Days 34 and 35: Gregory Brook to Donnelly River Village and Rest Day, DRV

Jul 29

We acknowledge the Nyoongar People as the traditional custodians of the land and waters along the Bibbulmun Track

We will soon reach Donnelly River Village and I am already looking forward to this unique town with its seventies atmosphere.

This section would once again have been a top twenty day, but it’s one that we decided to split into two days when reassessing in Balingup; now these are amongst the easiest 15 days of the whole hike. Conveniently, Willow Springs aka Davies campsite, although not a Bibbulmun Track hut, lies neatly halfway. You’ll find a table under cover as well as picnic tables in the open, plus a toilet.

Aerial image overview of Bibbulmun Track the main track in blue, the section from Balingup to Pemberton in yellow and the days hike in red — Overview map. Use Bibbulmun Track Foundation Map 4 Blackwood

Aerial image of the days hike with elevation graph, track is in red — Distance and Elevation details for the two days: Gregory Brook to Willow Springs (10.3 km) and Willow Springs to Donnelly River Village (12.7km)

We are still walking through amazing corridors of colour. The sheer mass of flowers is exhilarating.

Yellow water bush *(Bossiaea aquifolium)* and orange red coral pea *(Kennedia coccinea)*

hiking track through forest with dense understory with masses of purple and yellow flowers either side — And so many vignettes comprising combinations of colour. Here, purple *Hovea* and yellow *Bossiaea*

close up of different shrubs with white flowers and yellow flowers — Creamy white *Clematis* threading through yellow *Bossiaea*…

purple Hovea — … and purple *Hovea*. Delightful.

And then, suddenly, after weeks and weeks of jarrah, we’re at last into the first of the karri forest *(Eucalyptus diversicolor)*! How exciting to be below these giants of the eucalypt world! The long shards of bark on the forest floor make for a completely different understorey, too.

close up of small green hooded orchid — And a *Pterostylis*, probably *P. karri.*

Tent pitched on leafy cleared are next to small three sided steel hut with rainwater tank — But today’s distance is refreshingly short and soon we arrive at Davies Camp, aka Willow Springs. The Mundabiddy Bike Trail often intersects with the Bibbulmun, but the Warren Blackwood Stock Route, which intersects the Bibbulmun here, is a horseriding trail, and the hut is set up for riders. There’s a corral nearby. We investigate the hut but the steel design is icy, so we decide to set up the tent.

historic photo of stockmen on their horses with cattle dogs — An older couple is exploring the grounds and we meet up at the interpretive signs on the hut for a chat. It is Mandy and Doddy Davies and yes indeed, Doddy is of the Davies family. That’s Doddy’s father on the right, and Doddy shares wonderful stories of when he himself drove the stock before the advent of bitumen roads stopped the practice. The horse trail was organised by the droving families, with all the huts named after them.

hiker sittign at table under veranda next to camp fire — We have arrived in camp quite early and have plenty of time to gather wood, light a fire and boil a cuppa.

laughing hiker holding up score sheet from card game she won by a lot — Winners are grinners! We also take advantage of the table to play a few games of mini Iota, one of the few card games where my visual spatial skills allow me to keep up with Geoff’s strategic thinking ones. This is the only game we brought with us. I ordered mini playing cards from Amazon as well but didn’t bother to check the dimensions and when they arrived they were toy ones about the size of my thumbnail - completely useless!

hikier walking along easy graded gravel road through forest — The next day is wet, but the quiet roads and forest are beautiful, with rolling terrain and no steep or long climbs: great for recovering tendons! Forest types don’t delineate cleanly, of course: there’s a mixture of jarrah and karri, with one or the other predominating depending on the terrain.

hiker walking along gravel road called snake road — More jarrah and, happily, the rain stops. We don’t see any snakes, it’s still too cold.

hiker walking across old rustic bridge over stream — There seems to be significantly more water about, too, which makes sense as karri grows in a higher rainfall region. Here’s Geoff surveying one of many small streams from a mossy bridge.

close up of 30 or 40 little green orchids with green hooded flowers growing on log — *Pterostylis* growing on a log. Our collective noun for these is a Party of *Pterostylis* because they always look like a gathering of people at a party, with a few looking a little worse for wear. There’s often a latecomer who’s still raging after everyone else has set seed and gone home, and the loner out at the edge with no friends to talk to. When you’re thru-hiking, you make your fun where you can!

hiker walking along gravel road with tall slender tress either side — And nearly at Donnelly River Village. Just look at those tall, tall pale karri trunks. Aren’t they fabulous!

picture of small table in café with tea and coffee and cake — Donnelly River Village is unique in Australia. Its history is fascinating but right now all we want is a warm spot by the open fireplace, tea in a china cup (Geoff has a coffee) and yummy things like hamburgers to eat. Once again rain is bucketing down outside and we make ourselves comfortable before heading to our lodgings for the next two nights.

picture of two very basic looking three sided timber huts — You can stay in free hiker accommodation in town in these shelters, which are serviceable but not especially inviting…

… or, if you’ve booked ahead as we have, you can stay in one of the old loggers’ cottages. If you share with other hikers, the price is reasonable and indeed some other hikers do exactly that.

Rest Day Donnelly River Village

picture of opulent breakfast goose egg omelette with kahl and toast — Luuuuuuuxurry! The little shop was selling goose eggs and fresh leafy vegetables so we make an omelette for breakfast.

hiker sitting on comfortable sofa in lounge room next to wood fire — The small loggers’ cottages are all available for rent. Firewood is stacked in the enclosed back verandah - a communal woodheap is nearby - and there is an outhouse. These cottages are a delight…

a simple kitchen but it has all you could ask for — … and just look at that kitchen! Unfortunately we can’t use the Metter. This old logging town with its falling-down timber mill is frozen in time.

The ABC says that the mill closed in 1978, and in 2008 the entire precinct of 35 cottages was put on the market for AUD$3 million.

Sue Hall had been looking for a forest getaway and, after visiting the village, she set about finding a way to secure her dream. She advertised through social media and an ad in the paper, seeking like-minded heritage lovers interested in joining her in buying the 1950s mill cottages.

Under a new legal partnership, the 35 cottages were each offered for $75,000, giving each owner a one in 35 share in the village.

At a time when crowdfunding was uncommon, the response was phenomenal, although very early ads weren’t successful because the price was so low that people thought it was a scam. In 2010 Wheatley Village Pty Ltd was inaugurated by her group of similarly-minded investors.

The community has carefully renovated the workers’ cottages which are now offered as holiday accommodation, with each owner having responsibility for maintaining a particular cottage with their own funds.

Best of all, there is limited internet only near the oval, so everywhere you see kids and teens riding bikes and walking. A dvd movie runs just once daily, late afternoon in the recreation room - kids who get in first choose the movie.

Aussies and overseas visitors alike will adore this little village - make the effort to stay two nights!