20th August

Day 11 - Swamp Oak to Dookanelly (36 km)

Today was to be one of the hardest days in the north part of the walk and also the walk in which we finally caught up to Kevin another end to ender. I left Swamp Oak before Rone who accidentally walked an extra hour by following the Waugal markers in the wrong direction. Superb jarrah forests were abundant in this fertile area. Another change was the river valley walking which appeared to include some big up and downs with switch backs as deep valleys were crossed before ascending once more to the riverside ridges. 

Crossing the Yarragil form seemed to be a particularly long exercise. Afterwards I waited for Rone and even walked back to find him as it struck me as odd with all my rests that he hadn't caught up to me yet. Eventually he did before our descent to Murray camp site. Having lunch at Murray campsite which is on the Murray river itself we plucked up the courage to continue on to the next hut.

A lovely walk along the river ensured with it's tannin stained water, lovely small rapids and overhanging trees for most of the afternoon. Some seriously hot fire had recently been through much of this area giving some valuable observations on the natural fire cycle in the area. A long hill with occasional drizzle led to raincoat yo-yo.

At the hut we met Kevin for the first time who taught me much about the art of making fires in the area. Since I still didn't have a gas cylinder I decided to cook with the fire Kevin had successfully made. Jarrah wood is best for burning and grass tree leaves that are brown are best for getting the fire going. When Kevin alerted me to the fact that he is a heavy snorer I decided to make use of the 2.5 kg tent that I had taken with me for this trip.

The hut here had a mirror so that I could have a shave. Underneath was this slogan "If you recognise Yourself then you can't be an end to ender" or something like that.

Day 12 - Dookanelly to Possum Springs