Australian Hiker

Start: 7:56 am

Finish: 2:31 pm

Distance: 15km

Second last day on-trail and according to the guidebook ‘perhaps the easiest day on the GSWW…’ general consensus of the four people travelling today was NOT!  Don’t get me wrong this is a short day at 15km but it wasn’t easy.

The walk down to beach was easy and once reaching the beach I stripped off my rain jacket because I was starting to overheat.

The beach walk itself wasn’t a problem but with the incoming tide, the highest of the week, but also the latest, there was the occasional short run to keep my feet dry.

The guidebook talks about the marker post but it’s long gone. I had three people ahead of me and they managed to correctly identify an opening in the dune with some rubbish but no marker. This is a brutal part of coastline with hide tides often reaching, and decaying the dunes so it’s no wonder theses markers disappear.

Off the beach I go. Up, and up, and up, until I reach the top of the cliffs.  I had already taken a break at this stage only to discover a seat at the top. Great views but the hardest slog of the day.

From here the walk consisted of cliff top walking on the whole with the occasional walk through undulating bushland. Some of the cliff walking came right to the edge of the cliff line and while not a direct drop off, but rather a steep slope following cliff, if you have a fear of heights then beware particularly on days like this one with strong offshore winds blowing.

The first anticipated stop was at the lighthouse and not so much for the tourism aspect but rather the cafe. Today’s hikers were all on a mission to get there but discovered that the current management has extended the opening hours from what’s in the guidebook. It’s worth phoning ahead to double check on the hours.

The food and drinks were much needed and my stop amounted to 70 minutes but given I only had another 30 minutes to go to reach Mallee Camp, I wasn’t in a hurry.

The last section of the trail was very well groomed as it also catered for day tourists as well as thru’ hikers. I reached camp and found my fellow travellers already set up and settled in.

This campsite was as far as the shelter went, back to normal with a rectangular table (but this one is much better). The main difference was the tent pads which were essentially sand boxes with shade cloth topping. Nice flat surface but it requires you to get creative with pegging to minimise any damage to the surface.

Supposedly there is an issue here at this campsite with possums but we’ll see – everyone is taking precautions by keeping their gear inside tents.

So was this the easiest day of the trip? Short answer no it wasn’t. I’ve had easier days in the northern section of the trail. It was however a good day!