Quarrum Nature Reserve (864.2 km) to William Bay (897.6 km)

Mileage: 33.4 km/20.9 miles

It was quite stormy last night with some strong winds, a couple of intense rolls of thunder and frequent lightning during the night. The Hexamid stood up reasonably well and I had a fairly low, taut pitch. That also meant some condensation though it was quite manageable. The rain continued this morning so a lie in was called for to wait out the rain. The forecast was rain this morning then clearing by 10 AM as the cold front cleared through. It is unusual to have cold fronts in WA in summer as they are considered more of a winter phenomenon but at least it’s cool.

The day began wandering through Quarrum Nature Reserve which was impressive. It is also known as the Showgrounds and I imagine the wildflowers are really impressive in the right season. There were lots of kangaroos, most of whom were very tame. The scenary was almost English-esque with only the Australian fauna giving things away.

It was a 14km walk from our campsite to our lunch stop, Boat Harbour campsite. Fortunately the rain stayed away but the wind was extremely strong.  This was to be a feature of the rest of the day as the winds intensified.  The forecast was 40 kph winds but the gusts would have been a lot stronger than that.

At Boat Harbour campsite, we met an Englishman called Peter who was completing his end to end.  Peter was from Devon but now lives in Asturias, Spain. Hopefully, Brexit does not bring an end to his Iberian existence. Peter was very interested in our gear so we put him onto some places to look online.

Just on from the campsite is a stunning little beach that made me want to go swimming even though it was only 15o. Calm and protected from the southern ocean swell, it had a light blue/turquoise hue and would have made a great little spot to come on a nicer day.

From here onwards, the scenery was affected by bush fire and the hours from here to Parry Beach was spent hiking through an extensive burn which was an affliction for the nose as well as the eyes. In addition, we experienced horizontal driving rain and winds so strong there were sections where it was difficult to stand or walk. The weather was some of the wildest I’ve hiked through in Western Australia so we were glad to reach Parry Beach.

We had intended to stop at Parry Beach which would have made it a 24 km day. The campground there looked visually appealing and had hot showers. However, staying here would have made for a 29 km day tomorrow to Denmark where we had things to do. Given it was only 4.30pm, we decided to hike the additional 9.2 km to William Bay campsite.

The trail here has a 7 km beach walk on Mazoletti Beach followed by a 2 km hill climb to the campsite. The beach was a stunning elongated crescent and gave incredible views back to Parry Beach and also across the bay itself. The southern ocean was wild and it was no surprise that it is often closed in poor weather as it becomes very narrow at the far end of the beach. The rain returned and our legs were whipped by the blowing sand. We passed several 4WDrs who looked at us with a theory that we must be crazy to be out here hiking in the rain before sunset.

We reached William Bay campsite at around 7pm which was just enough time to get organised before dark. Tomorrow we only have 19km to Denmark and the promise of a warm shower.