Bibbulmun track pt 9 Donnelly River Village to Beavis – rollercoaster riding- thru hike end to end
Good morning on day 30. A very late start this morning because we hung around for opening at the General Store here at Donnelly River for a coffee and a bacon and egg burger. In that tree there There's a red-breasted robin - not sure if you can see it Oh it's gone. Anyway, yeah, so that was well worth hanging around for. It's great to have a feed like that first thing in the morning Heading off to Tom Road shelter today and a fairly flat 16 km so we weren't too worried about leaving late A great little stay in the bunk house last night, which is the old school here at Donnelly and it might be getting a bit warm - up around 27 degrees later today but I think if we get some more of this sort of shade going on from these Karri trees which are the third tallest growing tree in the world and the second tallest flowering tree. Absolutely brilliant (music plays) After weeks of seeing these guys' s*#! on the track... we've finally seen emus - in the wild! The ones at Donnelly River are wild but they're semi-tame, you know.
These guys don't seem too worried about us I'll just... okay, they're really not worried at all. Oh look - they're walking in time! Like us! Oh, this could go on for hours Oh well. Might be able to get past this one One more here I don't think he sort of gets the concept of letting us pass Here he goes There you go Wow! Vroom vroom! Haha! Help! Help me! Thank you (music plays) Now this is how you end a day's walk - Head down here, get the shoes off It's tempting just to dive straight in, actually.
Look at that reflection- that's exceptional! Look how clear that is! Oh, that's brilliant! Bob on a rock! What a lovely waterhole! And that is our little house we build every night except when we stay in the shelter on rainy nights, if there's room this is our little... yeah, a little walkway back to the hut it's got a nice little water feature down here and there's the main hut up there. The only problem with this is there are quite a few mozzies here, but that's all right. That's why we're in the tent some more people! (music plays) (Splash sound, followed by bird song) The truth is, I've been under attack for days They don't go for anyone else - just for me. So, let's take a quick look down here this is, it's bandaging, which is coming undone Not from a, not from a fall. No. Wrong kind of wound. Mozzies! Mozzie bites
I mean, that one little bit of exposed skin... in they get! On my scalp! Mozzies! And if it's not the mozzies going for me, it's the marsh flies! The insects out here are Doing. My. Head. In Morning on day 31. Heading between Ross Road hut - Tom Road hut! Ross?! Tom Road hut and um I might just start this again! Morning on day 31. Heading between Tom Road hut
and Boarding House hut. So 24km today and that's sort of at the upper end of what we've done so it's gonna be a long day for us. Good weather though. It's only getting up to about 24 degrees and looks like it's going to be fairly overcast as well. Except for the mozzies and the marsh
flies... having a little bit of trouble with those! I've got a little bit of a niggly knee but I think it's starting to come right, so all's good there. Coming up on the official halfway mark later today It'll be 501 kilometres done Slightly different vegetation. Walking down a little English country lane! Happy hiking! (Bob sings) Oh I love to go a-wandering along a mountain track And as I go, I love to sing, my backpack on my back Valderee, valderah, valderee, valderah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha Kaya koorda Hello friends. Day 31. It's better just to let the place speak for itself... (bird song) (running water) I don't know where Harry went... (giggles)... I just called you Harry! I don't know where Howie went, but there's this other guy here and I have to admit he makes me a little nervous Look what I found! (singing) And we would hike 500 k's and we would walk 500 more just to be the ones to walk a thousand k to fall down at your door da-da-da-dah! da-da-da-dum-diddydum-diddy-dum-diddy-da-da-da-da da-da-da-dah! da-da-da-dum-diddydum-diddy-dum-diddy-da-da-da-da Okay lunch today. I'm not sure what we're going to call it yet
It's either a hummus bomb or a wrap bomb. Sounds a bit like a rap battle! but we've got a wrap, dehydrated hummus, jerky and, just to top it off, corn chips! All right. Oh, Kath's already got ahead of me - wrapped it up, had a bite. Verdict is...? Mmm. MmmMMmmm I think the jerky is very chewy! So we'll see how we go mm-hmm (Bob) Well I'm going for the hummus cheese jerky bomb (music plays) This bridge is a tree! Bob on a log! On a big log! Isn't that an incredible bridge? What a great hike today! Really, really enjoying this section Past the halfway mark, 500 plus kms now. Could be a bit of a wet day tomorrow and probably one of the harder sections. And here we are at Boarding House campsite Just love these karri trees! So big! We're staying in there - us, Bob and Michael (campsite chatter) Great day! Great day! (dawn chorus of birds and rain) Just debating the merits of staying another day here at Boarding House hut we've got plenty of food, plenty of water, there's a toilet here, dry shelter.
The only problem is we've booked accommodation in Pemberton so that would mean we'd have to double hut at some stage to get in there which would be a, probably about a 40km day so probably not going to do that! Should be good. Should be fine. It'll clear up soon and there's Bob It's raining and we're about to embark on what is regarded as one of the hardest days on the Bibbulmun trail - the Donnelly River rollercoaster and Heartache Hill but we shall also remember that in front of us, there is a 73 year old man with no raincoat, who is missing the sole of one of his boots! I think we can do this! On-on! And he left here singing. He's singing all the way! Oh what a beautiful morning (singing) Oh what a beautiful morning... Morning on day 32. Leaving... Ah, f@*! it, don't worry! okay recorder Kaya koorda Trying to protect the camera from the rain. Yeah, what a lovely day!
I don't know what to say! I've got a couple of drips inside my raincoat already A little bit damp on the toes. I think the expectation today is that we WILL get wet and the real fun, when you think about it, is... Oh that's really foggy, isn't it? That lens, sorry Hopefully this is usable. The real fun is when I have to stop for the toilet! Anyway, bye! What we got today? 24km [No] No [21!] 21? Bonus! 21km of extreme [extreme!] inclines and declines! Inclines and declines. F*#! One of the hardest days on the Bib! Yes what's the nickname of it? It's the Donnelly River rollercoaster - Donnelly River rollercoaster and Heartache Hill - Awesome! Someone was trying to tell us it's going to hail today. But nah. We did the Cape to Cape a couple of weeks before starting this. Literally going into Cape Leeuwin, the final kilometre,
we got hit with a hail storm. So, it's all good, it's all good. Anyway, yeah, talk to you later I'd still rather walk it in the rain than the heat So far! [So far...] Friends, folks, and fiends, I give you Heartbreak Hill Knowing now we were premature to call Heartbreak Hill. But this is the rollercoaster So, good grip, going down, going down, going down. Wheeeee! Arms in the air and then, and then, and then, going up, up, round and up You can't see how steep it is! Can i just...?
Hopefully you can just hear it in my voice, and that one's not too bad, but wait for this next one as we watch Howie take the bend, doing the actions. Doing the actions! Wooohoooo! and he's going up there, which looks like nothing on the camera, but really is a rollercoaster. We have to descend steeply via a series of switchbacks so I'll keep you informed of that! Provided it doesn't start pouring with rain again! Anyway it's all good! At least it's not hot! Surely you can see how steep this is. Surely. I mean look
Howie's disappearing from view (music plays) How's Pockets going? Here she comes! Marvellous day for a stroll in the woods, what? [What-what]. What-what! Bibbulmun track notes, kilometre 13.1: cross creek on substantial footbridge, then turn left and ascend very steeply up old road. Engage walking sticks, and now would be the time to use
any jet boosters being carried to assist with ascent. This - this one's Heartbreak Hill. This one. So we're currently climbing Heartbreak Hill. (Kath singing in background: 'She don't mind that kind of climbing...) easily 25% gradient Or more (Kath singing: 'Dig in your sticks...') and what does Pockets do to get herself up here? (Kath singing: 'Don't you be so reckless') (Kath singing: 'Dig in your sticks now') Kath: You're not at the top yet! Howie: sings the whole way up... in tune! It's the only way i can do it! It sounds great! But...f*@!
(Kath singing: 'Dig in your poles...') We did it! Top of Heartbreak Hill! F*@# you! Legend! On-on, legend! What did you say before? [What?] What did you say before? Yeah, and they're pretty steep (music plays) We're in the last few kilometres of what has certainly been a challenging day on the Bib but what a rewarding day! I mean, we've spent the day in the most mystical of places. Look at this! Running in, and running that last step so we don't get caught in the rain Whoa, you just got in in time! Wow, that was a hard day. It's probably our hardest day yet I don't know what to say, actually. A lot of rain, some steep hills, elevation. We probably didn't
go up and down that much, well over the whole day we would have! But they were just so steep! For you Camino people out there - first two days, going up and over the Pyrenees... Pfft, nothing! That was, yeah, that was solid today, solid! But, got to say, once again, glorious! Just so spectacular and the last, last three or four kilometres coming into camp - just amazing! Absolutely amazing! The weather's on and off and we've got no reception and we're not really sure what's happening with the weather tomorrow. I think it's going to be a little less rainy than today. We've got a 20km, 21km to...? No, we're at Beavis today; we're going somewhere? Butthead! I don't know. That can't be right!
Two more days and we'll be in Pemberton Apparently that's a good swimming hole in summer and this is the Beavis hut and this is our setup for tonight. Bob's in here Me and Kathryn over this side. Here's Michael. Yeah, he's in over there
2021-05-07 15:44
