Day 1 Cape to Cape

Beginning our journey Day 1

Bill, our tour guide and bus driver drove us to Yallinyup to begin our journey.
Some of the girls were having problems with their water bladders and sorting out the problems before hitting the track.  Our journey had a promising start on a 4WD track, the sand compacted and easy to walk on.  Less than thirty minutes later we stood before a monstrous hill of rocks with the little Cape to Cape sign leading the way.  The girls dubbed it, 'Heart Attack Hill' as we scaled over it cautiously ensuring our footing and sighing with relief as we reached the top. Bill is a wizard of local information and stopped at the look out of Castle Rock to not only to allow us to peer with delight at the splendour but provide local history also.  Today our 18km hike took us over seven hours to complete.  The limestone outcrops, loose rocks and uneven terrain slowed our pace. We scrambled over rocks, carefully descended multiple pine log steps, scaled hundred of steps towards the cliffs and trudged through kilometres of soft white sand of numerous beaches.  No sooner had we mastered the pine logs and walked along the amazing beaches but we were once again scaling steps once again to the tops of the cliffs.  The weather was a warm 27℃, too hot for a long walk.  My water bladder was bone dry when I returned to the apartment later.


Views from one of the many Cliff tops

A group of girls and one bloke talking about their (water) bladders added a little fun to the day.  It was a day to help each other when necessary and begin the bonds of friendship.  Many of us took photos from the cliff tops overlooking the pristine beaches and frolicking surf below.  We were awed at the continuous change in vegetation on both the cliff tops and cliff surfaces. We saw red flowering gum trees, beautiful orange banksias in flower along the track.  Throughout the day the coolness of the breeze from the ocean revitalised us and kept us moving forward.  Lunch was an ordinary affair with most of us eating our warm salad rolls and relaxing in the shade.  Bill pointed out the large shadow shapes in the ocean explaining the shadows are actually the running of our local salmon.  Unlike Atlantic and Tasmanian Salmon they lack taste and are only caught for cat food.  Before our day finished we passed a mass of small rocks sitting idly in the shallows.  We sat on the rocks, some of us paddling our feet in the freshness of the ocean.  It was a mystical moment.


Our Mystical Memory in the shallows