July 9th, 2021

Days km: 33.6km
Total km: 653.2km

A big day was on the cards, so I was up and away by 6am. After crossing River Road bridge (and taking a 10 minute wrong turn at the end of it), the trail followed along the Warren River, so there were lots of short, sharp, ups and downs. It was fun, and got the blood pumping on a cool morning. 

Harry caught up with me not long after the bridge, I hadn’t expected to see him for a while, given he was fast asleep when I left. I tried to convince myself he had only caught up  because of my wrong turn earlier, but really, Harry walked pretty damn fast and I did not. I did my best to speed up, so we could walk and talk for an hour or so, which made me feel pretty good about myself. Maybe I didn’t hike with the pace of a sloth after all! 

Then Harry said he needed to stretch his legs a bit, that he’d see me in Northcliffe, and then he stepped on the gas and was gone. That was a little deflating, but I felt some relief when I slowed back to my normal, glacial, pace.

After the river, the track leveled out somewhat, but then the rain started. And it was honestly the first proper rain I’ve had on the trail, it absolutley bucketed down and did not ease off until the late afternoon. I reached Schafer campsite at around midday, stopped for a quick snack, signed the book and then pushed on to Northcliffe. It looked liked a really nice shelter, and it was close to a large pond (or small lake) which would be ace for swimming in more clement weather. Maybe next time.

The rest of the walk was relatively flat, but there was a lot of water in the track, especially near the farm paddocks. There was a fair bit of wading required for sections of 10 to 20 metres, most ankle deep, but some bits for up to my knees. So I looked like a drowned rat by the time I got into town.

Accommodation at the pub is basic but good, and thank the gods the mattress is firm. I felt back to normal after a warm shower, a change of clothes and a choccy milk (why am I craving this stuff?). There are no laundry facilities at the pub, but they took pity on me and gracioulsey let me dry my clothes in their dryer which will make tomorrow a lot more pleasant.

I bumped into Joel again, he had got in from Schafer hut at midday and was taking a zero in town tomorrow, seeing as he couldn’t in Pemberton. Northcliffe is smaller than Dwellingup, but it has a pub, a general store and a cafe. Its not great for a hiker resupply, but you can definitely stock up on the town food.

I got another choccy milk (I may have a problem) at the general store and had my traditional Chicken Parmi at the pub, alas, it was the worst, and smallest, on the trail. Had a good chat with Harry about things and stuff over a few pints cider and we checked the map, marvelling at how far we had come already. We’ll be seeing the coast soon.