Bibbulmun Track (southern) October 2012

We walked the sections of the Bibbulmun Track from Walpole to Albany over 13 days in October 2012, following our Cape to Cape trip, staying at Coalmine Beach for our first night.

The album holds a selection of our photos from the trip and brief notes on the distances covered and times. Walking speed varied depending on the underfoot conditions but generally we averaged about 3kms per hour with pretty solid packs (up to about 25kg for Euan and 18kg for Jennie). We did the standard "campsite to campsite" days until the final section of the track where we bypassed Sandpatch Campsite and carried on to Albany. Before our trip we were unsure how long the days would be so we have included our walking times as a guide for other walkers.

We had variable weather, often showery for the first part of the trip, but generally drier and warmer towards Albany. We used an MSR tent rather than the shelters as mosquitoes were always a problem at night. The shelters were great for cooking and packing up wet tents etc in the morning however.

Overall we thought this was a great trip, very different from tramping at home, and the track, wildlife, scenery and facilities excellent (we encountered 10 snakes en-route!). Sadly, we did not see any other Kiwi entries at all in the log books which seemed odd, but hopefully more New Zealanders will give the Bibbulmun a go in the future - it is a great challenge and certainly makes a change fom NZ tramping.

We hope you enjoy our photos and comments!