2007 Cape to Cape Walk – What An Amazing Trip

Our first two Cape to Cape walks were based in Augusta at Sheoak Chalets. And how comfortable we were! Steve looked after us very well and we had great chalets with wonderful views. Diane as per usual created her masterpieces, and Alf was always a welcome sight at the end of the day.

I didn’t actually walk a lot of the time, as I was trying to rest my nagging Achilles tendon. Rick Curtis led the walk and I must admit I did feel a touch guilty on those bleak days as everyone headed out into the cold and wet. However spirits were high and the sun did appear later in the week.

One of the highlights was the crossing of the Margaret River- by canoe. As a result of our heavy late winter rains (including the night before the crossing), all the creeks were flowing much higher than usual. The Margaret River even had surge waves in it. We had to cross several hundred metres upstream and at least the canoe meant everyone and their belongings stayed dry.

Some of the other crossings were conducted in a less conventional manner! The second walk was a private group- my neighbours and 10 of their friends in fact! Just like the first walk we covered day 1 (Cape Naturaliste to Yallingup) on the way down from Perth. That seemed to work well. This group enjoyed much better weather with the sun shining every day. A visit to Pat and Tim Negus is always inspiring and on this occasion they also joined us for dinner one evening as Chris and Pat had become friends many years ago when they both taught at Narrogin High School.

The final Cape to Cape was very different- we had a couple of very hot days and fly nets were in demand. An international flavour was provided by Barbara and Derek from the UK and Liz and Pauline (and Jane by default) from NZ. We also had 3 from Victoria to complement all the locals. The hot weather did mean we had some great swims, although even I had to admit the water was a touch chilly on occasions.

So that’s it for me now, I’ve just done some astronavigation with kids; now I’m off on holidays! The 2008 progamme will be out in January; if you’re not already on the mailing list, sign up now – the newsletter recipients will be the first to hear about the 2008 dates.