Your email address will not be published. It may be several weeks before you arrive there on foot, so make sure your food parcel is water- and vermin-proof by packing the food in plastic bags, inside plastic boxes, inside another large plastic bag. The WA Parks Foundation is running two prize draws online throughout March to encourage membership to help support the Foundations, Dark Sky Festival celebrates total solar eclipse, The Dark Sky Festival from 19 to 21 April will take place in the Shires of Ashburton, Carnarvon and Exmouth, Signing up to protect endangered black cockatoos, Murdoch University is working closely with Main Roads Western Australia on projects to minimise the impact of motorists and road. Fast forward Finishing the Front Corrugated Iron. Able to buy peanut butter, tortilla flatbread and instant pasta meals like those kind of things? Do you keep your phone on you? Awesome write up thank you! Which towns were I planning to have rest days? If you are not sure then please contact us. In 1913 timber mills were established in Pemberton to supply half a million sleepers for the Trans-Australian Railway line. Thanks for your comment. The Bibbulmun's Wagyl or Rainbow Serpent blaze. Then bury it. Is there anything else less essential you can leave out of your pack? Country towns in Western Australia are spread out throughout this massive state; small pockets of civilisation with miles of bush in between them. Buying food along the way also allowed me to get meals that I wanted to eat at the time, instead of having to make those choices months in advance. The following list is what I take on multi-day hikes on the Bibbulmun Track. I hope to do this one day soon. Anyone with an average level of fitness should be able to complete an end-to-end, so long as they actively manage their body and dont injure themselves. If you want to get the most out of your Bibbulmun Track walk, use it as an opportunity to explore the South Coast of Western Australia . While cooking and dehydrating meals took extra time & energy, this allowed me to enjoy meals that were more delicious, full of veggies & legumes, lighter & cheaper than many supermarket options. Lines in his book A long walk in the Australian bush.. So many! document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Create a website or blog at WordPress.com, Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window). As a traveller from eastern side of Australia doing this hike in pieces wasn't an option. It was originally envisaged by keen bushwalker Geoff Schafer, in 1972. Glad to have stumbled upon your blog! It doesnt do much to help the toe nail situation though! Then bury it. Where were the best opportunities to send parcels, such as to my accomodation spots or visitors centres? (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Collie was a bigger town with a large supermarket. Our current plan involves only restocking at the towns, although we are also exploring the option of calling upon the Tracks Trail Angels to drop off food on some of the longer, 7+ day stints to reduce our pack weights. Answering these questions helped me map out how manybreakfast, lunches, dinners & snacks I would need across the hike, & where they would potentially come from along the way. If you are doing more than a day walk on the Track, you will need to take a lot of equipment: sleeping gear, cooking equipment and food, a change of clothing, basic toiletries, a first aid kit and maybe a tent. Open the map and click on a hut and then there is a button to download photos - so do that on Wi-Fi too. Today, Pemberton has a population of just over a thousand people. More to come, I'm sure. He was also a pretty good breeder himself, fathering nine children! One of many shelters with covered tables and water tanks. A checklist is great way to start. Have booked to complete it later this year. Copyright 2023 Bibbulmun Track Foundation. The Group page. We will be able to top up our food supplies (and replace our worn out shoes!) What my heart chose surprised even me. Charting my travels around the world, one adventure at a time. To help you get started on overnight walks the Foundation also has a range of items for hire. Hi we are considering heading over to WA from SA in September to experience a section of the Bibbulmun Track, imagining that the border will be open by then. Like anything, this can vary enormously in price and quality. There are plenty of great online resources with more info on long-distance hiking. It doesnt do much to help the toe nail situation though! Today there is still a timber mill in Pemberton, surrounded by old mill cottages, but tourism is also important for the towns survival. Western Australia, AU Distance 992.8 km Vertical Gain 17,500 m The Bibbulmun Track is one of the world's great long distance walk trails, stretching 1000km from Kalamunda in the Perth Hills, to Albany on the south coast, winding through the heart of the scenic South West of Western Australia. A "horrifying" attack on Perth's world-famous Bibbulmun Track has left two hikers in hospital after one was allegedly run down by a car before both were allegedly set upon by the driver wielding a . The Bibbulmun Track passes through many different environments; we saw an astonishing 85 different orchid species and hybrids. Im hooked on my fitbit for tracking my hikes but they run out of juice so quickly thanks man! Trekking The Bibbulmun Track End to End - Planning. The next most important consideration for a long distance hike is your pack. (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Its designed to help decide which part of the 1000 km Track youd like to walk and to give you all the planning information you need. It may be several weeks before you arrive there on foot, so make sure your food parcel is water- and vermin-proof by packing the food in plastic bags, inside plastic boxes, inside another large plastic bag. Cooking for two, I prepared and dehydrated batches of 8-12 serves (4-6 days) of 11 different dishes, once or twice a week during our preparation time rather than all at once at the end, so the task wasn't too overwhelming. But its still an awesome pack with a really strong hip strap. Its a good idea to split your food into two parcels and bury them in different places to reduce the chances of losing everything. However, walking with too heavy a pack will also be uncomfortable. What a contradiction! Travel from Perth Airport to Fremantle for $4.50, Take a walk on the wild side walking the Bibbulmun Track, What to take on a multi-day Bibbulmun Track hike, Follow Local Travel Tips on WordPress.com. It also provides schools with the resources to participate in the WACE endorsed end-to-end program and students to attain the Duke of Edinburgh's Award. Distinctive yellow triangles displaying a waugal symbol (a rainbow serpent spirit-being from the Aboriginal Dreaming) are nailed to trees along the way to mark the Track. cooking at home with bulk foods & predominately organic or local vegetables that were purchased from independent stores but would then travel to Western Australia, buying food in these small towns from local businesses that sell ethical products to support their local food economy, understanding I would be shopping from supermarkets and purchasing standard food, sold in packaging both here at home & in Western Australia. If youre attempting an end-to-end for the first time, youll inevitably develop your own way of living on the track that will probably vary a little from the directions in this guide. There is no charge for accommodation and it cant be pre-booked, so if youre hiking for a long time or overnighting during a busy period (e.g. Northcliffe had a great food cooperative selling bulk and local food that I wanted to support. With that decided, training should have been next on the list, but I was pretty fit so figured I didnt need to do much of that. There are also taxi services and tour operators who can help you to co-ordinate your walk, and some B&Bs near the Track offer drop-off and pick-up services. Tank water is often yellowish from the tannins in the leaves that get stuck in the shelter gutters, but is still perfectly safe to drink once treated. The track was first proposed in 1972 by Geoff Schafer, a member of the Perth Bushwalking Club. They have very straight trunks that dont separate into branches until high up near the tops of the trees so they were in great demand for railway sleepers. Im just getting the blog off the ground so its good to hear somebody is finding it useful. However, you don't need to finish it in one go, with 49 campsites along the track. Either plan to supplement your meals with town-bought supplies, or make sure you cook up a decent range of dishes. But how basic are these village stores? The Bibbulmun Track is a walking trail located in Western Australia running over 1000km between Kalamunda in the north and Albany in the south. Winter conditions (June to August) are not for the faint hearted, particularly further south where temperatures are lower and rainfall higher. The first thing I needed to decide about was when to start the journey. Keep up to date on our projects, our supporters, opportunities for involvement and more. It won't be gourmet dining, but it will do the job. Also, the campsites, which are located between 10 and 20 kilometres apart, are closer together near Perth, which is useful for end to end walkers to ease themselves into condition. For me, that meant getting a pair of custom orthotics from my podiatrist after experiencing some serious arch pain on multi-day hikes in the Darling Range. There are about 50 open sided shelters along the track, most a very easy day's walk . ! As were planning on doing the entire 1,000 km in 45 days, well need to skip some of the huts and plan carefully so we can resupply and rest where possible. The Perth ultra-endurance runner crossed the finish line at Kalamunda this afternoon, completing the 1000km journey in 11 days, seven hours and eight minutes. The distance calculator is designed to help you plan your walk. SA, WA & NT specific bushwalking discussion. After all, hiking is only walking for a long time. In Pemberton purchase two days worth of food to reach Northcliffe. Once youve bought or borrowed everything necessary to hike the Bibbulmun Track, the next thing is to plan your walk. Im trying to cut down on as much weight as possible. I have done many day walks, 2 overnight walks and one 4 day/3 night walk on the Bibb. Nick. The Bibbulmun Track passes through some remote areas of Western Australia, so once youre on the Track you need to know how to stay on it. I took water purification tablets on my first hike, but the treated water tasted so foul I couldnt drink it! This well blazed trail travels through many national parks and state forests with various terrain that ranges from dense forest to beautiful coastland. This series will show you what it's like to thru-hike the 1002 km (623 mile) Bibbulmun Track in Western Australia, including the terrain, life in camp, the b. A practice walk of three or more days should give a good indication of how much food you need, otherwise allow about one kilogram of food per day. I have since found a fabulous tape called fixumol, which I put on my heels and toes at the start of a hike as a preventative measure and add more of as hot-spots begin to develop. How much food you need to take will depend on your metabolism, how long you are walking for, and which section of the track you are doing. Therefore, we will put "30 day fixed", "7 day auction", etc in this column. Over its (roughly) 1000-kilometer length, the Bibbulmun winds its way through dense native forests, passes through a handful of sleepy country towns, climbs up and down ranges with magnificent views, and traverses the white, sandy beaches of WAs powerful southern coast. The Bibbulmun Track Foundation hires out dehydrators to Western Australian locals for a fortnight. You can add to this if you like, but remember you will have to carry whatever you take! Sending packages to yourself does make a bit of guess work. Restocking food has been one of the biggest dilemmas for my hikes. I tried to allow at least one rest day in each town to stock up on supplies, do my washing, shower, eat and, most importantly, rest. My basic gear, not including food and water, weighed about 13 kilograms (see the list at the end of this blog). Luckily, the huts along the way collect rainwater, so well always have a supply of drinking water once we have purified it. Solar chargers arent up to the job, especially on the Bibb where theres so much tree cover. Wildlife abounds on the Bibbulmun Track. It's designed to help decide which part of the 1000 km Track you'd like to walk and to give you all the planning information you need. If youre not walking alone and have two cars at your disposal, a good strategy is to park a car at each end of the section. Its become an obsession. Designed by Elegant Themes | Powered by WordPress. Get insights together with secure sharing in real-time and from any device. With tips on how to create your ideal. Most of the sections are somewhere between 20 and 25 kilometres long, or about a full days walk for the average hiker. Megan, I find this very good sharing, especially on the resupply considerations that included supporting local businesses. 4WD campers have the luxury of an engine with a few hundred horsepower to lug all their gear around, while hikers only have their own two legs. Since I started using this I havent had a blister. Overall my resupply plan worked out better than I could have imagined along the track. If youre only walking a section of the Track, planning a walk can be trickier as vehicular access points and public transport are limited. Some hikers drink straight out of the tanks without treating the water, but I wouldnt take the risk. Besides a 5,000-litre rain water tank, each campsite has a sturdy three-sided timber hut with a tin roof, a bush toilet, tent sites, and a picnic table. The stores arent that basic, you should be able to get all those items you mentioned. Sugars and fats might be your enemy in the real world, but theyre your friend on the trail. More information can be found in an accommodation and services guide for walkers published by the Friends of the Bibbulmun Track. For gear reviews, I often rely on Outdoor Gear Lab. I vividly remember the day I committed to walk the Bibbulmun Track. The name comes from the Bibbulmun, or Noongar people, Indigenous Australians . Whether you want to walk for a couple of hours or a couple of months, the Bibbulmun Track provides the means to get away from it all and to experience the peace and beauty of south-west Australia. At the end of the weekend we felt tired yet recharged by our brief break in the country. If you want to experience the geological features, biodiversity and scenic beauty of this long-distance walking trail, the Section-by-Section guide on the excellent Bibbulmun Track Foundation website is a great place to start. Karri trees grow in the high rainfall areas of south west Australia. The track goes through every resupply town, which is also rare to find. I just googled the Via Dinarica and it looks amazing! The Bibbulmun Track is one of the longest continuously marked trails in Australia, stretching 963 kilometres from Kalamunda, 20 kilometres east of Perth, to Albany on the southern coast of Western Australia. Follow the bright yellow waugyl through towering forests, over creeks and rivers, along wild beaches and up and over some impressive granite features. Unfortunately, in the 1930s they found themselves out of work again when the Great Depression hit and many families had to leave their properties. This is useful for working out how much food you will need for each section and for arranging to meet other people. My kneecaps tend to rub against their track if I allow my IT band to get too tight, so I make a point of stretching it and rolling it out whenever I get the chance. Many Different Landforms. But once my heart had spoken, I felt I had to follow through. Good luck! Although I had grown up in the hiking mecca of Derbyshire in the UK, Id never done a multi-day hike and didnt even own a pair of hiking boots. The towns Tourist/Information centers and some petrol stations have stored supplies for her. The Track is popular with locals, interstate and overseas visitors alike. This isnt a problem on the outward journey, but on the way back it may be difficult to predict what time (or even what day) youll reach a town on foot.