Today was another very good day. Our guides were Andrew and Forest and the theme was flora. Andrew is from Peru and Forest from the UK. They were great.
The walk was fast paced except for the first hour or so when Andrew shared a lot of his knowledge about the local flora. Julie, one of the hikers, was also contributing as she works in biodiversity and conservation.
We walked almost 16km today, not the 13 km anticipated. It always ends up being more than predicted as the track is not straight or marked meter by meter, especially on the beaches, dunes, or over rocks. We don’t just simply walk on a straight line! Several participants with tech watches with gps agree we walked about 16km.
Several ups and downs, log stairs, metal stairs, dunes, some gravel. Not many trees, and the only forest today was our guide! A constructed staircase took us up to the amazing Wilyabrup sea cliffs.
After the cliffs, we dropped back down to the beach passing the famous and wild surfing breaks of Gallows and Guillotines.
The vegetation was mostly low. We climbed over quite a few rocks, sand dunes, walking at beach level and at the ridge of cliffs too.
Before we reach the pretty coastal hamlet of Gracetown we weave through picturesque granite boulders.
The weather was mostly ok. It started cloudy and cool, I even had a buff around my neck to protect me from the chilly wind, but the sun soon came out and it got quite warm. Later in the day it rained a bit, forcing us to stop and gear up for some persistent drizzle.
Again we had some stunning views from the top, long sandy beaches framed by walls of rocks, kissed by gentle or, at times, furious waves.
We arrived in Gracetown before 3pm and some of us went for a swim. I only wet my tired feet.
From Gracetown Rusty, our driver, took us to Cape Grace, a small boutique winery, for a delightful wine tasting experience. Then he drove us to our accommodation.
We arrived back at home base just before 5pm. After a hot shower, we gathered and chatted about the day at the lounge room and later had our moveable feast dinner. Today was lasagna and brownie for dessert.
It’s past 9pm now and I’m inside my tent writing this. I’ll stop now and get some sleep. Tomorrow will be a longer day – at least 20km, probably more, from Gracetown all the way back to our accommodation in Gnarabup.
My Pilgrimages in Europe (and Australia) 