpole:
I can’t vouch for the depth of the water but a the Deep River we definitely felt like we were in the deep wilderness. This part of the world feels so remote and wild:
Even though we really got into the wading thing when we walked this section in spring 2008, we’re going to offer our tour in autumn so we don’t have to get quite so wet and the roads will be open. That way, after each day’s walk, we can take you back to our accommodation for a hot shower, a delicious dinner and a real bed. And you won’t have soggy feet like we did:
We’ll bring you more details very soon. But for now, we just hope you’re as excited as we are about completing this new Bibbulmun Track section on a fully supported and guided walking tour. Keep an eye out in our upcoming newsletter.
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And finally, if you’ve done this section, tell us in the comments what you loved about it. Were we the only ones who fantasised about wildebeest?
