Limping into Pemberton after walking 110km in five days on a left foot sporting multiple injuries, I was finally able to call a halt to proceedings to give my foot the time it needed to heal. And if this decision was initially cause for disappointment - understandable given that the prior section of the Bibbulmun Track had been my favourite so far, with a number of friends made along the way - then this soon dissipated once I saw the forecast for week: seven days worth of rain! But with the only budget in Pemberton consisting of a single dorm room at the local backpackers hostel - left open solely for the benefit of Bibbulmun Track walkers - I decided to take the coach a couple of hours southeast to the coastal town of Denmark to stay at the lovely little Blue Wren Travellers Rest.
While admittedly it felt like cheating to reach Denmark in just two hours - when it would have taken me two weeks on foot - there was no question that I had made the right decision once I walked in the door and was instantly absorbed into the little family of
travellers (mostly hikers) staying at the Blue Wren. Each evening the entire population of the hostel would gather around the large dining table to swap stories; and though our never numbered more than ten, this was probably just as well given there were only eight chairs to sit on. And nobody wants to be the one that misses out. For the next five days I did not much at all, which was exactly what my foot needed. Steadfastly refusing to wear shoes (or walk more than 500 metres in any direction) on the odd occasion that I did leave the hostel, I tried my best to bring the socks and back into fashion. Little did I realise that in Denmark this look had never gone out of fashion.
After five restful days in Denmark, I decided a change of scenery was in order - so this time I took a coach an hour back along the Track to the tiny town of Walpole, which occupies one of the most beautiful locations on the South Coast, with twin inlets to the south and magnificent karri and tingle forests in every other direction. If the Blue Wren
had felt like a home away from home in Denmark, then the Tingle All Over hostel in Walpole offered an sanctuary. But where the weather in Denmark had been characterised by gloomy skies and light drizzle, Walpoles weather would prove to be much more For four straight days it would regularly alternate between blue skies and torrential downpours... it was like being in the Tropics, except for the frigid temperatures! But with books to read, fellow hikers to chat to, and a fire going in room every night, I was as snug as the proverbial bug on a rug!
And given that Walpole was about days walk beyond Pemberton, it was only a matter of time until some of the people I had met on the Track further north started filtering into town... and with only the one hostel in Walpole I simply had to sit back and wait for them to roll on in! Stuart arrived only a few hours after me, followed two days later by Chris and Tyler; but unfortunately there had not been any sign of David and Teresa, which wasnt surprising given their relaxed pace. I calculated that they
would be due to arrive in Walpole on the Wednesday, but given that I would have already spent five days in town by then - on top of the five days in Denmark - I decided that if I was ever going to make it back out onto the Track, then Wednesday would have to be the day. Hell, the weather forecast was even predicting a day!
Having had every intention of returning to Pemberton to resume my walk from where I had left the Track, I had a change of heart and decided instead to simply continue on from Walpole to Albany. This was largely due to the fact that the section between Pemberton and Walpole (which measures 200km and would most likely take me nine days featured extensive sections of Track that were still inundated from the wet winter, and which would no doubt have been topped up by all of the recent rainfall.
