The Bibbulmun Track - in 50 images

In the early part of 2021, I was living at my Dad's place in Albany, WA. I told him that I thought I'd like to go and see Mum who lives in Perth. He said he thought that was a great idea. However, when I asked if I could borrow the car, he said "No, you can walk." And so I did.

I walked the Bibbulmun Track, a 1000km (600 mile) bushwalk that winds its way from Albany to Perth. (The route is about 400km as the crow flies, but no crows were willing to give me a ride - they were about as helpful as my dad.)

The journey took me just over 50 days to complete. 

Here are 50 images (or videos or sound files) to give you a sense of the trek: that is, one per 20kms or one per day. 

Enjoy the spectacular beauty of the south-west of Western Australia - without the heat, the flies, the camping, or the walking!

 #1 View across Princess Royal Harbour (Albany) 

 

#2 Large snake on the track (Sandpatch) 

 

#3 Looking back over the path travelled from Torbay towards Albany

 

 #4 Best table in the house (West Cape Howe)

#5 Leaving Peaceful Bay

#6 Conspicuous Beach (Rame Head)

#7 Pleated Princess red tinglewood tree (Giants)

 

#8 Paperbark trees (Walpole)

#9 Hear the buzz? An ancient Aboriginal meridian perhaps? (Walpole to Mt Clare)

 

#10 Crystal clear fresh water (Long Point to Mandalay Beach)

 

#11 Wreck of the Mandalay (Mandalay Beach)

#12 Sunset over Broke Inlet (Woolbales)

 

#13 Leaf litter (Woolbales to Mt Chance)

#14 We're in the Farkarwe territory

#15 Misty view (Mt Chance)

 

#16 Wildflowers & rainbow (Pingerup Plains)

 

#17 Camouflage (Lake Maringup)

 

#18 River reflections (Gardner)

 

#19 A swim stop (Shafer)

 

#20 There is one bus-stop on the Bibb track. And no buses! (Shafer to Warren)

 

#21 Dawn at the hut (Warren)

 

#22 A side-trip! (Pemberton)

#23 Ferocious drop-bears have peeled this giant karri like a banana (Beedleup)

 

#24 Log crossing day (Beavis to Chappell Bridge)

 

#25 Celebrating at the halfway point with some mates (Donnelly River)

#26 This here's the wattle / it's the emblem of our land / you can put it in a bottle / you can hold it in your hand (Monty Python)

 #27 Butterfly beauty (Gregory Brook)

#28 Heartbreak hill (Blackwood)

#29 Click this link to hear cockatoos, the original, noisy Australians ... 'How's the serenity?' (Blackwood to Balingup)

 

#30 Autumn colors courtesy of some Northern hemisphere migrants (Balingup)

 

 #31 "Reserved for bridal party" Perhaps the bride is running unfashionably late? Or changed her mind? (Balingup to Grimwade)

#32 Fairy house in the forest (Grimwade!)

#33 Cold & wet (Noggerup)

#34 Coral on trail? It's a kind of fungus. (Jabberup)

 

#35 A controlled, cool, low-level burn to prevent wild bushfire later (Collie)

 

#36 Shades of gray (Harris Dam)

#37 Regrowth showing hardiness of Aussie bush after a bushfire (Yourdamung)

#38 Killing fields - sundews / drosera are carnivorous flowers that attract and devour vegans! (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drosera) (Possum Springs)

 

 #39 Humungous fungus (Swamp Oak)

#40 A fantastic swimming hole (Lane Poole Reserve near Swamp Oak)

#41 Colourful cycads fruiting in the rain. DO NOT eat! (Dwellingup)

#42 Lunch stop in a long deserted railway station (Etmylin)

 #43 A strange fungus... I think! (Chadoora)

#44 Australian autumn colours caused by a fire. Expand the image and you'll see a native Aussie in the middle ground checking me out. (Mt Wells)

 

#45 View from the top. (Mt Cooke)

 

#46 Spider engineering makes Brunel, Eiffel and Utzon look like novices. Here's a link to the video in case the embed below doesn't work! (Mt Dale)

 

 

#47 Dunny (toilet) with best view in the world (Waalegh) 

 

#48 A funnel web spider

 

#49 The yellow wattle that Napoleon III stole from Australia, planted in the south of France and re-named "mimosa"

 

 

#50 Bush fire-works to celebrate completion of Bibbulmun track (Here's a link to the video if you're interested)