Gill Goes.... Trekking the Bibbulmun Track ... Maringup Shelter

---

Day 38

Gardner to Maringup Shelter

17.1 km

In an attempt to alleviate the possible boredom of reading my last few entries this entry is a bit more light hearted and was composed on my phone during the many hours of darkness in my tent (the actual day to day stuff is dot pointed at the end)...

At the Northcliffe Visitors Centre, whilst collecting my resupply box, I absent mindedly picked up a pamphlet entitled, "What We're Doing About Feral Pigs". I actually didn't want to know what they were doing about feral pigs at all, I just wanted to sit inside out of the rain for 10 minutes before finding somewhere to stay for the night. I should have picked up the pamphlet "Mindfulness, Yoga and You" or even "Northcliffe- Services in Your Town". What I now know about feral pigs is disturbing- did you know that there are hundreds of feral pigs on the loose? They are omnivores and kill small mammals (am I considered a small mammal??) Direct quote- "The small mammal is caught after a short chase, and killed by a bite to the thorax. The small mammal is then held down by the pig's forefeet, and feeding begins with the intestines and viscera. The flesh and bones of the spine, ribcage and upper parts are then eaten, with the skin of the legs turned inside out to the stifle (knee) joint. The head is then eaten, and finally all or part of the skin and remains of the legs are consumed". Not surprisingly, that information had a significant impact on the early section of my hike, especially today (Day 38) when there were pig foot (trotter) prints in the sand EVERYWHERE I turned.... And a lot of slimy pig poo (not to be confused with emu poo) with the telltale undigested Zamia seeds deposited on the track.

So, in my countless hours of walking this is what I came up with if confronted by a wild pig:

What to do when confronted by a wild pig (or may potentially be confronted by a wild pig)

1. Stare it down- this worked for me last Wednesday with a flock (smallish flock, I know) of 6 sheep that were on the wrong side of the fence (i.e. trackside- MY side, not paddock side). In a bold un-sheeplike move they actually advanced a few metres after the initial stare causing me to intensify my stare (Julie Bishop style) which worked a treat. Last seen retreating down a hill

2. Sneak up on it- you will have the advantage of the element of surprise. It may mistake you for a pig shooter and just leg it into the nearest bush. Believe it or not, a similar situation occurred to me the day after the sheep but this time with a black and white goat. I approached it stealthily from behind while its head was down eating grass (just to take a photo I swear!), eventually it saw me (must have been a bit hard of hearing, I got very close - close enough to smell that goaty smell goats have) and bolted along the track heading south. Guess what happened next? Well, I don't know but there are a number of wooden bridges on the Bibbulmun Track.

3. Call a pig shooter- oh wait... You're with Optus... Not going to happen

4. Use your horrendously expensive ultralight trekking poles javelin style- actually ... No, dumb move - maybe a big stick might be a better option- not expensive, readily available and the ultimate revenge on all those sticks that have caused me grief over that last 5 or so weeks (i.e. stick induced falls (now running at 3 ), stick induced shin impalement, stick induced whack to the head (actually it was a branch... It's a stick now though - I broke it in an uncharacteristic fit of annoyance).

5. Throw your backpack at it as hard as you can... No, wait, that's for bears.

6. Make for the nearest large, unfathomably deep, track inundating body of water ("may appear in winter or late spring", says the Bibb Track Guide Book) - the pigs actually don't go through these 'lakes', they make tracks through the bush, AROUND the puddle - and I know this how? Well, today, while trying to avoid taking off my boots and socks and wading through the unfathomably deep body of water, I decided to go through the animal tracks- very dense, almost invisible, skinny little, face scratching bush tracks. And guess what was in the bush??

Yes...

A wild pig. Actually, it could have been a small wallaby... I only glimpsed it running away.

Anyway, enough about that.

Back to a few other observations of this day's walk:


• Slept all the way through until after 7am!
• Tent fly was pretty wet this morning, carefully managed to pack it up without wetting the inner too much- hoping for a windy afternoon to dry it off (added water weight probably the equivalent of the apple and Snickers bar consumed yesterday)
• Out over a cute little bridge and onto the the white/grey sand track- it is very wide and very cleared, wide open savannah like grasses on the edges.
• THEN.... the most SENSATIONAL moment- the sun is shining through the trees and bushes and they are awash with spiderwebs to the point that it looks like a scene that has been decorated this way- it is absolutely beautiful and I know I can never capture a photo of how amazing it looked. AMAZING
• Disturb a hawk feasting on 28 parrot- feathery evidence left behind
• Weather station at 09:38
• 09:48 my first significant water hazard, not keen on taking off the boots so bush bash on the animal track- dumb idea- it's also inundated but have to deal with scrubby/scratchy/dense face high bushes- dumb move. Probably took three times longer than taking off my shoes and I lost my umbrella so had to go back in again to retrieve it. Truly stupid.
• 11:02 Old Gardner Bridge
• 12:50 Maringup Shelter
• Lake Maringup
• A million birds
• A million frogs
• Stunning sunset


Impressions Maringup- OMG. NUMBER 1. Stunning walk in. Great layout with nice tables. Stellar lake front views. Superb.Best yet.

Body assessment- Headache at 8km- finally used 2 Panadols (with effect), having been carting them around for weeks now. Otherwise awesome.Exceedingly happy.

Total people seen for the day - Nobody

Birds- silver eye, white cheeked honey eater, new holland honey eater, splendid wren, wattle bird, black faced cuckoo shrike, 28's (dead and alive), cuckoo, kookaburra and a couple I couldn't identify

---