My flight from Adelaide had me arrive in Perth on the 4th of May at 3 pm. I'd pre-purchased some gas canisters from Bunnings, as it's problematic to fly with these. So, that was my first destination. I wandered somewhat aimlessly as I sought the Bunnings bus whilst Googling information on the WA public transport system. I ended up hailing a Taxi.

By the time I collected my gas canisters it was getting late in the day (my flight had been delayed slightly), so I had my Taxi Driver take me directly to the Northern Terminus of the Bibbulman Track. This was in Kalamunda (behind the Coles car park).

It was around 4 pm when I set out. It was later than I had planned and somewhat nervously decided not to stock up on water, hoping that Hewett's Hill campsite was well stocked, which is what I had heard. My plan was to be in camp by 6 pm or before it was dark.

I had naively assumed that Google maps would have me covered for directions. But, whilst Google maps is great when it comes to roads, I realised that hiking trails were another matter. This combined with the poor signage at the beginning of the trail meant that I covered a lot more ground than the quoted 8 km from Northern Terminus to Hewitt's Hill. I arrived at around 7 pm.

Along the way I went through the beautiful Mundaring Weir (see below).

It was completely dark when I arrived at Hewitt's Hill.

I had to scrounge an unofficial site for my tent, as I'd failed to consider that it was Saturday night and day hikers from Kalamunda might be venturing out: it was completely full.

One of the reasons I was choosing to tackle this trail was because I wanted to challenge some of my habits, with the hope that I might receive some guidance on some existential questions. My thought was that taking myself outside of my normal flow (i.e., my distraction filled existence) might put me more in touch with the sensory world (aka the real world).

I awoke to a couple of dreams, just as the light was peaking through my tent. The first quite dark. The other, a bit of a relief with someone telling me that spiritual growth can take a long time (I feel like in this life I've tried to be in a rush to grow sometimes - that has meant meant putting a lot of expectations on myself). Anyway, it was now the 5th of May.

As I still had reception, I took the opportunity to download another app called AllTrails which was fantastic. It displayed the full Bibbulman trail and I could I could use it offline without a worry, this helped me conserve battery power.

Before setting off for the day I filled my bladder and water bottle from one of the campsite water tanks and set off towards Ball Creek Campsite just as the sun was rising. I was yet to fully appreciate the beauty around me due to my fatigue but knew that a bit of peace would come. My mind was busy, with fears about not having enough water and losing my way on the track.

I arrived at Ball Creek Campsite at around 10 am. I recall laying down in the sun and enjoying some beef jerky. It was still early, and I was feeling optimistic about my level of fitness so I pushed on to Helena Campsite.

It was a total of 19.4 km from Hewett's Hill and Helena campsite, according to the distance calculator on the official Bibbulman Track website. I was completely buggered. At this point, I was slightly concerned that I'd overdone it. I was feeling slightly under the weather or run down, which made sense as I'd been quite busy leading up to this trip and yesterday felt like a long stressful day. Plus, my only preparation was going to the gym regularly which I wouldn't recommend.

I was already craving a nice cup of tea (with milk and honey). But, I'd resolved to avoid caffeine on this trip, so I would have to go without.

Helena Campsite itself was dusty, but serene. I believe the below image will give you an idea of the surrounding landscape, although I'm not 100% confident that I took this at the camp itself.

It was still the weekend, Sunday, so I saw plenty of day hikers on the trail however the campsite itself I had to myself.

The next morning was Monday the 6th of May. I woke up feeling pretty rough. I knew my body was struggling and as I was concerned that I might get sick so I decided that I would only do 10kms or so today.

Every day so far had been perfect sunshine, I would guess around 22 degrees. Perfect hiking weather. Even so, it was preferable to do most of the hiking in morning's shadow. It helped that most of the trail wound through thick forest, with tall trees shading most of the path.

It was at around this point that I become somewhat concerned about my feet. In particular the back of my heals. In the past I have had trouble with Achilles Tendinitus (apparently an overuse injury) which I had previously managed through rest. I'd not thought that it might play up on this trip. However, in hindsight it made sense. At this stage, I hoped that the my body would adapt and the pain would diminish over time.

I endeavoured to distract myself from my discomfort by focusing on my breathing.

I noticed that my mind was extremely busy still. I figured much of this was due to the digital detox and the lack of distraction - which I hadn't experienced for quite a while. I had completed meditation retreats previously, so I knew that the mind took a while to adapt, especially when discomfort was involved.

One of the notable features of the countryside was the proliferation of grass trees, which I found incredibly beautiful in their primitiveness - I imagined them to be around during a time before humans. Interestingly, I found out along the way that they hold a kind of resin (you can make glue from this), which when burned emits a wonderful fragrance. You can see an example of a grass tree in the image below.

I believe that I arrived at Waaleigh campsite relatively early, perhaps around 11.30 am. It was nice to have a rest and to soak in the tranquility. I took the opportunity to listen to a couple of podcasts, sit in the sun. I also enjoyed one of my many cuppa soups (that I more or less survived on during my journey through the Darling Range). I also took the opportunity to give my solar panel full access to the sun, and charged up my power bank. You can read more about my solar set up here.

To be continued...