Cape to Cape

The Cape to Cape Track is a 135km walking trail from Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse to Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse in the far south-west of Australia. I undertook this hike in May 2008 with Ben, a veteran of both the Appalachian Trail and Pacific Crest Trail in America.

You can read Ben’s wittier, and probably more truthful, version of our hike on Purebound.

More photos here.

This was the first chance for me to properly try out Ben’s simple, and fairly lightweight hiking philosophies. I have walked in trainers plenty of times, and they are perfect for Australian conditions especially when my boots are in Norway, the tarp was great on my Mawson Trail bike ride and several sea kayaking trips but I had not used a Go-lite Breeze backpack before. I tend to pack pretty light anyway, so with the exception of one or two bits of kit, we were pretty evenly loaded.

Day 1 Cape Naturaliste to Moses Rock

After the usual mixed experience staying at Dunsborough YHA (lovely hostel, helpful staff, despicable inmates) we took a short and amusing taxi ride to Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse and the start of the Cape to Cape Track.

After gurning by the sign and scribbling in the guest book we were underway. The first section of the track is as good as any, winding along the cliff tops with views (and sounds) of the waves crashing on the rocks below. From our vantage point we watched surfers and dolphins alike (they both look quite alike from a distance) playing in the surf.

Despite the best promises from our taxi driver that there was nothing on the trail that would kill us, we rounded a corner and came face to face with a mighty snake. Quick as a flash I caused a distraction which allowed Ben to pass by safely.

Rocks and rough seas

We augmented our lunch with some junk food from the kiosk at the caravan park at Yallingup. Ben discovered that hiking on a pint of iced coffee is not advisable.

In the afternoon we had a few sections on sandy beaches which drained the legs, then a rather long uneventful stretch on a 4WD track. From Moses Rock lookout we witnessed a great sunset before hurrying down to the nearby campground for the night.

The last few kilometres were a bit tough for me. Obviously I had done no training whatsoever – Ben cheated by going on 2 runs – and I had some new socks. Yet again I made the error of getting socks too thick forgetting that my feet have a tendency to swell up to twice their size during the day. Removal of my trainers revealed some fairly gnarly blisters. A great start.

Sunset from Moses Rock

The camp ground was great. A couple of picnic benches, a rain water tank and a long drop set amongst peppermint trees. Also staying there was the only other thru-hiker we would see; a pleasant older lady, game as anything, out on her own.

After a gourmet feed on Kraft macaroni cheese I gave up the will to live, or at least stand up, and went straight to bed. Despite the affections of several million mosquitoes I slept heavily all night.

Day 2 Moses Rock to Prevelly

Up at dawn and we were away soon after. I borrowed a pair of much thinner socks from Ben and they helped with the blisters. It was still a fairly sore hour or so until my legs started working properly.

Ben and some off piste scrambling just before Gracetown

A fairly tricky dozen or so kilometres, with lots of scrambling, saw us arrive at Gracetown for brunch. Fed, watered and re-stocked we continued to Ellensbrook for lunch. In stark contrast to the wild seas, beaches and cliffs the National Trust property was an oasis of tranquillity with its neatly cut lawns and lovely guide.

Ellensbrook House

We were in something on a conundrum as to where to camp. There were precious few places to put up the tarp and no camps at convenient places. We passed a couple of good spots under peppermint trees but far too early in the day. We ended up staying at Prevelly caravan park after my legs refused to walk another step. This wasn’t as bad we hoped being deserted and next to a pizza restaurant.

It rained heavily much of the night, or so Ben tells me.

Day 3 Prevelly to Boranup Beach

Having dined heavily the night before on pizza we were glad of the available white gold, and this delayed our start.

Once underway we scrambled up a muddy firebreak to rejoin the trail proper at the communications tower. The next section was dominated by fine views over the forest and impressively large black boys before we descended the many steps to Boodjidup Brook.

Ben was impressed with the beach at Redgate, and rightly so. At Bob’s Hollow we came across some Trail Magic. The beers were gone and not even Ben fancied cheap gin with flat, warm club tonic at 9am.

Redgate Beach

After climbing the cliffs above Contos Beach before lunching in the rain at Contos campground.

I had been looking forward to the next section through Boranup Forest but it was a slight disappointment. I don’t think we got the best views of the karri trees and the hiking was on uneventful 4WD tracks. Obviously we got lost which caused us to have a run in with a rather scary spider.

Back on track we eventually descended to Boranup Beach, where we kicked off our shoes and walked bare feet on the white sand as the last rays of light faded into the ocean.

Using a handy rock with rope holes, a sturdy branch that Ben had carried and my sand pegs we pitched the tarp on the beach just above the high water mark, or so we hoped.

Pitching the tarp on Boranup Beach

Day 4 Boranup Beach to Cape Leeuwin

After another long night’s sleep we had the luxury of starting the day’s hiking on the beach. This meant that we could delay squeezing our blistered feet into pungent shoes for a short while.

At Hamelin Bay we essentially bought the last snacks in the shop and set off on the final leg of the hike.

At Foul Water Bay we were amused by the blow holes for a while. This can be seen in the short video below.

An inland jaunt to a lighthouse provided a great vantage point of Hamelin Island before we descended back to the beach once more. By now we could see Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse but it was either very small or a long way away.

Progress along the beach was steady. Occasionally we had to scramble over some rocks, gag at some sulphurous rotting seaweed or sprint to escape flies. These flies would hide behind rocks in big swarms, pouncing to smother us when we passed.

Eventually the sand ended and we headed inland for one last time. From our vantage point on the cliffs we could see and hear a storm rumbling in from out at sea. We made best time we could to try and beat it to the finish.

Under ever darkening skies and spitting rain we arrived at Cape Leeuwin for a celebratory coffee before arranging a taxi to take us into Augusta where we stayed at the luxury hostel. That night we dined out on celebratory fish and chips before taking the bus back to Dunsborough the following morning.

Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse

This was a great little hike. The scenery and wildlife were always enthralling and logistically everything was very easy. We never had to carry more than 1.5 litres of water and a day’s worth of food. We used taxis and the TransWA bus from Augusta to Dunsborough to get to and from the start and finish and were able to leave the car securely at Dunsborough YHA. For the most part the path was easy to follow and the excellent guide book filled is in with all other information we needed and lots of interesting local knowledge.

Ben’s Go-lite Breeze backpack was good. It took a while to get used to not having a chest or waste strap, which resulted in some soreness in my shoulders. It has been a very long time since I carried a backpack of any type in anger anyway. I loved the simplicity of design, effectiveness of using your sleeping mat as padding and also the mesh outers which were too easy just to fill up with crap.

The next challenge is to return and follow this route by sea kayak. This is somewhat more demanding due to the rocky and exposed nature of the coastline.

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