Day 1 of our hike started in Gnarabup. We drove down to Margaret River yesterday and stayed the night at SurfPoint Resort (in the middle of the trail.) We had arranged a taxi transfer to take us to the start of the trail at Cape Naturaliste at 8am – but due to some “miscommunication” the taxi driver went to two other places that we were not at and just waited there – even though we had called to say we we were waiting somewhere else and ready… Anyway, 40 minutes later they turn up and we are a little annoyed and frustrated with what seemed to be a sloppy service (thankfully our transfer at the end booked with the same company was better) but we are on our way North to the start of the trail. It took 1.5 hrs to get there as we had several drop offs/pick ups on the way. So 10.15am we were at the lighthouse before a start time of 10.30am. As a “cape to cape hiker” we were kindly waved through the gift shop to go touch the lighthouse to begin our adventure. Having been to the lighthouse twice before, I was very excited and ready for the third time charm… the Cape to Cape was finally a reality! The clouds and dark skies were lifting and the forecast was hopefully about to improve for our first day out there.
Cape Naturaliste lighthouse. The start of the C2C
The first part of the trail we walked along a fairly levelled and sealed ‘all access’ path along the clifftops, which incorporated a few boardwalk sections. A nice warm up for the legs and a gentle ease into the Cape to Cape trail. This 3.5km path led all the way to Sugarloaf Rock where you can walk a few extra steps up to the lookout – Sugarloaf rock is a big granite rock emerging 50 metres high and some 100 metres from the shore. We had seen it previously on a super windy afternoon, and were glad to have some calmer weather and be able to go down and explore the rock formations a little more.
Sugarloaf Rock
Just after Sugarloaf Rock was the sign in book/booth, probably placed this far into the hike as to help keep it from vandalism. We signed the book and continued on the trail alongside clifftops with great views of the ocean and the cliffs ahead. The wildflowers were blooming and the weather was cool and pretty perfect, and we also saw a fox (a pretty big one at that), and bobtail lizards. After Sugarloaf Rock we get to the “three bears lookout” which leads down several steps to our first – thankfully short – beach section at Kabbijgup beach, with some soft sand and a killer uphill up a soft sand dune.
After 12.5km from the lighthouse, we got to Mount Duckworth campsite (the first free campsite of the C2C – supposedly only 10.5km from the start if you went directly there). The campsite was bigger than we expected, with lots of trees and shaded areas and a couple of benches. We used this for a much deserved lunch and toilet break, but were not camping here as we had Yallingup booked and logistically it worked out better getting a few more km’s in today to have a few less on day 2. After Mount Duckworth we continued on some soft sandy/dirt ground and some rocky ground until we got to a small car park before turning a sharp right down a dune onto Yallingup Beach. Yallingup Beach was another short bit of sand walking – fairly firm sand – which then led to a big staircase up off the beach (overlooking the Yallingup Lagoon) and coming out to a big car park with the Campground within sight!
Our Campground for the night was paid accommodation at Tasman Holiday Park. We set up our tent, showered and headed for a short walk to Cave’s House to scout a possible breakfast option that did not consist of porridge (we were starting strong haha) The walk was surprisingly beautiful walking through the Caves House Gardens. The general store was closed at this time, but I knew I was getting a hot sausage roll for breakfast! We headed down to the beach/lagoon with our stove and dehydrated meal to enjoy our first camp dinner (Beef bourguignon) with a sunset over the ocean.
“And now I’m opened up I am strong and wild Like a storm out the stars in my blood And it’s all because of you, you my love”
