The thought: 20 Sept 2020
We had spent most of the last six months hibernating from COVID, and I felt ‘stir-crazy’, so when Peigi asked me to join her and a friend (Jan) to walk the Cape-to-Cape track in the south of Western Australia, I agreed. We would find a base, take two cars, and walk as little or much as we could. But Jan discovered this tour group who take care of all that, and accompany us on the track. That is good, but we are a little concerned about completing the 124 km in 7 days; some days are 20km. They recommended we complete some long walks before we start on the 14th Nov. We have walked around 17km in the hills and on the beach. I have also walked a lot around our suburb.
We are to carry 2-3 litres of water, a rain coat, a warm jacket, plus the lunch supplied by the group.
Day 1: Nov 2020 Perth-Cape Naturaliste-Yallingup 13km
The weather was not promising, rain all week, so I have the Canon 7D II in a heavy waterproof bag, to be used only when the rain lets up, otherwise the iphone. Research of interesting places along the way are highlighted in the text. We left the Perth Ambassador Hotel in the city on the group’s bus, stopping at the Crooked Carrot half way through the journey for a coffee. We transferred to a different bus with a guide at the Cape Naturaliste lighthouse.They usually stop for lunch after the first section of the track, a gentle downhill stroll on the ‘access-for-all’ section to the Sugar Loaf Rock just 3kms into the hike. But the rain and wind made that impossible so we had it before starting. The track then runs along an extended section of carved limestone sea cliffs before reaching the coastal hamlet of Yallingup – ‘The Place of Love’. The ‘map’ shots show the terrain and elevation changes, 139m up and 245m down, not too bad.
The weather was dramatic, reminding me of Tennyson’s short poem “Break, break, break, on thy cold gray stones, O Sea!”. Dark clouds, rushing to us across the sea, huge crashing waves, wind, but when the sun shone between the squalls, the sea was an amazing colour. Rocky outcrops are interspersed with eroded limestone cliffs and sandy beaches.
I was pretty tired at the end; but the dinner in Yallingup helped to fix me, and the rooms are ok (SurfPoint) in the beachside hamlet of Gnarabup We had to prepare for breakfast tomorrow in the communal kitchen – heaps of food available.
Break, break, break,
On thy cold gray stones, O Sea!
And I would that my tongue could utter
The thoughts that arise in me.
O, well for the fisherman’s boy,
That he shouts with his sister at play!
O, well for the sailor lad,
That he sings in his boat on the bay!
And the stately ships go on
To their haven under the hill;
But O for the touch of a vanish’d hand,
And the sound of a voice that is still!
Break, break, break
At the foot of thy crags, O Sea!
But the tender grace of a day that is dead
Will never come back to me.[7]
Cape Naturaliste lighthouse 
Sugar Loaf Rock 
Sugar Loaf Rock 
