Conto Campground to Deepdene Campground

Mileage: 30.0 km

Cumulative: 110.6 km

I slept very well last night and fell asleep almost as quickly as I turned off the head torch. Not before I caught a glimpse of a possum which was checking out the table at the campsite for scraps.

The morning started with a beautiful walk through Boranup Forest. The section has lots of Karri trees which provide a lot of shade to the forest. This meant it was quite cool in the morning air. It reminded me of the long Karri sections on the Bibbulmun Track around Pemberton.

The trail went through mixed jarrah and karri forest for the first 10 km and then descended through coastal scrub towards the beach. We were dreading the 6.5 km beach walk but had the promise of reaching Hamelin Bay at the end.

The initial stretch was easy as the sand was nice and compacted as it was a 4WD beach. We made good progress initially but the sand became softer and softer as we went and it became a bit of a slog. Hamelin Bay was visible in the distance but never seemed to get any closer.

The sand was full of jellyfish which had washed up on the shore. I later found out on a sign at the Hamelin Bay store that these were Portuguese Man o’War which give a painful sting. Given how many had washed up on the beach, I wouldn’t want to be swimming around here.

Eventually we reached Hamelin Bay which is a nice little holiday village. They have a kiosk there and they sell refreshments so it was time for some Aussie staples, a pie, chocolate shake and an ice cream. The village was also full of fishermen due to it being in the middle of the salmon season.

After Hamelin Bay, we had another short beach walk, more difficult this time, and then a challenging few kms which were up and down over hills as we crossed over a headland. A tiger snake was sunning itself on the path and I narrowly missed stepping on it before it slithered away in the bushes. As I was still recovering from shock, I didn’t get a chance to take a photo before it disappeared.

We then reached a lighthouse. Disappointingly, it wasn’t THE lighthouse but was instead called Foul Bay Lighthouse. The sign said it was an integral part of Australia’s maritime safety network. Whilst wishing I was at a different integral part (at the Cape Leeuwin lighthouse being the end of the trail), I took time to admire the beautiful view.

From here, we had a beach walk past some blowholes which involved hopping from rock to rock whilst avoiding slipping. We could hear the ocean underneath the rocks and it was quite a spectacular view.

As we rounded a corner, we then descended onto Deepdene Beach and got our first view of the Cape Leeuwin lighthouse. It was still a long way off but it was nice to know the end was in sight.

After a few km further, we reached Deepdene Campsite which was our final campsite on the Cape to Cape. It was quite busy and there were only two spots to camp so we tented next to a nice couple from the UK, Lynne and Matthew. They were very widely travelled and we had a lot in common. We were also joined by Prok who we met at Ellenbrook. It was great to have such nice company on our final night on the trail.

Tomorrow is the last day on the Cape to Cape and we have an 18 km day to the end of the trail. Cape Leeuwin awaits!