(Castletown Quays to Twilight Beach, Esperance, WA)
There's something exhilaratingly special about a kid free Sunday morning, I find that the clock stops ticking and my laziness temptation runs high, especially when I could hear the rain gently falling on the tin roof and the warmth of the bed felt so enticing. However, the call of coffee was kicking in and the cats protesting loudly that they hadn't had breakfast, needless to say I was lured out of the warmth of my bed and out into the kitchen.
As I looked out the front window and remembered back to my first epic walk of great lengths a few years back, I contemplated the emotional freedom gained, and decided on the spot, a walking I would go.
Unable to complete this walk with my kids, (both of at sleepovers) meant I could partake in this experience guilt free. With a good breaky and much needed coffee under my belt, I packed my water, donned my hiking shoes and took my big, thick, new puffer jacket for it's maiden voyage.
It was raining and nicely set in at that, potentially, the entire walk, perfect!! I wanted to put both my Keen hiking shoes and Macpac jackets through their paces (after all, when one is a dreamer and wishes to walk her way around Wales, and Scotland and possibly some of England...one day) quality was what I was after.
By the time I was a few blocks from home, I was toasty warm on the inside and perfectly dry too, exactly what I was after, however, it was an unusually wind free day, this meant there was no chill factor to compete with. I was stuck, to ditch the jacket and have damp clothes for the entire duration of the walk, or get creative. I chose the latter.
Each time the drizzle stopped, I unzipped my jacket three quarters down and let in a bit of cool air (luckily I did only have a singlet on underneath), this technique suited me wonderfully, though I must have looked a sight flapping the sides of the jacket trying to fan myself. As the walk progressed and I ventured further up the West Beach hill, the air cooled somewhat, but that hill is just nasty and I worked up even more of a sweat. The outside air cool enough to see my breath, and still, I sweated. This jacket definitely got my tick of approval for warmth and worth every dollar I spent on it. Not to mention the longer length of the jacket, for the amount of drenching rain I walked through along the way, not once did my undies get wet!! and as every girl knows there is nothing more uncomfortable than wet undies. Double tick of approval.
Now I'll admit that I am an absolute newbie to the world of long walks and no doubt made my share of rookie mistakes. My hiking shoes were going incredibly well, no blisters, no sore feet, no aching legs and most importantly, no wet socks. That is, until Fourth Beach arrived along with the strongest downpour of rain I had been through the entire walk. I was okay with damp tights, they generally dried in between each shower, unfortunately, a rain problem I did NOT see coming was the torrents of water streaming off my jacket and of all the places for that water to go, naturally, in my shoes it went. I could feel my socks getting wetter and wetter as I went along. Despite my efforts to re angle the the streaming water, it was too late, the damage already done. Meh, it was only water, and I was almost at the end.
Now onto the romantic element of my walk - the VIEWS. I love slowing down and taking life at a walking pace. There is an incredible amount of beauty to be found in the world at this pace, from spider webs with rain droplets clinging to the strands through to the changing shades of landscape greenery with the light play of sun and let's not forget, the sensational ocean scenery. At times I felt as though I was in another country altogether, the magic had descended and my day dreams strengthened my want of travel.
Like everyone in Esperance, I have my favourite beaches and each for different reasons. In and around Blue Haven I found it incredibly picturesque and the clarity of the water mesmerising. Birdlife in abundance, darting in and out the trees and across the path, a variety of wildflowers and green trees, shrubs and what not (no technical terms here, apart form pig face). The sensations heartfelt.
As I approached Salmon Beach, I realised how angry the ocean was, the ocean roared and the sound vibrated through me. I could have sat and watched it for hours. I could easily see how rock fishing could be deadly in a location such as this. Taking photos here was both easy and difficult at the same time, I knew what I wanted to capture and convey, but didn't quite know how achieve it, but damn, I had a lot of fun trying.
And the pièce de résistance was the dolphin display on arrival at Twilight. There were an incredible amount of them and as my camera isn't equipped for zooming in that far, I went old school and looked on in delight, camera safely stowed away and enjoyed nature for all it's beauty. If there's one thing I learnt from completing this trip a second time, is that to participate in nature with the sole purpose of observation only, is an entirely underrated pastime and should be explored more frequently to balance out the craziness of daily life.
Comments