Three walking tours at The Cove, Denmark

I’ve just finished 3 trips based at the beautiful Cove at Denmark. Situated right on Wilson Inlet amongst karri, tingle and jarrah, where could you find a better place to be? We didn’t have fantastic weather, I would have liked a bit more sunshine. But I still managed to partake of the southern ocean! And besides it’s rather nice returning from a walk to a cottage warmed by a wood fire.

The first trip was a group of friends who had come over from Victoria and NSW just to do the walk. My brief was to choose the best 5 days walking in the area. I chose 2 days between Albany and Denmark, 2 between Walpole and Denmark and the final day was the fabulous Bald head walk at Albany.

I have to say they were a rowdy bunch- the evening briefings were very loud! But lots of fun and laughter. An easy group to walk with- they were happy with everything. And very competitive-the FF award was eagerly contested each day. The flowers were absolutely at their most impressive and Di’s cooking greatly appreciated. And I suspect the Denmark Liquor Store was very happy with the week’s takings!

The second trip was our Albany to Denmark walk. Again the flowers were amazing and the group, although more sober than the Waddell’s, was very good company. And some rather clever poets among them:

Firstly the Ballad from Michele and Gerard:

Ballad on the Bibbulmun

From the four corners of the world they had come

To walk the mighty Bibbulmun,

With Pam, a woman of fame

A tough leader, but humane.

She’ll bandage your toes

And hear your woes

and shoot you if you get lame.

And if you think this is a spoof

Beware, I have the proof!

(exhibit 1: human remnants found on the track)

The first night she said:” tomorrow is easy’

Which caused among us some glances queasy,

For what was easy for such a lass in fine fettle,

Could be for us a fish from a different kettle.

But we shouted as one

(the wine by now all gone)

Our fists punching the air:

‘Pam, we will follow you anywhere!’

The frog award gave incentive

For folks to be highly inventive.

But the best prize of all,

Was for the one, short or tall

Who kept their eyes down and succeeded

To find the rare helmet orchid.

The reason why this task was hardest

Was that the elusive orchid had flowered last August.

So behold you all, Bibbulmun walkers

Take Pam’s advice, not that of mere talkers:

Inspiration from outdoor recreation

Takes pain and perspiration,

Though an Alf and Di’s meal and a roaring fire

Could suddenly make life a whole lot less dire.

So, soon we will again be picking up our packs

And roaming once more the Bibbulmun track

Because, Pam,

‘WE WILL FOLLOW YOU ANYWHERE!’

And then the wonderful trilogy from Cath:

At the end of each day, what a wonderful sight for us

To see our Alf waiting in his spotless white bus.

Whilst we’re walking the track it’s a mystery what Alf does -

We don’t REALLY believe the stories he has told us.

He’s a quiet achiever – a really nice guy.

We’re ever so grateful, and that’s sure no lie!

Thank you Alf.

There is a young lady called Di

Who made an unbelievable lemon pie.

With her lamb and her chicken – her veges and pasta

You’ve never seen plates empty any faster.

She has smiling eyes and is so full of fun

We’ve really enjoyed having her as our ‘Mum’.

Thank you Di.

For five days Pam’s been our illustrious leader

Where on earth would have we been without her?

Whether orchids or snakes, blisters or a tick -

We just had to ask and she knew all about it!

We felt safe under her wing

Each day her praises we’d sing

When next we need adventure

We’ll give her a ring.

Thank you Pam for everything.

The final walk was the Walpole-Denmark epic. This year I deliberately reversed the direction and I felt it worked out much better. We had the shorter walking days combined with the longer travel distances at the start of the week and our travel gradually got shorter and the walks longer as the week progressed. We had our heaviest downpour this week, but not for long. And we still managed a beautiful swim at Green’s Pool, on Lorraine’s birthday.

Three people- Greg, Debbie (from the UK) and Jennifer completed both walks- covering the 200km from Albany to Walpole,Jennifer with a gammy kmee for the second week. We had several overseas visitors-Violet was with us again from the UK, Debbie also from the UK and Helga’s friend Anna was over from rom Germany. It’s great to be able to show people from overseas what gems we have in the south west. And then of course we had the 10 easterners from the Waddell bunch, and also Kerrie from NSW. And what I like to see most of all are all the regulars who have walked with me before.

Talking of regulars, we saw our share of the slithering things- some lovely snakes of various sizes, along with lots of roos, some dead mardos (it turns out mardos die after mating!), our charming bobtails, whales and lots of birds, ably identified by Lorraine. The flowers were exceptional with some interesting orchids including the slipper orchid, a blue china and a collection of spider orchids.

Oh and we even managed some dancing with the locals and a local theatre production too. See photos below.

To view all the photos from any of these trips click here

To view details of The Cove click here