Cape to Cape Track
Last week I walked the 135km Cape to Cape Track in the south-west of Western Australia, from Cape Naturaliste to Cape Leeuwin. A most enjoyable experience, give or a take a few boring, deep sand 4WD tracks!
At the start.
The first 3km is wheelchair accessible.
Routine coastal scenery!
Major track marker. (The ocean slopes upwards to the right in many of my photos!)
The usual track markers, many of which are not in very useful places. Why you wouldn't put them at intersections instead of 100m past the intersections is beyond me, unless there used to be markers at those places and they've been knocked over / souvenired.
A rocky part of the track. The arrow shows the track marker.
Many of the beaches were very wide by Perth standards.
Abseiling spot, that looks less impressive than it was because I was also up high.
Regrowth after a 2011 fire that went all the way to the beach:
Track marker that didn't regrow:
Dog courtesy of photographer.
An overgrown section:
It's not all sand:
Redgate Beach with particularly nice ocean colours!
The forest part was less enjoyable than I expected, since it was all on 4WD tracks rather than dedicated walking tracks. These spots were highlights, but not representative of the whole.
The longest continuous beach stretch: 6.5km on a 4WD / fishing beach. Fortunately the sand wasn't as deep as in some other places. The novelty of watching vehicles drive up and down (and get bogged!) kept me entertained.
These blowholes were amazing, but none of my photos do them any justice. The waves created sounds like someone beating a giant drum and flushing a giant toilet. Many different kinds of crabs scuttled away as I walked by.
Stopping to read instructions on another beach, something I should have done more frequently. My failure to do so increased the last day from 27km to 30km!
Best wildlife encounter of the week, a monitor lizard or goanna:
At the finish! I arrived just after the lighthouse closed, so couldn't get any closer than this.
I did it the comparatively easy way where you stay in pleasant accommodation, don't have to carry a full pack and can step straight into the shower at the end of each day. Carrying a full pack in either hotter or stormy weather would turn this from a reasonably challenging walk into a much more difficult one. There isn't much shade, sometimes none at all for hours at a time, and some of the beach sections are in deeper sand than I'd ever experienced. On the other hand, navigation is generally straightforward - you can't go too far wrong to the west! It's also fun and refreshing to be able to dip your feet in the water (or swim, if you're so inclined) many times a day. Spending a week doing this makes for an ideal break!
At the start.
The first 3km is wheelchair accessible.
Routine coastal scenery!
Major track marker. (The ocean slopes upwards to the right in many of my photos!)
The usual track markers, many of which are not in very useful places. Why you wouldn't put them at intersections instead of 100m past the intersections is beyond me, unless there used to be markers at those places and they've been knocked over / souvenired.
A rocky part of the track. The arrow shows the track marker.
Many of the beaches were very wide by Perth standards.
Abseiling spot, that looks less impressive than it was because I was also up high.
Regrowth after a 2011 fire that went all the way to the beach:
Track marker that didn't regrow:
Dog courtesy of photographer.
An overgrown section:
It's not all sand:
Redgate Beach with particularly nice ocean colours!
The forest part was less enjoyable than I expected, since it was all on 4WD tracks rather than dedicated walking tracks. These spots were highlights, but not representative of the whole.
The longest continuous beach stretch: 6.5km on a 4WD / fishing beach. Fortunately the sand wasn't as deep as in some other places. The novelty of watching vehicles drive up and down (and get bogged!) kept me entertained.
These blowholes were amazing, but none of my photos do them any justice. The waves created sounds like someone beating a giant drum and flushing a giant toilet. Many different kinds of crabs scuttled away as I walked by.
Stopping to read instructions on another beach, something I should have done more frequently. My failure to do so increased the last day from 27km to 30km!
Best wildlife encounter of the week, a monitor lizard or goanna:
At the finish! I arrived just after the lighthouse closed, so couldn't get any closer than this.
I did it the comparatively easy way where you stay in pleasant accommodation, don't have to carry a full pack and can step straight into the shower at the end of each day. Carrying a full pack in either hotter or stormy weather would turn this from a reasonably challenging walk into a much more difficult one. There isn't much shade, sometimes none at all for hours at a time, and some of the beach sections are in deeper sand than I'd ever experienced. On the other hand, navigation is generally straightforward - you can't go too far wrong to the west! It's also fun and refreshing to be able to dip your feet in the water (or swim, if you're so inclined) many times a day. Spending a week doing this makes for an ideal break!