If you follow our social media accounts you would have noticed that a while ago we went to do a part of the famous Bibbulmun track here in Western Australia. It was supposed to be only a day hike to a nearby mountain top and back, but being so amazed by surrounding nature and stopping to take photos and snack every 15 minutes the trip turned out to be an overnighter. When you think about Australia first thing that comes to your mind is beaches and sunshine, right? Well let me burst your bubble - it gets cold here over the winter!
During these past few years both me and Josh have been doing lots of one day hikes around Australia but it's been a good 10 years or so since the last time either of us did an overnighter so you could say we were a bit rusty to begin with. It was a rare sunny weekend early June so daytime temperatures reached high 17 degrees celsius - but clear night skies meant very chilly nights, all the way down to 0 degrees celsius. We wanted to take our time on the hike so we packed our puffy jackets, a blanket and a sleeping bag just in case we end up having to spend the night but we had no idea how cold it would get - and the plan all along was to make it back by nightfall. Josh was very hopeful and was only going to pack shorts and t-shirts - luckily I convinced him to wear long pants and a proper jacket! We packed the car, ran a few errands in the morning and finally made it to the start of the trail by lunchtime. Since we were already hungry we decided to take our time and cook lunch by the car.
Starting the trail with full bellies we were walking slowly. Also the afternoon winter light was just so beautiful that we stopped often to admire the nature and take some photos and videos. And I must say they turned out really good! Here you can see yourself a few examples:
Already about one third of the way there was a hikers' shelter and we didn't reach this point before sun set which comes really early here during the winter. We could have made it back to the car in the dark since it was a very easy trail back but we were determined to see this mountain top so we decided to stay the night. By 6pm we already started a fire to keep ourselves and the other hikers warm before bedtime. It was absolutely lovely cooking our dinner by the fire and admire the starry skies and share stories with these experienced hikers who were all doing the whole 1000km Bibbulmun track solo. What legends! They were also very well prepared for the trail - all of them had dehydrated food packs, proper tents and sleeping bags and layers and layers of technical clothing. We hadn't even brought sleeping mats and our cheap old thin sleeping bag wasn't going to help much in those temperatures. Other hikers retired to their tents reading books quite early but we sat by the fire trying to soak in the last bit of warmth before facing the cold night air.
At this point we were still hopeful that wearing all the clothes we brought and wrapping up in the sleeping bag against each other it wouldn't be too bad, especially because we managed to get the top bunk at the shelter. We climbed to our very poor looking bed and one of the hikers was still awake warning us not to freak out if the mice decide to crawl inside our sleeping bag at night since we didn't have a tent. WHAT? We hadn't even thought about the wildlife! I must say it took me a while to come to terms with the fact that I might be squishing a little mouse during the night whilst rolling in our bed. Pulling my beanie over my face and cuddling tight against Josh I tried to focus on something else than the coldness on my toes and possible mice around me and managed to eventually fall asleep.
We woke up that night many times - necks hurting because of the lack of pillows and various body parts frozen whenever facing away from each other. Finally the clock hit 4am and I decided it was getting too cold to fall asleep anymore and also late enough to slowly start waking up. First thing I rushed out of bed and lit the fire again - and I've never been happier that early in the morning than warming myself in front of the flames.
It was nice to cook our breakfast slowly by the fire and watch the sun rise. When the air started warming up again in the sunlight and the fire dying we continued our trail - and once we reached the mountain top it was all worth it. Here's a few shots from the top and as you can see, we're hot again wearing just t-shirts! I'll never get used to Australian weather. And will definitely think about it twice before doing an overnight hike again!
