Day 6 - 31 Oct 2010 - Northcliffe - Gardiner

No phone call today. Will assume they arrived at Gardiner, but don't have phone coverage.

Day 5 - 30 Oct 2010 - Rest Day - Northcliffe

Manfred and David enjoyed their rest day today. They did the shopping for the next leg of the walk and filled and weighed their packs. They have wisely decided to have another rest day in 4days time instead of doing the 8day hike without a rest stop. Tonight it will be dinner at the hotel again, such a welcome change from the camp tucker, then another sleep in a good bed. Tomorrow they plan to be up around 5am and back on the track at 6am.

Picture of the Northcliffe Hotel.


















Mount Chudalup
The "rock" of Northcliffe is one of the most impressive attractions in the area. Standing on the top of the rock looking out to sea or over the forest, you can easily imagine you are the only person ever to have set foot upon the place. The view is awe-inspiring. (Extract from http://www.northcliffe.org.au).

Day 4 - 29 Oct 2010 - Schafe to Northcliffe

Received a text message at 7:45pm to call Manfred. David has a mobile phone, just for the journey, which they turn on around 6pm in the evening. I tried calling but the phone rang out. Seems that both men were busy tucking into another good meal, this time Manfred was enjoying a snapper at the Northcliffe Hotel.

Called back and had a chat with Manfred for a short while. He said that the 14km travelled today was not too bad. The weather was better than yesterday and the track was not as hilly. The walk along the Warren River was beautiful and photo's were taken, which I won't get until the end of the journey. They saw two kangaroos on the way, but thankfully no snakes.

Tomorrow is going to be a "rest" day. They will be checking their food supplies, topping up from the local stores and trying to repack their backpacks for the 8day journey to to Walpole. This is the longest stretch and possibly the most gruelling, so will be a good test of their determination to finish at Albany.

Day 3 - 28 Oct 2010 - Warren to Schafer

Spoke to Manfred on the mobile this evening round 6pm. After a long, hilly, wet & stormy walk they arrived at Schafer, a distance of 21.1km. Tonight they are in "luxury" accommodation. They are staying at the Watermark Kilns which is about 300mtrs from the hut. The following link http://www.watermarkkilns.com.au/bibbulmun.html will take you to a web page showing details of the accommodation. Trevor & Jeanette Hulcup will be showing them some true country hospitality which includes Dinner & Breakfast.

Both men were in fine spirits but very tired so an early night was planned.

That's all for today, folks.

Day 2 - 27 Oct 2010 - Pemberton - Warren

Today's hike is from Pemberton to Warren a distince of 21.7km. Manfred and David have done this walk before so the terrain is not unfamiliar. Not sure if the mobile will work from here so may not have any further information until much later.

4:34 - Just received a text message saying they had arrived safely in Warren.

Day 1 - 26 Oct 2010 - Pemberton

David arrived at 10am with Patrick and Peter who were driving them down to Pemberton. This was very welcome news for me as I would have done it otherwise. Manfred had his pack ready to go and as soon as they arrived he loaded it into their car and they were off.

I received a call during the afternoon to say that they had arrived safely. They were going to share a meal with Patrick and Peter before these gallant gentlemen drove home, then off to the Backpackers to get a very welcome nights sleep. They planned to set off in the morning.