Bibbulmun bimble

**Cogola** · 11-25-2010, 06:53

Last weekend I went on a bit of a bimble along a bit of the Bibbulum track with my daughter, nephew, some friends and their two boys. The Bibbulmun track is a long distance walk trail (~1000km) here in Western Australia which runs from Kalamunda in the hills east of Perth to Albany on the south coast. The purpose of the trip was to take my nephew camping before he heads off to the eastern states with his parents. It was a trip of firsts as it was my daughter’s first overnight hike, my nephew’s first night in a hammock (I’d made it for him as a surprise early Xmas present) and my friends kids first time camping. We weren’t walking far, the aim was to introduce the kids to hiking, walking far enough that it seemed like an adventure but not too far as to deter them from wanting to try it again.

The weather forecast didn’t look to good in the lead up to the weekend with a forecast of 37 degrees on the Saturday (that’s Celsius) and the chance of rain and thunderstorms on the Sunday. Never one to be put off by the spurious predictions of forecasters we went ahead with the trip anyway. The weather turned out to be almost perfect on the Saturday, slightly overcast and a temperature that didn’t get much over 30.

My daughter, nephew and myself were all sleeping in hammocks. I had my DD hammock, my daughter had a homemade double layer hammock of unknown weight nylon, whilst my nephew had a single layer hammock of the same material. My friends on the other hand were tenting it.

Sometime early Sunday morning we experienced a bit of thunder, lighting and a bit of rain. But the tarps kept it off and we all had a good night’s sleep. This was more than could be said for those in the tents who staggered out of their tents all bleary eyed (the adults at least). They’d only had foam mats to sleep on and hadn’t been particularly comfortable. I think I’ll be seeing hammocks from this crowd on the next trip.

After breakfast we had a leisurely walk back to our start point. The walk was a hit with all the kids. Rather than the thunder, lightning and rain deterring my daughter from camping she wanted to know if we could stay a few more nights. My nephew’s hammock worked well and my friends kids now have rucksacks and camping gear on their Christmas wish lists.

**uneekwahn** · 11-25-2010, 06:57

nice trip report

good to see some perthites here

haven't hit the bibbulmun track myself but do plan on doing some of it next year

**Running Feather** · 11-25-2010, 07:41

Thanks for taking us along. Good to plant the seeds of camping/hiking early!!

**Bearpaw** · 11-25-2010, 09:19

That looks like a truly great trip. May there be many more.

**bigbamaguy** · 11-25-2010, 09:57

Great looking troop you got there................The smiles on your daughters and nephews face is a sure sign that you will always have hiking buddies with you from now on!!!!!

**slowhike** · 11-25-2010, 10:03

Glad to hear about another good trip w/ kids & parents!
Christmas hammocks... sounds good

**newlease** · 11-25-2010, 10:09

Your daughter looks absolutely precious. I love her pink socks!

**beep** · 11-25-2010, 10:12

Great fun! Thanks for sharing the trip with us!

**Veto 65** · 11-25-2010, 10:23

Originally Posted by Cogola

The walk was a hit with all the kids. Rather than the thunder, lightning and rain deterring my daughter from camping she wanted to know if we could stay a few more nights.

The best quote and picture. I'm glad that you have a future camper with you. Great trip report and great pictures.