THE BIBBULMUM TRACK
by Graeme Olsen
The Bibbulmum track is possibly
one of the best ways to see the huge range of plants
and wildlife in the the south west.
| In case you haven't heard of
it before, the Bibbulmun track is a walk trail
in the south west that is nearly 1000km long,
running from Kalamunda to Albany. If you walk
it from one end to the other, it normally takes
between 6 to 8 weeks. But of course many people
choose to walk small sections of the track over
a few days or perhaps even just for a day trip.
There are 48 shelters along the track, which
are never more than a day apart, so "accommodation"
isn't a problem if you're travelling for more
than a day.
These shelters are basically 3 sided timber
structures within a campsite that has a rainwater
tank, a sit-down "pit" toilet (BYO
toilet paper), picnic table, and some extra
tent sites. The shelters can usually sleep
between 8 and 16 people, and are
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|
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| simply wooden structures to provide
you with a bit of protection from rain and wind.
They don't stop things like inquisitive possums
or kangaroos that want to come in and have a
look around at who's sleeping over for the night. |
Now for those of you who read that
last paragraph and thought "You will NEVER
get me sleeping in the open bush with all that!",
there IS an alternative. Many sections of the Bibbulmun
track are very near to towns in the south west that
will be able to provide you with accommodation that
you're perhaps more used to. It's not possible for
the whole track, because on some sections there
are several days between towns, but on other sections
it is possible to walk for a day and then spend
a night in a motel in a local town.
Whichever way you do it, the Bibbulmum
track offers you a fantastic way to check out the
local plants and animals, and soothing environment.
In general terms, the first half of
the track takes you through Jarrah forrest and then
the second half through Karri forrest. But more
specifically, here are some of the things you can
expect to see at various points along the track:
Kangaroos
Possums
Bandicoots
Foxes
Numbats
Different types of small marsupials (often looking
like a cross between a kangaroo and a rat)
Lots of birds
Various lizards, "dragons", and skinks
Snakes (they'll leave you alone if you leave them
alone)
Frogs
Waterfowl
Freshwater rivers, streams, and waterfalls
A wide range of native bushes and trees including
Eucalypt, Banksia, Bottlebrush, Wattle, Acacia,
Hakea, Wisteria, Blackbutt, Yarri, plus various
ferns and mosses, and of course lots of wildflowers
in season
Jarrah & Karri forrest
Granite outcrops
Swamps and wetlands
and of course so much more.
Before you head out on the track,
there's some planning to do. You need to know where
you can go, how long you want to go for, how to
get there, what you'll need to take, who you need
to notify, and so on.
An excellent place to start is the
web site of the Bibbulmun Track Foundation at www.bibbulmuntrack.org.au. On this site you'll
get all the information you need to start planning
a very relaxing trip - whether it's just for the
day or the full 8 week trek across the south west.
March 2004
