After the beautiful hike we did the weekend before, I decided to sign up to another one with Trail Hiking Australia (WA) right away. This time, we hiked along the famous Bibbulmun Track, a long-distance walking trail running from Kalamunda in the east of Perth to Albany and measuring 1,003 kilometres. The trail is signposted by yellow, triangle signs with the Wagyl, or Rainbow Serpent, a snakelike Dreamtime creature stemming from the Noongar culture.
With temperatures in Perth rising steadily now that summer is here, we met even earlier than last week, at 6 am at Ye Olde Narrogin Inne, a historic pub dating back to 1853, which used to be the first building in the township of Armadale in the Perth Hills. From there, we carpooled over the carpark for Sullivan Rock, where we commenced 15-km our hike. The hike was classified a 3 out of 5, and our hiking leader Andrew had told us before that it’s one of the most beautiful hikes around Perth. He didn’t lie!
Crossing the car park, we walked briefly through some bushland and then ascended over the bare rock surface of Sullivan Rock. From here, we could already enjoy views all over the forested area of the Perth Hills. We kept left and had to ascend slightly more before turning onto the Bibbulmun Track. Many wildflowers were still out and blooming as we hiked along, among them some beautiful purple wild orchids. Orchids like those grow in many different colours all over Australia’s southwest. For most of the hike, we were overlooking the beautiful hills and scenery surrounding us. In contrast to the hike last week, the ascent on this hike is more continuous and less than halfway through it, my glutes and hamstrings were already on fire.
We also passed Mt Vincent and Mt Cuthbert on our way to Monadnocks campsite, where hikers of the Bibbulmun Track will find a bush toilet and shelter with picnic area. The shelter has two bunk beds that would comfortably fit a couple or even three people in each bed. These shelters are available at a first come first serve basis. Groups of more than eight can only sleep in the shelter if there is enough space after 6 pm, otherwise they’ll need to put up tents and leave the shelter for individuals or smaller groups. There is no drinking water on the trail or in the shelter, hence hikers need to bring their own water and supplies as well as take them back again.
We had our morning tea at the shelter, which was lovely and shady. After our lunch, we headed back a slightly different route, following our fearless leader back to the car park. Turning right onto the Bibbulmun Track from Sullivan Rock, it’s possible to hike to Mt Cooke, at 582 metres the highest point in the Darling Range. The roundtrip to the summit is 18.4 km return – I’ll have to save that for another occasion. 😊
