Cape to Cape Walk, Day 6

Adapt and go with the flow. Sugar Loaf Rock to Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse, 3.5km. This lovely section is built on a paved path, with an occasional boardwalk. It's peaceful, but I keep eyes peeled for bottlenose dolphin leaping the surf. Storyboards placed on the yearbook explain the heath vegetation and trees, sculptured by the gusty winds. We come across a Cape-to-Cape hiker, starting from Cape Naturaliste. He plans to take six days and he is blessed by good weather. I'm enjoying the last day of our hike. I'm relishing the beautiful experience. We reach our car, Marty walks to the lighthouse to take a picture for his grandkid, and i walk another ten minutes, not wanting this to end. Cape to Cape Walk 2025. #capetocapewalk #capetocape2025

Cape to Cape Walk, Day 5

A Hiker's Camp at Ellenbrook. A tornado may have hit The South West region. The rains are again very heavy, winds reaching 80 kph. We check out of the RAC Margaret River Nature Park and drive to Gracetown, intending to park a car there and a second car on Ellenbrook, allowing us to walk 7km. But the promise of the rain pelting down make us reconsider our plan. As well, we spent an hour helping a local change a broken tyre on his van. I asked John, the local, to help fix my bumper. By the time the sky clears up, it's early afternoon, so we eat pies in Gracetown. We meet John again. We chat a while until it's time to start our short walk at Ellenbrook. The campsite here is attractive. Cape to Cape campsites, unlike those at the Bibbulmun Track, come only with tent sites, rainwater tanks and picnic tables. Tonight, we stay at the Tasman Holiday Park on Yallingup Beach. Nearby is an old tavern. The chicken parmigiana here is large. Wednesday is Parmi night! We look forward to going home.

Cape to Cape Walk, Day 4

Crossing a river mouth. Wild storms hit the Margaret River region today and we give up any hope of meeting our walking schedule, which is to walk from the river mouth to Gracetown. The Margaret River mouth cannot be crossed certain months of the year, so we take the opportunity to cross the sandbar. Again, the signage is poor, for us walking north. We don't need convincing to return to our car after walking just a kilometre. The ominous clouds signal another burst of rain. And it starts thid way for the rest of the day. In fact, it's reported that Margaret River yesterday was soaked in the heaviest rainfall ever. Tonight, we pamper ourselves by eating an Omakase meal at Miki's Open Kitchen. Five courses of yummy food.

Cape to Cape Walk, Day 3

Blackboy Hollow Cave Road to Margaret River Mouth, 8km We make the decision not to cover the full distance from Redgate Beach to Margaret River Mouth. With the help of our official maps and Google, we discover where we can access the track by car and we find it at Blackboy Hollow, where we drive nearly 2km on an limestone compacted road. But first, an update on the found-key story. When we started from Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse, and some 7km into our walk, we found a set of car keys. Quick thinking led us to scratch a message on the sand: Key found, heading to H.B. Hol. Park. Call [mob. #]. The next morning we got a call thanking us. At the holiday park reception, the owner was reunited with her key. By performing a good Samaritan act, we could have earned karma points and our Day 1 walk happened without mishap. But today, it's a beautiful and short walk, through Rottnest tea trees, peppermint and magnificent karri. We arrive at the river mouth in early afternoon. It's crossable!

CAPE TO CAPE WALK Day 2

A day to take life slowly! Redgate Beach to Conto Campgrounds, 11km It's a day to recover and take life slowly. We fish at the Augusta jetty, catch three undersized fish which we throw back into the water. Then, we eat pies in this most southerly town. One of the staff asks how we are. She is holding two jobs and had served us at the fish and chips shop. We park one car at Conto, the other at Redgate and our 6-km walk starts from Redgate Beach. The sea is not as rough as yesterday, surfers are having fun, the beach is beautiful. The coastal scenery is beautiful. Surfers enjoy riding the tall waves. Tonight, we camp at Conto. I was hoping to test the hiking tent I bought 11 years ago for my Fjallraven Classic Sweden, but the storm forecast for the morning does not materialise. So far, It's been a walk that makes one count one's blessings. How lucky to have these facilities made available to us! This morning, Marty receives a call from the owner of the set of car keys we found near Skippy Rocks on Day 1. I had drawn on the sand we found the key and we were heading to Hamelin Bay Holiday Park. I inscribed Marty's nine-digit cellphone number as he was the only one among us to subscribe to a Telstra line. What's the chance that you can recover something you drop while hiking on the Cape to Cape Track?

The Cape to Cape Walk: A Painful Start

Leeuwin Lighthouse to Cosy Corner, 20km I watch the waves rushing up the shore. The hooded plover watch too, their beaks lowered. Will the next wave uncover more food? Our boots are wet, covered with sand, washed by the waves. I look over the limestone rocks, to the Indian Ocean. I imagine myself in Cape Horn, the waters of the Pacific on my right, and the Atlantic on my left. We fail to see a marker on our right. This mistake costs us some 90 minutes of walking. It is unsafe walking on sharp limestone rocks. Marty cuts his left palm on one. There are indeed lessons on navigation that I learn. I thought I had learnt then 12 years ago, but I was a rookie bushwalker then. The sun has set. The moon appears as a lovely crescent on our left. I don't feel a sense of danger walking in the semi darkness. The eyes adjust. And we have left the blowholes behind us. I don't relish walking near them, 50 cm in diameter, patiently waiting for us to step into them to be sucked down into the ocean depths, accompanied by the short sighs of the Greek god Poseidon. A long day, taking 10 hours to walk the distance. And then, the light from VC's phone shine on our car, parked at Cosy Corner. Our first stop is the fish & chips shop in Augusta. I order the fresh king fish. But VC says his ginger beer tastes better than the fish. I don't care. Any fish tastes good in a hungry mouth. #capetocape2025

Dazzled by Simple Thoughts

I've known Adrian since I was 16. It's odd. How does one keep a friend for so long? Over such a long distance? Odder still, we have met only twice. We were penpals, and nobody does penpals anymore. Someone in a podcast tried to explain life's meaning and referred to Dostoevsky, whose literary works explore the human condition in the troubled political, social, and spiritual atmospheres of 19th-century Russia. Perhaps, friendship and life can be explained simply. Perhaps, answers can be found right in front of us. The satirical comedy, The Monk and The Gun, which we watched this week, offered insights into a simpler world, where money and liberalism meant little, and rituals and offerings a lot. I won't spoil it for you, but watch out for this movie wherever it's streaming.