Glenn Burns

The Bibbulmun Track is Australia’s premier long distance walking track, extending nearly 1,000 kilometres from its northern entrance at Kalamunda, a suburb in the Perth Hills, to Albany on Western Australia’s south coast.

The Bibbulmun meanders through some of the best scenery that Australia has to offer: majestic jarrah, karri, marri and tingle forests, granite domes and peaks, tranquil inlets, wetlands, peaceful rivers and the spectacular heath-covered coastline between Denmark and Albany. The latter is surely some of the best coastal scenery and walking that can be found anywhere in Australia. With limited time available in WA we settled on hiking the final section from West Cape Howe to Albany.

The word Bibbulmun derives from the aboriginal group occupying a section of coastal south west of Western Australia. The Bibulman (Pibelmen) are a clan of the Noongar. Pibelmen may be the word for stingray. Their territory was concentrated around the lower Blackwood River and the Warren River.

The Bibbulmun Track Foundation supported by the Department of Parks and Wildlife (DPaW) made planning for our Bibb walk a breeze. There is no shortage of valuable information and advice for the interstate or overseas walker:

• www. bibbulmuntrack.org.au
• An information pack for each section. The section pack usually contains an excellent map at 1:50 000 scale, a Day Walk Pack containing suggested day walks for the section and an overall Track Handbook. I purchased the information pack for the Denmark to Albany section online for $30.00. For interstate and overseas visitors unfamiliar with hiking in Western Australian this is money well spent.
• The Bibb Facebook page is really useful for troubleshooting problems (like crossing Torbay Inlet) and getting general advice on track conditions.

Although not a resident sandgroper, I was able to use the Bibb Track Foundation info to do all my planning before leaving home. Since we were driving to WA to visit family in Perth, a vehicle was available for shuttle service duty.

The Bibbulmun Foundation and DPaW have provided great basic campground facilities, directional signage, and decent tracks. This is a hiking experience that can be enjoyed by all, regardless of age or financial circumstances. I cannot praise them enough .

The Bibbulmun facilities are a marked contrast to the contagion of commercial ‘eco’ glamping stuff sprouting up in the public national park estate in much of the rest of Australia. High-end eco-lodges, huts and glamping operations provide a standard of facilities that are not really needed or in keeping with a conservation ethos and legislation that goes with the declaration of area as a national park.

Putting aside arguments about the ecological damage of these ‘eco’ huts/lodges and campgrounds, it seems grossly unfair that construction of some eco resorts and most of the associated track infrastructure is being paid for out of the public purse and leased back or handed over in opaque long term commercial-in-confidence deals.

If you, like I, feel strongly about this issue, then more information can be found at: https://protectournationalparks.org

But, I suspect , despite the best efforts of some in the bushwalking fraternity, the horse has already bolted. In speaking to other hikers, the majority are happy to put aside niggling environmental and social justice issues to assert that the opulent facilities make ‘bushwalking’ accessible to many more people.

True. But just make sure you and the taxpayer have deep pockets and minimal concern about commercialisation of our national park estate. I have no problem with decent basic public facilities that we can all enjoy, as on the Bibbulmun.

In the Bibbulmun sections that I have walked, the track is well-maintained without being over-engineered. Kept in reasonable condition by volunteers. 

And it would be difficult to get ‘lost’ with a plethora of Waugal markers to show the way.

The Bibb walkers’ three-sided shelters are a boon in WA’s somewhat trying cool, wet winters – basic hiking shelters but functional. Each campground has the shelter, toilet, table, water tank, and ample sites for tents for those not wishing to sleep in the shelter.

And you get to enjoy the camaraderie of people from all walks of life and parts of Australia and beyond.

Weather

Weather was an important factor in planning a hike in this section of the Bibbulmun, after all, the aboriginal name for Albany is ‘Kilining‘, meaning place of rain. How wet can it be? Probably not as intense as my stomping grounds in SEQ but persistently drizzly enough to be annoying.

South-West WA has a Mediterranean climate: hot, dry summers and cool, wet winters. The coastal section between Denmark and Albany is more accurately described as sub-Mediterranean. Temperature extremes are moderated by proximity to the ocean but rainfall and winds are higher than at the hinterland BOM stations.

September to November is a great time for hiking along this stretch of the coast. Temperatures are pleasantly mild. Denmark’s average minimum temperature is a bearable 6.9 C, while the average maximum temperature is a very pleasant 16.4 C.

Much better to walk autumn, winter, spring than summer when sections may be closed as the bushfire season ramps up. Spring… altogether brilliant hiking conditions. The only bugbear is the 99 mm average monthly rainfall over 15 rain days.

A mite damp for my liking , but it doen’t seem to worry the WA locals. Before leaving I scoured the weather/ rain gear chit chat on the Bibbs Facebook page. Here’s a sample:

I live in Albany. I carry wet weather gear in the boot of my car everywhere, everyday of the year. The weather changes quickly down here.

Last week we had “feels like 3 degrees” and 20 mm rain around Walpole / Denmark. Weather is liable to change at short notice! I would say definitely a rain jacket. Pants if you want. If you get another day like Monday you would be pretty miserable without rain pants.

Many posts extolled the virtues of a poncho and one hardy 60 year old walked E2E in 44 days without rain gear. He copped only three rain days on the entire walk. They breed them tough in WA.

Having perused maps and formulated a plan, I shot off a paternal missive to the Canberran, suggesting some dates, proposed walking itinerary and accommodation.

I intimated that rain gear and fleece might be the go for this trip. His usual Namadgi walking rig of merino tee and boardies might not cut it in the drizzly depths of WA’s Great Southland.

In any event, I need not have fretted, the Canberran duly appeared in Albany via his Perth bro, decked out in thick fleece, merino thermals and a pair of those nifty quick drying hiking shorts.

With our walk due to start on the morrow, youngest son insisted on being in charge of purchasing the necessary walking rations. According to family lore I had failed dismally as providore for childhood hikes and camps.

His shopping cart was soon brimming with Cheds (a cheesy biscuit), cheese, macadamia nuts, chocolate bullets and fruit. But none of my dry wheatmeal biscuits and peanut paste (that’s peanut butter for all you southerners).

Aboriginal Occupation

I was surprised by the lack of readily accessible information on aboriginal culture for hikers traversing this section of the Bibbulmun.

The First Nations people of the Albany region are the Menang people of the Noongar nation. The earliest date of occupation for south-west WA is 50,000 years BP at Devil’s Lair, inland from Cape Leeewin. This single unlit cave chamber has provided a date of 50,000 years BP. It derived its name from the numerous Tasmanian Devil bones found at the site as well as some megafauna bones. Another significant heritage site dating to 38,000 years BP has been excavated on an open floodplain in the upper Swan Valley. In Menang country a site at Kalgan Town Hall was dated at 18,500 years BP. Kalgan Town Hall was the meeting place of numerous aboriginal pathways and fish traps.

Large bands of the Menang people ranged across beaches, rocky headland, inlets, rivers and lakes during warmer months where they harvested the rich coastal resources and came together to conduct social ceremony and contact.

In the cooler months they disbanded into smaller family groups and dispersed into the open woodlands of the hinterland to hunt kangaroos, wallabies, lizards, snakes and possums.

Evidence of their occupation is abundant. There are numerous listed heritage sites of fish traps, stone scatters, petroglyphs, grinding grooves, shell middens, ceremonial stone arrangements, quarries of dolerite and chert, stone wells, scarred trees and ochre quarries .

This lifestyle continued until the late 18th century when European expansion with its land grabs, pestilence and ‘dispersal’ finally disrupted traditional culture.

European Maritime Exploration

The first well documented European marine explorer along the south coast was a Dutchman, Pieter Nuyts, of the Dutch East India Company. He boarded the Guilden Zeepaerdt (Golden Seahorse), captained by Francois Thijssen, in the Netherlands in May 1626.

Seven months later in January 1627 they rounded Cape Leewin and continued east along the uncharted southern coastline, reaching as far east as Ceduna. Here they named St Francis and St Pieter Islands (now Nuyts Archipelago), after Thijssen and Nuyts. Dutch charts prepared following the voyage named the southern shoreline ‘Landt van P. Nuyts’.

But now, back to the present.

Section One: West Cape Howe National Park.

West Cape Howe National Park is a smallish park (36 square kilometres) located between Denmark and Albany on Western Australia’s southern coast. It is the most southerly point in Western Australia. The next port of call to the south over the vast Southern Ocean is Antarctica.

The WA Parks website paints an inviting picture of West Cape Howe: We all know that the southwest region has great coastal scenery and West Cape Howe National Park is no exception. The landscape is wild and dramatic – towering cliffs, white sandy beaches, granite headlands, huge crashing waves, coastal heathland and even some karri forest. It is breathtaking whichever way you look. The diverse landscape is home to lots of birds and wildlife.

Sign me up.

Lowlands Beach to Shelley Beach: 17 kms.

The section through West Cape Howe National Park is truly one of the most scenic coastal walks in Australia. It is a landscape of coastal cliffs, windswept wildflower heathlands, massive granite and dolerite headlands, sandy dune fields and towering waves crashing ashore from the Great Southern Ocean. This is about as far south as you can go on the Australian mainland, with weather to match.

Our walk started at the Lowlands Carpark at 8.30 am. A far more civilised hour than my 6.30 am starts to beat Queensland’s heat and humidity. What’s not to like about a more civilised clock-in time.

West Cape Howe was originally named Cape Howe by Captain George Vancouver in 1791 in honour of Admiral Howe. It was renamed as West Cape Howe by Matthew Flinders in December of 1801 to distinguish it from Cape Howe in eastern Australia.

Initially the track climbs to the 100 metre contour, weaving in and out of groves of peppermints (Agonis flexuosa). Peppermint was easily one of the most common trees of our walk; its dense thickets giving protection from the winds gusting across the coastal heaths.

Normally, peppermints grow as a medium-sized tree to about 10 metres. Here, it was low, wind-pruned and often exhibited a multi-trunked mallee habit. It is not difficult to identify. It has distinctive weeping branches, long narrow leaves and white flowers. In WA it is also called willow myrtle and wonnil.

A little distance on, we entered West Cape Howe National Park. The track climbed imperceptibly to 140 to 160 metres, finally opening out to impressive panoramic views: north-west back across Wilsons Inlet and Denmark; west to Lowlands Beach and Knaffs Head; south-east to the headlands of West Cape Howe 10 kilometres distant.

West Cape Howe National Park

After about an hour we turned off the main track and came face to face with the West Cape Howe Campsite. Like many Bibbulmun sites, there was the iconic 3-sided sleeping shelter. Also very welcome for cooking and dossing down during inclement weather (frequent, I’m advised by the locals). Facilities here included rainwater tanks, tent sites, bush toilet, and sometimes a fireplace (usage not to be encouraged).

West Cape Howe is probably not the place to be indulging in open fires, given the surrounding dense vegetation and the gusty winds. Signs tacked to the back of the toilet door gave dire warnings about wildfires. Certainly, there was evidence of fire along the track, and it made one really think hard about an exit plan if a bushfire blew up. I certainly wouldn’t be keen to walk this section during a hot summer spell, but many do.

This Bibbulmun Facebook post illustrates the lack of bushfire awareness of some hikers:

Just passed through Yubberup campsite for a lunch break. Empty of people and a live fire in the ring. Forecast is 29 degrees and windy. Have we learnt nothing? (I put out the fire).

The Bibbulmun map sheet has specific bushfire advice which starts with this paragraph:

Bushfires are dangerous and common in WA. They can start without warning throughout the year and can spread rapidly on hot and windy days. If conditions are too dangerous, rescuers will not be able to check the track and campsites .

Back out on the track, wind rippling the low heath. But for the time being rain scuds remained out to sea. It was easy to see scuds heading our way and hastily zip up the rain gear.

The next two kilometres of the track contours ever eastwards above the ocean at 100 metres or more. Near Shepherdson Lagoon Road, it turns south, pitching down a steep gully.

At the bottom of the gully, we disturbed a lunchtime encampment of eight walkers intent on a brew-up in the shelter of a thicket of peppermints. With our presence barely acknowledged, we pushed on. Chatty lot.

From here the Bibbulmun climbed again, working up to 200 metres through a maze of vegetated sand dunes and outcrops of calcarenite. Gusty scuds of rain now chased us to a jagged limestone outcrop . Here we found a plaque for the bushwalker Bruce Tarbotton and a memorial walk as a tribute to his exploration of this area.

It would be good if the Bibbulmun track could be re-aligned from here to take in a circuit walk of the cliffed coastline of West Cape Howe, including the southern-most point of Torbay Head. 

The WCH cliffs are predominately granite but intrusions of dolerite, a dark fine- grained igneous rock, can be found on the western and southern clifflines of West Cape Howe.

Soon we popped out onto a boardwalk (Tarbotton Boardwalk) and followed it down to Shelley Beach Lookout, replete with hang-glider launch pads and stunning but misty views over Shelley Beach. Although a blasting wind offered no encouragement for us to linger.

On a very different day years ago, bright, sunny and quiet, I stood at this exact spot. Below, two whales rested in quiet waters only a few metres offshore. Mother and calf. They were, from memory, Southern Right whales (Eubalaena australis) that come to this coastline from June to October with the females coming close to the shore, junior in tow.

Section 2: Shelley Beach to Mutton Bird via Torbay Inlet : 12.5 kms

This section features extensive granitic slabs and outcrops, some beach walking, headlands and the sometimes problematic crossing of Torbay Inlet. By this stage, my offsider had bunked off, returning to Perth for his flight eastside, leaving me to contend with a sudden disconcerting abundance of trackophilic reptiles. But more of that later.

The day’s walk started in typical mild conditions (14 ⁰ C), but with the now familiar gusty WSW winds. From the crossing on Shelley Beach Road, the Bibbulmun climbs to slabs and domes consisting of Mesoproterozoic granites (1600 to 1000 mya), a porphyritic granite with a distinctive dark mica.

These were outcrops of the Burnside Batholith, intruded as part of the Albany-Fraser Orogen. The term orogen means mountain building. The Albany-Fraser Orogen occurred during the late Archean and the Proterozoic (2.6 billion to 1.0 billion years ago) when two crustal plates collided (Yilgarn – Western Australian and Mawson – Antarctica). These crustal plates were compressed and uplifted along their margins, forming mountain ranges.

From the highest domes a wide panorama unfolded. Eastwards across Torbay Bight were the rugged headlands of Torndirrup National Park and the windfarms of Grasmere and Torndirrup; 40 kilometres to the north-east I could make out the silhouette of the Porongurups, a batholith of Mesoproterozoic granites (Esperance granites), rising to 670 metres above sea level.

The Porongurups stretch in an east – west line for about 12 kilometres, the remnants of a mountain range formed during the dying shudders of the Albany – Fraser Orogeny.

Descending from the granite slabs, the track contours around Dingo Beach at above 100 metres above the sandy shoreline, with views across to Forsyth Bluff, another headland, this time featuring Mesoproterozoic gneisses (1600 to 1000 mya).

No dingoes, but things repitilian to liven up this section. Here the track was uncharacteristically overgrown. With a watery sun finally peaking through, snakes ventured out for the first time in days, enjoying a little bask in warm patches on the track. In my first hour I tallied six of the blighters, including two feisty western tigers.

They were in no mood to move on, reluctantly decamping as I blundered across them in the low heath. Being of the old school of bushwalking, I was unfashionably rigged out in old style leather boots and knee length canvas gaiters. As with most snake encounters, leave them alone and they will eventually shuffle off into the undergrowth.

Western Tiger Snakes

I identified these interesting chaps from my pocket guides from Bush Books: Snakes of Western Australia authored by David Pearson, a Principal Reasearch Scientist at the WA Wildlife Research Centre. At 50 gms each this series of booklets are easily packable or can be popped in a pocket. Other Bush Books relevant to this part of the Bibbs that are worth carting along are: Geology and Landforms of the South-West, Wildflowers of the South Coast and Common Trees of the South – West Forests.

But back to the dangerously venomous tiger snake (Notechis scutatus). They are found mainly around swamps, creeks and other moist habitats. But also in woodlands and heath. That is, tiger snakes could be prowling anywhere on the Bibbs. If startled they will flatten their heads and occasionally feign a strike. Tigers can be identified by their thick bodies and encicling yellow bands with a bright yellow bellies.

Dugites

The dugite (Pseudonaja affinis) is another dangerously venomous denizen of the Bibbulmun that you are very likely to encounter. A large snake (2 metres) coloured black to greyish brown with numerous random black spots on the back. Its belly is off-white to grey.

A preferred habitat is coastal shrubland and heath on sand dunes and its status is common. It is a nervous snake and will usually depart rapidly. But if cornered, it will quickly raise its body into an S shape and hiss. Time for you to also bunk off down the track.

The track exits West Cape Howe National Park at Torbay campsite. A mite dingy so I didn’t linger for a break and pressed on through a stand of she-oaks to stairs leading down to Cosy Corner beach. At the head of the stairs were expansive views eastwards across the ocean to The Sandpatch (tomorrow) and the headlands of Torndirrup.

Here the Bibbulmun turns north east, following the wide Cosy Corner beach. My first beach walk thus far, something to savour on this sunny afternoon with a tail wind in my sails. But the beach walking fizzled all too soon. My ever faithful Waugal signage posted me inland onto a somewhat confusing maze of tracks. Here I lost my Waugals and wandered off through a campground full of surfers, hippies and boomers. But with a bit of old school scrutiny of the Bibbs paper map and some backtracking, I picked up the Waugals again, which led me along the edge of an Environmental Education Centre where I popped out onto the lonely Perkins Beach.

Another enjoyable beach ramble on wide, hard sand and propelled along by the tailwind for several kilometres. This landed landed me at Torbay Inlet. The Torbay Inlet crossing had been a gnawing concern for me since the beginning of my planning.

If the channel is open to the ocean and running deep then the Torbay Inlet alternative route is a 19 kilometre bypass. Much of this a slog on dreary rural roads. But my guide notes left the door open and promised that an open channel can be waded with ‘extreme’ caution.

Torbay Inlet was named by mariner Matthew Flinders in 1801 after Tor Bay in Devon, England. Tor Bay was the home port of Admiral Richard Howe’s Channel Fleet. Matthew Flinders had served as a midshipman with Howe from 1793 to 1794. Captain Flinders is rightly famous for completing the first inshore circumnavigation of mainland Australia. (1802 to 1803) in the Investigator.

Best case scenario is that the Torbay channel is closed by the sand bar and no wading is required. Checking the Bibbs Facebook feed is very useful, but take into account tide times if the channel is reported to be crossable. Some details on the status of the crossing can be found on the Bibbs website. When onsite, wade across where the channel and ocean waters meet, as this point is often shallower than higher up the beach.

In any event the inlet was passable with knee deep wading at the ocean outlet. Another one and a half kilometres of beach walking lands you at the exit stairs leading up to Muttonbird Road Carpark.

About 130 metres off shore from the carpark is Shelter Island which is mistakenly referred to as Muttonbird Island. Muttonbird Island is the much smaller island immediately to the east of Shelter Island. This 100 hectare Class 1A Nature Reserve protects breeding colonies of the Flesh-footed Shearwater (Mutton Bird) and Little Penguins.

Section 3: Muttonbird Carpark to Sandpatch Carpark: 13.5 kms.

This is another outstanding section of the Bibbulmun as it parallels the coastline, curving gently eastwards. For most of the day it follows the dune crest with sand cliffs dropping 100 metres into the surf crashing in from the Southern Ocean.

To the west, over the bight, was the beach and headland coastline stretching between Muttonbird Island and the distant dark cliffs of Torbay Head. Eastwards were the wind turbines of Grasmere and Torndirrup. Good waypoints for today’s hike. Further east still was the impressive cliffed coastline of Torndirrup National Park. Inland were old friends, the Porongurups, now enveloped by low clouds.

Along today’s route are numerous high points and lookouts, ideal for spotting whales and dolphins. Although not today, as the Southern Ocean was a maelstrom of white caps and heaving rollers. We set out from Muttonbird on a wild and woolly day. Frequent scuds raced onshore, pushed along by steady 40 kph winds, gusting to over 60 kph. The day’s walking started at 11^OC and stayed there all day. For me, this was the bee’s knees of walking weather.

The Bibbulmun initially passes through property occupied by the Sporting Shooters Association. The red flag was an incentive to pick up the pace. The track climbs into a saddle at 100 metres allowing a view back to Torbay Head: in our direction of travel were the wind turbines, useful markers for the day’s progress; inland, the Lake Powell Nature Reserve.

After several kilometres the track cuts into Muttonbird campsite. Like most Bibby campsites it was well sheltered with all the usual accoutrements: three-sided shelter, firepit, toilet, tank and picnic bench. And plenty of tent sites. A spot of morning tea and we were on the march again.

Another 2.5 kilometres along the spine of the high sand ridge brought us to the enormous Grasmere Wind Farm, 17 turbines by my reckoning. Thence to Torndirrup Wind Farm, where we encountered some unexpected engineering turbulence.

Trackside, on a prominent yellow noticeboard :

Walkers are advised that there are concerns with the structural integrity of the wind turbine close to the Bibbulmun Track ahead. Walkers should stay on the track…do not linger in the vicinity of the wind turbine.

With said turbine only 100 metres from our path and winds gusting upwards of 60 kph, we scuttled through.

Safely across (12 turbines), we came to a lookout at the start of a long boardwalk which winds through thickets of wildflowers. Brilliant. But the gusty winds were something else. Each leg lift drove one inexorably inland, requiring a correction every few paces to stay on the boardwalk.

Wildflower Thickets

Not much further on we arrived at Sand Patch road. At the car park there are wind farm information signs and short trails giving a 360^o panorama including views of our destination, Albany. Also you can get scarily close to a turning wind turbine, hopefully structurally sound.

Here’s some guff I read on the information board that I thought was pretty interesting, but for you, possibly not:

• towers are 65 m high
• blades are 34 m long
• towers are set in 16 m depth of concrete
• blades start turning in 7 kph breeze
• at this speed each blade tip is travelling at 130 kph
• maximum power output is achieved in 50 kph winds
• in 125 kph winds the turbines shut down
• engineered to withstand 220 kph wind gusts
• the nacelle, the box at the top, is bigger than a double decker bus
• base tower circumference is 13.4 m. 7 people, finger tips touching

Sandpatch to Albany via Frenchmans Bay: 16 kms.

A shortish final section, weather as usual: cloudy, driving scuds pushed landward by 40 kph north – westerlies. Situation normal. No doubt an enjoyable section for E2Eers no matter what the walking conditions.

The Bibbulmun initially cuts through the north – west quadrant of Torndirrup, climbing over vegetated dune country at 100 to 140 metres. A little over one and half kilometres from Sandpatch car park you drop into Sandpatch campsite. Another well maintained camp.

But moving on. From several high points are excellent views north over Albany and Princess Royal Harbour and the distant Porongurups. Our last chance to take in these outstanding landscapes which had been part of our walking over the past four days.

Dropping from our vantage points we followed a network of 4WD tracks out to Frenchmans Bay Road. A concrete walking path shared by walkers, bikes and dogs skirts the Princess Royal Harbour for about four kilometres: flat, level and great harbour views. Unfortunately for E2Eers the path doesn’t parallel this magnificent harbour into central Albany. 

Princess Royal Harbour was named for Princess Charlotte Augusta Matilda, the first daughter of King George III. It was named by George Vancouver in HMS Discovery in 1791, the first European maritime explorer into the harbour.

A decade later, in 1801, Matthew Flinders dropped anchor in the harbour in his circumnavigation of Australia in the Investigator. Here he carried out necessary repairs and established a shore base on the beach. This allowed more survey work and collection of plants by the botanist Robert Brown. Flinders’ log makes reference to amicable relationships with the local ‘natives’. 

In fact, the final three kilometres are pretty disappointing and must be an anticlimax for those hardy E2E types. The track wanders off through an industrial zone, across railway tracks, and then disappears into suburban streets around the southern slopes of Mt Melville. On the plus side, we saw some impressive historical stone and brick architecture .

Especially interesting for my generation of Queenslanders growing up in 1950s and 1960s with a suburban housing landscape typically timber clad with corrugated iron roofing, sometimes perched on wooden/concrete stumps. But time marches on and Queensland suburbia is now rubbish architecture of lowset brick- on -slab.  Usually capped by black tiled roofs. In the subtropics. Vale the Queenslander.

Still, a decent feed at one of Albany’s many excellent cafes/restaurants and a Waugal fridge magnet from the Albany Visitors Centre soon put our world in order again.

And so ended some memorable days of Bibbulmun walking. All as promised: brilliant scenery, wildflowers and wild weather. I’ll certainly be back for more before I hang up the old hiking boots.

For those with plenty of fuel still left in their tanks. The challenging Bald Head walk. Torndirrup National Park.

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