Day 36: Donnelly River Village to Tom Road
We acknowledge the Nyoongar People as the traditional custodians of the land and waters along the Bibbulmun Track
Today’s pleasantly contouring walk is cruisy, and the trees are spectacular.
Overview Map. Use the Bibbulmun Track Foundation Map 5: Pemberton
Back on the track with an easier day of 16.2km and an elevation gain of only 280m
More of that purple and yellow, but there is less understorey when we are in the karri.
Geoff admires a humungous termite mound
A leucistic (white form) of Pterostylis karri
We pass through a small area of blackbutt (Eucalyptus patens) with brown rather than grey (jarrah) or white (karri) trunks.
Small streamlets and little bridges are everywhere.
Fungi growing on fungi on old stumps.
Wow. It’s hard to convey the scale of the karri, but they can reach 90m (295ft), making them the tallest tree in Western Australia and one of the two tallest flowering hardwoods in the world (the other is the Mountain Ash, E. regnans in Victoria and Tasmania). Because we’ve been walking for so long through different trees, coming into this new forest is so much more rewarding than when you flash through in your car covering hundreds of kilometres in a day. When you walk, even people with little plant knowledge pick up all kinds of subtleties.
Purple Hovea and yellow Bossiaea
And soon we’re in camp: there’s even a woodshed with an axe! We’ve been following a group of Year 10 lads - none are old enough to drive - who are staying at the hut to farewell one of the party; he’s won a scholarship to a private school. Because of their age and our desire not to cramp their style should they want to party late, we camp a little distance from the hut.
Another lovely pitch but again raked carefully clear of any leaf material that might provide protection from muddy splashback.
It quickly becomes apparent that we need not have worried about noise: these are smart non-alpha nerds who will inherit the world and make wonderful husbands and fathers. There they are at the edge of the river. It’s way too cold to swim but this hut would be fantastic fun in warmer weather.
Later, the departing boy teaches the others how to play poker. They bet with gravel and argue good-naturedly about how to light the fire (the one who actually knows is overridden, but the flames eventually sputter to life). No alcohol, no drugs - they are having a great time without them. It’s heart-warming. What a shame that most of us tend not to recognise let alone value such lovely qualities when we are young ourselves!
View from the hut down to the Donnelly River.
Although it’s too cold for us to swim, the flat rock on the river’s edge is the perfect place to cool feet and tendons. It’s been a delightful day and tomorrow promises to be another. How lucky we are to have this amazing track right here in Australia!
Huts are shared, communal sleeping quarters, with all the delights and disadvantages those bring. Geoff and I both snore at times, and if one of us wakes in communal sleeping quarters and hears the other snoring, we’ll give each other a nudge to roll over as we do at home. But it is what it is. To protect the guilty who left whingeing sprays about snorers and noisy sleeping mats in other logbooks some time ago, I’ve placed my response to them here rather than on the nights and huts they complained (not about us, but someone else):
“Communal sleeping spaces are a joy. You get to meet so many interesting people, and the enforced physical closeness, especially over many days, often engenders a wonderful intimacy.
“Whether it’s huts here, or in New Zealand, or rifulgias in Europe, communal sleeping quarters are all the same. ALL of them recommend you bring earplugs, which are a choice. Sadly, snoring is not, as many longstanding couples (ahem!) will attest.
“Fortunately, on the Bibbulmun, those who find sharing their sleeping quarters with others difficult always have a perfect alternative: a tent! The campsites are lovely, and sometimes we use a tent, sometimes we don’t. Depends on the weather. Depends on how tired we are. Depends on the number of people in the hut. It never depends on people’s sleeping habits, or their mats!”
You have a choice to get angry about others’ sleeping habits, or not. Why waste the energy when you have two stress-free alternatives?
