It's Maria's turn to complete her End to End

Just like me, Maria decided to complete walking the Bibbulmun Track before this year is out. Her

Passing the Golden Valley Tree Park

final section was from Graphite Road to Collie. I was happy to join her and two other walkers, Pete and Rob, to walk this section and celebrate Maria's transition to become an End-to-Ender.

We set out in three cars on a cloudy September morning. Pete left his car in Collie while I left mine in Balingup. I was leaving my companions here as I could only afford five days. Chris, Maria's husband, drove us to the start of the walk in Graphite Road, a trailhead near Manjimup. We would be walking a total distance of xxx km.

Tom Road Shelter

The first day was a short 11 km walk to the Tom Road Shelter. The Track's halfway mark, 483 km from Perth, cheered us along.  

The second day was a longer 16 km walk which was also relatively easy. Our destination was the Donnelly River Village, a small community in the middle of forests. Kangaroos and emus looked like they were domesticated.

We made the right decision of staying in a house as we learnt that it was going to be a stormy night. The best part of the stay was the hot showers and a roaring fire, for which The men managed to split dry jarrah with an axe. Meals were bought from the general store: pies and lasagna. It was nice to be able to sleep on comfortable beds and not spend the night in a shelter.

During the third day, we saw evidence of the destructive gale force winds of the night before. A 'Cockeyed Bob' had tore its way through Bridgetown, barely 30 km away from Donnelly River Village and uprooted trees and disrupting electricity supply. Our way was made difficult by tree blocks and puddles. When we arrived at Gregory Brook Shelter, we were dripping wet from rain which poured in our last hour.

This section of the Bibbulmun Track is beautiful due to its forests and wildflowers. We photographed orchids and caught bird songs.

A beautiful cowslip orchid

Rob, having worked with DEC, now the Department of Parks and Wildlife, knew a lot about bird identification.

A species of spider orchid

We walked through a diversion on the fourth day, caused by a burnt bridge over the Blackwood River which made the Blackwood Shelter inaccessible. Instead, hikers had the choice of camping at Wright Bridge or getting a lift to stay at Balingup. We chose the latter. Andrew, the owner of the Hikers Hideaway Backpackers, was already waiting for us when we arrived at Wright Bridge at 1pm. We were impatient to eat at the local tavern, but bad news was waiting. There was no electricity in the town, so all shops except for the general store were closed. We made our own dinner that night.

The fifth day was the final day of walking for me. It was beautiful countryside, up hills and down dales.

Up a slippery hill

Just before reaching Balingup, we passed through the Golden ValleyTree Park which was a large arboretum planted with trees from England, the US and a few Asian countries.

The trees were beautiful.

We arrived at Balingup at 12 noon and ate lunch at Gourmet Deli. I had smoked beef with asparagus.

Waiting for lunch at Gourmet Deli

It was a delicious meal.

Maria, Pete and Rob would continue the next morning for the final four days to Collie. Maria would earn her badge as a new End-to-Ender. Congratulations, Maria!