Cape Naturaliste to Mt Duckworth

Mileage: 10.3 km

Total mileage: 10.3 km

It was a good decision to head down from Perth today as it meant the roads were less hectic than yesterday as the whole of Perth heads south for Easter. However, there was still plenty of traffic on the roads as I drove down south to Ben’s house.

The weather started to hail strongly as we were getting ready to set off which is unusual for April in WA. I dropped my car at Ben’s house and we headed down with Lisa and the kids for the hour and a half trip to Dunsborough.

Arriving at Cape Naturaliste, we said goodbye to Ben’s family and began the walk up to the lighthouse. Unfortunately, the lighthouse is under renovation so we weren’t able to touch it which is the traditional way to start this trail. Instead, we made use of the beautiful view of the Indian Ocean as the rain rolled in.

We then started our walk south to Cape Leuwin over 128 km from where we stood. After signing the trail register, we made good progress over the first few kilometres which are paved as we reached Sugarloaf Rock. Whilst not quite up to its namesake in Rio de Janeiro, it’s pretty impressive.

The weather was pretty wild as we walked south. A cold front hit the area yesterday and, whilst we had missed the worst of the rain, there were some strong southwesterly winds blowing in off the ocean which threatened to blow us off the narrow trail. The surf was really high and there were some large waves rolling in off the Indian Ocean swell.

The trail hit our first beach which was slow going as our feet sank with each step. The rain had done nothing to harden the sand so it was a case of settling into a steady rhythm along the sand and up a hill as we left the beach behind. Then we hit our first bit of poor signposting which left us on a 4WD track with nowhere to go. Fortunately, we followed our GPS which got us back on trail. Not before nearly stepping on this baby dugite though…

Once back on trail, it was only a few kilometres before we reached our first campsite on trail, Mt Duckworth. The campsite was heaving with hikers and I’ve never seen it so busy. After getting the tent set up and dinner, it was time for bed as the rain hit my tent outside. Ah, so cozy…