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Published: February 5th 2018
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Day 24, 25 Grimwade Shelter to Balingup
22.9km
Glistening- that's the prevailing condition this morning- the sun is out and everything's sparkling. On the trail by 08:10, accompanied for the first 2 hours by the raucous calling of the black cockatoo. The trail has a lot of intersecting old vehicle tracks and sufficient diversity in flora and fungi to keep it interesting. Take a break early, no hurry today and the weather is pretty glorious. I'm meeting Geoff this afternoon at some point and sleeping in a bnb and taking a day off tomorrow- my first since I started walking. Perhaps that's why I don't feel like hurrying- I am liking it out here!
The rest of the day trails by km by km
- slippery moss on compacted slippery mud
- couple of near misses on fore mentioned slippery terrain
- massive grass trees
- face high spider web strands
- magic in the air- as in, "haven't seen a flower for a while"- flower appears, "haven't seen a kanga for a while"- kanga appears, "haven't seen a spider web for a while"- splat. This does not seem to apply to
"haven't had an icecream for a while" though.
- farmland
- the smell of washing on the line which lingers for about 50m after the washing disappears from view
- Grimwade Rd - bitumen again
- twinges in my R calf on the ascents
- 2 rain showers (the weather was only intermittently glorious)
- lunch on a log in the sun
- the smell of pines, then the sight of a pine plantation
- the colours of the pine
- massive downhill section
- voices in the distance followed by meeting 2 fellow hikers after 54hrs of solitude
- slippery terrain
- bridges and blackberries
- Origins Centre - they put me back on the right path as I seem to have detoured a bit here
- footy oval which I could hear before seeing and then meeting up with Geoff for the final bit of walking into Balingup at 15:45.
I have booked an AirBnb for two nights- it is a very sweet cottage with chickens. We are in charge of the chickens (eek) as the owner is away. The caretaker, another Gill,
offers to do my washing!!!!! Very kind gesture which I gratefully accept (she even agrees to separate out the merino stuff from the non merino and not put anything in a dryer, I later recieve a little package of dried by the fire, fragrant and folded washing on the door step- very, very kind).
My night/day/night is a long hot shower, fresh clothes, dinner in Bridgetown, the temperature tonight has plummeted to -2C (!!!), toast with butter and lots of coffee, visit small supermarket- paper, chocolate, new umbrellavisit to pharmacy to buy ROC tape, watch instructional video of how to apply ROC tape, apply ROC tape, walk around Balingup (doesn't take long) and the magic mushroom forest, encounter much illicit mushroom activity with cars of young people coming and going and transacting (!), spend afternoon in Greenbushes (town between Balingup and Bridgetown). Greenbushes is a fascinating town- started up in 1888 with the discovery of tin, became a centre for mining, milling and farming before becoming the largest lithium mine site in the world. There is a really interesting town self guided walk, as well as a nature walk around the Greenbushes natural pool, and you can go up
to the lithium mine lookout. I'd recommend a visit. The Greenbushes website is packed full of info-
https://www.greenbushes.com.au/ Geoff heads home and I have a night in front of the tv with a large glass of wine, tuna and noodles- very low key. The chickens survive. I'm ready to start walking again...
Body assessment- the R calf is taped- it feels better taped (? achilles type strain), the rest of me is very good. I've decided that beds are too soft; I prefer the firmness of my mat. Total people seen for the day - the 2 ladies at the pine plantation, a bunch in Balingup- it's very busy being a weekend
** Leftover from re-supply Box 4- strip of Panadol Osteo and some anti-inflammatories, sunscreen, pack tissues, muesli bar, yoghurt rollup, 1/2 pkt rye wraps, tuna sachet, 1 cereal, 2 tea bags, 1 mini snickers, 1 Cup of Soup
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