A Solo Travellers Mind

The week began bright and early with a 6am collection from Perth, heading straight out to Burberry Wildlife Park where the group got to meet each other properly and have a natter, while also helping out the local volunteers with the days tasks. This included feeding many singlets (and cuddling one) a couple of emus and petting some injured raccoons. Lunch was had on Busselton jetty but not before we took a walk along it (the longest jetty in the world) and I launched myself off the top. After some contemplation I also decided to try out my new party trick and do a back flip off the top level (see video). A lot of adrenaline and fun was had, a continued theme of my trip along the coast! Our journey continued south, heading to Ngilgi cave where we got to climb through to the main chamber and see some amazing crystal formations, within the main chamber CO2 levels were higher than the outside environment also making me feel like the cardio was improving my VO2 max… Heading through Margaret river, we travelled in land to see the winery’s and what they had to offer. We stopped at two winery’s, the first I attempted to participate in the tasting but unfortunately wine all tastes like shit to me, which was lucky for my companions as they got to have my wine as well! On the second stop I decided that wine wasn’t for me and opted for a tub of Margaret rive ice cream instead, which was very tasty! The journey through Margaret river continued, this time to a chocolate factory, where I ate an ungodly amount of free tasters and actually felt a little sick lol. Our first camp site of the week was the Big valley camp site in Margaret river, sleeping under the stars in our swags, after a dinner of burritos, a nice warm shower and a few games of table football. I slept pretty well in my swag, however I did wake up at one point over night, scared shitless as I totally forgot where on earth I was and thus flung myself out my tent slightly fearing for my life because I reorientated to my surroundings ahaha.

The night day I awoke as the sun rose, and watched the sky change from shades of pink to shades of blue. In the morning we headed to a bakery the Sean our guide highly recommended (I purchased a cookie and the recommendation did not disappoint). Next we headed to surfers point, a beautiful beach/cove where we got to stroll along and see the early morning surfers in their prime. From here was out first hike of the trip, participating in some of the Cape to Cape track (the whole thing takes about 6 days). We did the hike as a group and even though we were instructed to stay together by the end, a few of us were too engulfed in conversation to realise we had in fact taken a wrong turn and walked too far. Luckily I noticed on the map and we swiftly returned to the correct path, but I think Sean thought we were dead and he came hunting for us. Our hike finished 3 very hot hours later, and we headed straight to Hamilton bay, where we got to see some sting rays in action and I took my snorkel out to see some fishes on outer reef. One our way to camp we made a couple of stops, the first being a quick waterfall walk, however the waterfall did not have all that much water with it being summer and 40+ degrees, but it was still pretty all the same, we also stopped at some tingle trees in a national park, and saw some of the biggest tingle trees in WA. It was a pretty fascinating trees, but most importantly had great climbing potential! Our camp site for night two was located close to the beach, unfortunately the weather brought a storm this evening so we spent it sheltered in the kitchen, cooking spal bol and nattering away, before seeing up our swags for the night. Only me, Luke and Natasha braved camping outside, with everyone else setting up camp in the kitchen, however not regrets had with my choice as i got to see the lightening from above as a fell asleep (and it had stopped raining it at this point so no one got wet).

In the morning we headed through to Denmark, stopping in William bay, to see elephant rock and green pool beach. This was an absolutely stunning place to see, and remained one of my high lights from the whole trip! Denmark beaches although absolutely beautiful which crystal waters and white beaches, is actually connected to the southern sea, thus meaning the water both looks and feels very fresh. I snorkelled out from pool beach to the reef approx 500m off shore and got to see some of the coolest, whitest fish I’ve ever seen as well as some huge fish! After 30 minutes in the sea (connected to Antarctica) my heads were frozen and I left the sea with my raynards shining through. A game of ultimate frisbee with the others soon resolved this though and i was quickly back to optimum warmth, so much so i went in for a second snorkel! We continued to head south west, towards Albany, stopping off along the way. The first stop off being Frenchman’s Bay, the windiest place i think I’ve ever been, where we got to see a natural bridge and gap formation along the cliff edge, as well as getting to learn that this land was actually once physically connected to Antartica (so technically I’ve now been to Antarctica!). The hike of today was a mountain called castle rock hill, where i decided i wanted to practically race up it, with Natasha and Luke close by and Laura and Greg slightly behind. After reaching the top we were greated by a delightful view and spent some time admiring this before heading back down. Our camp for the night was Mt Trio camp, a very cute little camp ground, a very cute but kinda cool camp where we cooked burgers and spoke under the stars. It was another stormy night, however this time we all braved the outdoors and slept as the lightening lite up the sky.

The next day began with an early rise as we headed to Esperance. Our first location within Esperance was Twilight beach, where me, Maria and Gregg all braved a rather high cliff jump off an island off the shore of the ocean. This was definitely a highlight of my trip, but the beach being totally beautiful was also pretty good! We had some lunch before heading to Blue Heaven beach, another stunning beach with crystal water and white sands, this is where i split both my shins open, as i stood in the shallows observing a string ray which was coming to say hello, i fell on a rock and subsequently landed on another rock. Was not ideal and hurt a lot at the time, however after 3 hours the bleeding stopped and the problem disappeared. The next 2 nights would be spent camping at Lucky bay, voted the most beautiful beach in the whole world, and i can definitely see why. We all spent some time on the beach, making a human pyramid and chatting about life, before heading to camp for some dinner. Before dinner we were treated by a python coming to say hello in a near by tree, and very beautiful and peaceful animal to see if the wild. A dinner of stir fry was had, before we all sang songs and listened to Sean playing the guitar. Our camp was also gifted some free ice creams which was a delightful little treat, in-till a wrapper was set alight by the candles and i was subsequently required to stamp out said fire (My recent fire training has served me well).

The following day we awoke to watch the sunrise , and it was an absolute treat! One of the best I’ve seen potentially! We had breakfast with some special friends (Kangaroos) joining us, wanting our cereal or eggs. The day started big with us climbing French mans peak, Sean told us that people had been known to climb this in 24 minutes if they sprinted up, therefor I absolutely saw this as a challenge. Me and Luke took the lead and managed to get to the top, with Natasha, in approx 26 minutes! It was a good scramble up to the top and we were presented with some magical views, and incredibly high wind speeds that made you feel as if you were going to fall of the mountain and blow away. The next stop was hell fire bay, another incredibly beautiful spot, and one where we were treated by a sea lion coming to shore to say hello! As a group we then opted to do the trail walk from Hell Fire bay to Lucky bay. In total around a 9km walked, not particularly challenging but absolutely stunning with some of the best coastal views I’ve ever seen in my life. A lovely day was had as we stopped along the way to have a swim or admire the view, before heading back to camp for dinner, we were all absolutely starving as the Fitbit marked another 20km day. Unfortunately the rain began as i went to bed, and therefor the queen of the outdoors retreated into a tent for the night, you’d think this would be more comfortable but i actually slept worse as i woke up absolutely boiling and felt as if i was going to die at one point ahahaha!

Our final day of the trip was a big travel day! I awoke at 4am in an attempt to witness another beautiful sun rise but was instead greeted by 50 shades of grey (and not the good kind 😉 ). It’s okay though as this is what camping is all about! Our day was a 800km driving day, form Esperance to Perth, yet somehow i still managed to do 16k steps ?! Along the way we made various stops, with the main attraction being wave rock. Wave rock as you’ve probably guessed is a big rock that looks like a wave, its pretty spectacular for all of about 90 seconds and then you kinda get over it, still it made for some funny photos and some good attempted to ruin up it! In the evening we all checked into out various hostels to freshen up, before meeting up for dinner. I was absolutely exhausted though so called it a night after my curry was eaten and i retreated to my bed for some much needed Zzz’s.

My trip along the south west of Aus was really something special, having the most amazing group to do it with and getting to share my enthusiasm with life and doing silly things with like minded people really made it for me! The whole of the west coast is absolutely stunning and I’m really excited to return in the winter to explore the north!