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May 18, 2023 MEHNIUP NATURE RESERVE HIKE From late February to mid-May I have been incredibly occupied with a long overdue farm fencing repair and upgrade. Finally, there is a proper wire carrying a consistent voltage on outriggers along the entire road boundary, and proper wire in what used to be turbobraid-only internal fencing, now …
Continue reading “South Coast Wilderness Walks 2023 Volume 4”
April 13, 2023 AQUATIC WALKING NEAR PEACEFUL BAY Today’s outing was meant to be a reward for a week’s hard toil, still on the fence repair/upgrade job that’s occupied much of my outdoors time these past six weeks, since there are over 2km of fence to attend and I’d never wire fenced before I started …
Continue reading “South Coast Wilderness Walks 2023 Volume 3”
April 6, 2023 WOOLBALES LOOP If you’re perfectly sane, what do you do on your day off after three days of farm fencing repairs and various other general chores? Why of course, you go on a 19km hike. And you don’t let yourself know you’re going to do that distance, because your journey is open-ended, …
Continue reading “South Coast Wilderness Walks 2023 Volume 2”
February 16, 2023 MT CLARE / DEEP RIVER LOOP Do you ever wake up on a day off without having a clue that you’re about to have an unforgettable day in an ancient ecosystem? Yes, we had a day off, and yes, we often hike on a proper day off. But summer means scorching Antipodean …
Continue reading “South Coast Wilderness Walks 2023 Volume 1”
November 3, 2022 PARRY BEACH / MAZZOLETTI BEACH I’m looking at Track Map 7 (Walpole region, d’Entrecasteaux National Park to Greens Pool/Elephant Rocks) to see how many more gaps there are in our hiking of the Bibbulmun Track. We do half-day and day hikes, as return walks from an entry point – and by that …
Continue reading “South Coast Wilderness Walks 2022 Volume 6”
September 15, 2022 VALLEY OF THE GIANTS TO BOXHALL ROAD Today we did a 14.5km walk on the Bibbulmun trail, from Howe Road to Boxhall Road and back again, and from there to the Valley of the Giants and back again. As we’ve done so many coastal trails recently, we felt like going back in …
Continue reading “South Coast Wilderness Walks 2022 Volume 5”
We talked as we walked along, about how happy we always feel to walk in intact nature as it’s supposed to be, away from the scarring on the earth that has been imposed by broadacre agriculture, industry and urbanisation. The biological riches of these areas are mind-boggling and took millions of years to evolve. This is nature for millions of species, not nature stripped away to serve but one. When we walk along in places like this, the ratio of humans to landscape is about right and there is a pervasive sense of balance.
WALPOLE HIKING DAY Since we worked on Thursday, we hiked this fine Saturday instead, heading over to Walpole to attempt the Woolbales Walk Track. It’s a 90-minute drive to Walpole, so when you’re going there, you start early and try to get a full day in. Accordingly, when it was just warm enough to take …
Continue reading “South Coast Wilderness Walks 2022 Volume 3”
PEACEFUL BAY COASTAL WALK We had a wonderful sunny day by the seaside today, doing a 12km hike of gorgeous coastline. Though we were only away for the day, it really feels like we’ve been on a much-needed mini-holiday, and I thought I’d share the scenery and some of the remarkable things we saw today. …
Continue reading “South Coast Wilderness Walks 2022 Volume 2”
January 27, 2022 FICIFOLIA ROAD / NUT LOOKOUT REPRISE It took a while to get hiking during the 2021/22 summer, because of bereavement, heat, farmstay hosting and various projects. When we finally did, we went straight back to a walk from spring last year – because we wanted to see the red-flowering gums in flower, …
Continue reading “South Coast Wilderness Walks 2022 Volume 1”