Sunday November 13, 2.7km/1.7mi
Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse (0.0/15m) to Skippy Lookout (2.7/75m) (WA)
I didn’t sleep well in the busy hostel, with people coming/going all night. I packed up, grabbed a breakfast sandwich from the cafe next door, and boarded my 8am bus.
Most of the day was uneventful; it was neat seeing all of the towns that I had just hiked through from the comfort of a bus seat. There was no direct bus from Albany to Augusta, which would have been a 4-hour ride. Instead I spent all morning on a bus going west to the coastal city of Bunbury, then changing buses and going south to Augusta. I got off the bus and Augusta at 5:30pm, and immediately started hitchhiking. The third vehicle picked me up, and a nice guy Murray drove me the 10 minutes to the trailhead. He was a super cool guy and was actually a local hiking guide, so I got some good advice for where to camp tonight. He dropped me off at 5:45, and I spent a few minutes getting pictures of the Cape Leeuwin lighthouse.
It was under construction so I couldn’t get very close. Zoom lens was helpful!
I had the good timing to cross paths with a couple day hikers, who were nice enough to get my photo for the start of the trail.
After 15 minutes of getting photos and reading all the signs, I started hiking at 6pm. It started off walking along the ocean on these nice smooth rocks.
I soon passed by an old waterwheel, which was built in 1895 to supply water to the lighthouse and the keepers’ cottages.
From this vantage point I had a little better angle on a photo of the lighthouse.
The trail would alternate between beach and bushwalking. When it dropped down to the beach, there were often a nice set of stairs.
The trail markers were a neat blue and gold theme, just like my old high school colors.
About 2km into the hike I passed by the first trail register. Well signing in, I noticed that most of the previous hikers were southbounders and had finished here.
I hiked on for a few more minutes, and then found a nice spot to setup camp at a lookout point.
It was 6:45 and the sunset over the Indian Ocean looked really neat with all the clouds.
It was a long day on the bus today so it felt good to stretch my legs and hike just a little bit, even if I didn’t get very far. And camping next to the sounds of the ocean reminds me of the Pacific Northwest Trail or the Te Araroa!