Great South West Walk Day 12, Cape Bridgewater to Mallee, November 2021

Luxury is a hot breakfast! Part of the deal at the B&B was that you could have a cooked breakfast. First order of the day though was another luxury, a hot shower. Unfortunately the hot water was not working. I tried it several times thinking maybe the owner would have the same problem and fix it himself or that another guest would complain saving me the trouble. With breakfast available from 8am I would give it till 7.30am and if still not working have a very quick cold shower. At 7.25am the water came good and I thoroughly enjoyed a steaming hot shower. Apparently the gas bottle had run out and needed changing which the owner Dennis attended to when he tried to have a shower. I then had a delicious breakfast of poached eggs on toast with coffee, perfect to help sustain me for the days walk ahead.

First up was a 1.5km beach walk, then around 4km through coastal scrub followed by another 5kms of beach walking. The tide was on its way in so I went at a reasonably fast pace to avoid getting caught on soft sand at high tide.

Waves crashing into rocks marked the end of the beach walk. A steep walk up sand dunes lead to the rocky track of Cape Nelson.

The cape was an interesting walk with great coastal views, colourful wildflowers and Soap Mallee eucalypts.

Eventually the cape’s lighthouse came into view. I stopped there for a milkshake at the cafe before continuing on to nearby Mallee camp.

The camp was quite small. It was a bit of a challenge to get the hammock up but I managed it. That made it 8 out of 9 camp sites that I was able to hang the hammock. It was looking to be a quiet peaceful camp with only two of us there, until a school group with 15 or so year 9 boys arrived. Alas the last camp of the trip would not have the peaceful serenity of earlier camps. They weren’t too bad actually, the teachers took them for a walk to expend some energy and earplugs helped block out some of the noise when they returned to camp and their basic tarp shelters. Watching the sun set was a great way to end the day. Last day tomorrow and then the long drive home.