When Jonno was three weeks into his Bibbulmun Track End-to-End, I intercepted him in Walpole with his next food resupply and plans to steal him from the trail for a day. After Blackwood Hut and Pemberton, this would be our third adventure along the way.
After one lap to the bottom of the hill, we headed for our accommodation, only to stumble into the best wildlife encounter of Jonno’s 780 km journey so far.
We stayed at The Yurt, a two-storey forest hideaway complete with a wood fire, spa bath and dome skylight for watching the night sky.
That evening, while Jonno rested his legs, I put his mind to work with a gruelling gauntlet of board games.
The next morning we explored the Valley of the Giants. I extended a lap of Wonderland out to Sappers Bridge, while Jonno took in the Tree Top Walk.
I was pleasantly surprised to find Wonderland had now been extended right up to the purpose-built Munda Biddi realignment I helped build, instead of sending riders along Outer Break Road like it did on our previous visits.
The extension is mostly climbing, but the trail builders had clearly had some fun putting it together.
I continued onto the Munda Biddi Trail, pausing at one of the distinctive rest areas that have since become a feature of the Giants Trails network. This was the first one, built at my direction. The DBCA project manager loved it, so we kept building them, getting a little more elaborate each time, and the other trail contractor soon started building their own versions too.
I continued down the hill to Sappers Bridge and my pickup, where Jonno and I recreated a photo from a few years earlier.
After some lunch, we got up close with a mossy rock slab, observing tiny frogs, orchids and lizard traps tucked into the miniature landscape.
In the afternoon I shuttled Gatekeepers and the Munda Biddi; past the Pleated Lady and Ride Through Tree, down to South Coast Highway, but some surprisingly strong sunlight had set in by then, so we soon traded the trails for Peaceful Bay.
After another evening at the yurt and a few more shuttle runs, we finished the weekend where we started, back at the hilltop lookout. I headed home while Jonno continued on towards Albany.
Epilogue
A week after we parted ways, Jonno completed his End-to-End. I supported his journey one last time by removing a tick at his celebration dinner.
