Alice’s Gold 7-Day Bibbulmun Hike
Day 1 Today, we started our hike. In the morning, we went to the grocer to pick up any final things we needed, and then we set off. We walked 17km, and the weather went up to 29 degrees. Today was hot and quite hard as it was the first day, and the heat was draining. We walked over a train track for a while, and then we walked past roads and farms. We then went into more of a forest-like area, and that was how it was like until the dirt road led us to the campsite.
Day 2 Today I was walking quite fast and leading everyone for a significant time. Today, it was much cooler, at about 20 degrees, and we walked for 19 kilometres. We were walking through quite a lot of puddles that went up to our ankles, and there were quite a lot of flies and mossie bites that day, which were quite frustrating to deal with. I did get bitten by an ant and it really hurt so I used some cream and needed a few breaks by the end. We had a good amount of breaks and everyone kept a relatively steady pace. It was quite a hilly terrain this day which did make it a bit challenging but as it was the second day I was still feeling a bit fresh.
Day 3 Today was really hard I think for most of the members in our group. It was 25km of hiking and I was walking at a slow pace. I was at the back of the group with two other girls, and we fell behind. We needed quite a few breaks as the nature of hiking every day was becoming a bit exhausting. We were walking in 5km intervals, which felt like a really far distance at the moment without packs and the pain I was feeling in my feet and legs. At lunch, we had fallen behind the rest of the group, and it took a while for us to catch up. We eventually did and then we left the lunch site in separate groups as different people in the group had different needs for this day. The terrain was quite rough with rocks, trees and sand. We had to overcome quite a few physical obstacles, such as fallen down trees. We also had to walk through puddles again, soaking our boots. When we arrived at the campsite we got in a group and did a few stretches and made dinner. I went to bed quite early as this day was very hard and exhausting for me.
Day 4 Today was one of the most challenging days for me. I think the toughness of the day before took a toll on me and altered my mental and physical capability for today’s walk. It was a 19km hike today. It was straight roads for the first 10km and was a very boring and exhausting track. We had breaks every 4km today, however I took a few short ones in between when I needed them. After the straight roads, we went through a bit of sandy terrain, encountering two long puddles we had to walk through. The puddles hurt my feet as my blisters were getting worse at this point. After the straight roads, we went through a forest area. For the last stretch, we were walking along the Pingerup plains leading to our campsite for the night at Mt Chance. Today was the most emotionally challenging day as I cried a few times and was missing the feeling of being at home with my family. I think this day taught me the most about gratitude and how not to take everyday luxuries for granted. I went to sleep early again that night, at about 5:30 pm, to try and reset to walk as best as I could on day 5.
Day 5 Today was the easiest day for me. I think after struggling so much yesterday emotionally and physically I was then ready to keep pushing on. I was still at the back of the group, but I learnt that that was better for me and my hiking. My ankles were experiencing quite a lot of pain today but being at the black allowed me to walk at a reasonable pace to accommodate how I was feeling. We walked through deep puddles today up to our knees, but it was quite fun. We had breaks every hour and then for the last 5km we split it into 3km then 2km to finish. It was a 20km walk today and the weather was 11- 20 degrees. It was also quite windy. When I got to the campsite my blisters had appeared to be getting quite bad so I soaked them in water to clean the dirt off, however, they weren’t hurting that much. That night we had to sleep in the hut side by side as there was a severe weather warning and it was hailing for a significant time throughout the night as well as raining and high winds.
Day 6 When I woke up this morning, it was hailing. It was very cold, and the group was not excited about the day ahead. It was weather of 8-13 with winds of up to 90km. We walked 17km today in two 5km, then 7km. Today was an extremely windy day. Firstly, the terrain was a forest, then by morning tea, we were walking on rocks at a high point.
They were large slippery rocks that we had to navigate to get back down into the forest terrain. After another few kilometres, we started to walk through sand dunes that were up and down. It was very challenging to walk up the sand dunes, as they were steep and the sand was hard to walk on. After a lot of sand dunes, we arrived at the beach, where we had lunch. The beach was so beautiful, and the scenery was amazing.
We walked along the beach for a few hundred metres, and it was very windy. After the beach, I started leading the group up another long and hard set of steep sand dunes. I was feeling pretty good throughout most of the day enjoying the beach scenery, however, I did find the sand dunes challenging and the last few kilometres tedious as I was very keen to have a rest and wind down for the rest of the day. I had butter chicken for dinner tonight and had a good night with the other members of our group.
Day 7 Today was the last day of our journey on the Bibbulmun Track for our Gold Journey. We were eager to have finished such an accomplishment. We left at 7:30 in the morning to ensure we would get to Walpole on time to collect our parcels with fresh clothes in them. Today we went through quite a few different terrains. For the first 12km of our 22km hike, we walked up and down steep hills, which were very challenging, however we were excited to have reached the end that everyone pushed through. The scenery was so pretty, and it reminded me of New Zealand’s scenery, with green mountains going on for ages. After we finished the first 12 km of the up and down hills, we reached the bottom of Mt Claire, which we were supposed to climb. This was so hard that I had to break every minute or so due to the steepness of the mountain. It was 800 metres long with a 200-metre elevation. Once I reached the top it was time for lunch and a short recovery from the mountain we had just climbed. I think we were all quite proud of ourselves for achieving that and we were all in good spirits. After lunch, we did 5km then a break and then 3.5 km then a break then the finish line. We walked along nice boardwalks and through the town of Walpole to finally reach our destination. We were all so proud of our achievement and were excited for a nice meal at the Thai restaurant and a real bed in the hostel.
Final Thoughts/Reflections
This hike was one of the hardest things I have ever done mentally, emotionally and physically, however, it is something I will never forget. It has shown me the importance of gratitude, and resilience and how having friends to experience things with helps you push through. I am proud of myself for completing this hike to the best of my ability. I’m aware that I did complain, I did feel pain and I did not want to be there every moment, however, in the end, I finished and I was happy with myself. We had a great group of people allowing the journey to be a more entertaining one. I am glad I did my Gold Duke of Ed and I know the lessons I have learnt from this experience will stay with me forever.
