Hiking Margaret River – the Cape to Cape Track

Margaret River, located just a 3-hour drive south of Perth, is world famous for its premium wine, waves and walking. The best way to experience Margaret River, I figure, is to combine the three by walking the Cape to Cape Track. This 135km trail shows off the southwest’s best natural beauty: rugged coastline, pristine beaches, karri forests, limestone cliffs – all just meters from the region’s famed vineyards. This hike is perfect for people who enjoy walking 5 or 6 hours a day, spending lots of time under the sun and using the ocean as a bath.

The trail runs from Cape Naturaliste to Cape Leeuwin, covering the entire Margaret River coastline. It takes between 5-8 days to complete, depending on your fitness level and how many swim breaks you take. While walking 20km/day on any trail is challenging, the Cape to Cape Track is relatively easy (especially when compared to long-distance treks in mountainous terrain). The trail is almost entirely flat, well maintained and generally clearly marked.

Most hikers camp on the beach or in the official Cape to Cape campsites. The campsites are great because they have toilets and rainwater collection tanks (just be sure to treat the water). If you insist on a pillow and a shower, you could go on a guided tour – or better still – get a friend to drop you off and pick you back up after each day’s walk.

There are two major challenges Cape to Cape walkers face. First is the sand. When you’re not walking on the beach itself (comprising 25% of the entire track) you’re walking on the dune trails or 4WD tracks. Soft sand makes for slow walking, sore calves and blisters. Switching to sandals or bare feet is the best way to go. Second challenge: the flies. A fly net will be your very best friend on the Cape to Cape. Wind, too.

These are just a few of the lessons my partner and I learned when we tackled the Cape to Cape Track over Christmas ’09. We decided to take the trip for a couple of reasons: a) we had just moved to Perth and wanted to explore famed Margaret River, b) our families live oceans away (15,oookm to my family in Seattle, 14,oookm to his in Florence) so we were orphaned last year, c) I love hiking and wanted to convince my partner to love it also, so I promised him he’d lose 5 kilos easy.

It turned out to be a fantastic week. The temperatures stayed between 25-33 degrees, there was always a gentle southwesterly wind to keep the flies away, we didn’t get eaten by a shark, we ate in restaurants every other day (to break up the tuna-on-crackers and peanut butter-and-jelly monotony), and we even lost a couple of kilos each (which we put right back on during our 3-day post-hike wine and cheese binge in Margaret River). But best of all, the hike showed us the beauty of southwestern Western Australia and made us feel pretty lucky to live here.

So here’s a day-by-day recount of our Cape to Cape adventure – hope it inspires you to walk it yourself!

Day One: Cape Naturaliste to Yallingup (a day of flies, skinny dipping and surfers)

We woke up early from our hotel in Dunsborough, excited for the start of our adventure. It still felt strange to wake up on Christmas Eve morning in 30 degree heat (although it was our second summer in Australia). We stocked up on last-minute supplies (read: sandwich fixings, gatorade powder and dried fruit), called a taxi and found ourselves at Naturaliste Lighthouse. It didn’t take long for the swarms of flies to descend on us fresh meat. Thankfully we’d taken our friend Paul’s advice and packed fly nets. And then we were off! For the first kilometre the trail is paved and bordered with railings and look-out spots. The view was amazing: nothing but bright blue ocean and craggy rock shoreline. And since it was Christmas Eve we had it all to ourselves. Glorious. A few hours later we arrived in the surfing town of Yallingup. We watched the surfers as the sun set on our first day on the Cape to Cape, and fell asleep happy.

Day Two: Yallingup to Moses Rock Campground (Christmas day, pancakes and kangaroos)

Christmas morning!! No snow, presents or carols this year. Instead: a shockingly cold refreshing pre-breakfast swim at Yallingup Beach. Breakfast was waffles with strawberries and eggs on toast at the Caves House Hotel. Full and contented, we started what would be a very long day of walking and lots of pitying looks from holiday makers. The majority of the sympathy came from Smiths Beach. We tried to look as happy as possible trudging through the sand with our giant packs and hot shoes, secretly jealous of the happy families playing in the waves with their santa hats still on. We soon perked up after descending upon the awesome Indjidub Beach (we had it all to ourselves) and later spotting a group of red kangaroos.

Day Three: Moses Rock to Ellensbrook Campsite (dolphins, finding cell reception and risking giardia)

We spotted dolphins today! They were playing in the breakers just under our camp at Moses Rock. A lovely sight to see at 7am. The day got even better as we climbed upon a rock outcropping and – finally – found cell phone reception. We made our overdue Christmas phone calls, had a snack and saw some humpback whales breaching and splashing out in the ocean. Today was a day of serious snake paranoia. We saw lots of tracks crossing the trail from the dense shrubs and made as much noise as possible to scare them away. It must have worked because some fellow hikers (quieter than us, apparently) spotted a python. Eek!! We made sure to zip our tent tight that night at Ellensbrook Campsite.

Day Four: Ellensbrook Campsite to Prevelly (sunbathing, friends and restaurants)

It had seemed like a good idea at the time: why not meet up with our friends who are holidaying in Prevelly? A warm shower, a soft bed, a chance to wash the clothes and the company of friends – sounds great! And it was. We drank heaps of Wise Chardonnay (which tastes especially excellent after drinking nothing but treated water) all afternoon, followed by an overly indulgent dinner at Gnarabar in the neighboring village of Gnarabup. And more chardonnay. We found the switch from outdoor living to civilised living a very easy transition. The other way around? Not so much.

Day Five: Prevelly to Hamelin Bay (goodbyes, gorgeous beaches, blisters)

Our reluctance to start walking again dissolved as we set our eyes on picturesque Redgate Beach. It was just spectacular – and it easy reminded us of why we were doing the hike: to experience awesome beaches like this one. So it was goodbye to our friends (more pitying looks) and hello to what would be my favourite leg of the hike. From Redgate to Contos Beach, the trail runs along the cliff top, offering sweeping views, a gorgeous breeze and fragrant surrounding brush. It was a hot day (nearly 34 degrees) so we decided to take a swim in Contos Beach. Amazing! Refreshed, we tackled the next stage of the day – a 10km stretch passing through the Boranup Forest – home to towering karri trees, grass trees and an abundance of snakes (or so the tracks seemed to suggest). Our tired feet finally carried us to Hamelin Beach – where it was back to sleeping in our trusty tent. We did miss the pillows from Prevelly.

Day Six: Hamelin Bay to Deepdene Campsite (longest day, rain and orange rocks)

The 7km walk from one end of Hamelin Bay to the other seemed to never end. Luckily, the sand was fairly compact, making our barefooted walking relatively easy. We amused ourselves by watching the surfers and jet skiers, prayed the dark clouds overhead wouldn’t bring rain. They did. Fortunately, though, the rain started as we arrived in the Hamelin Bay Caravan Park. Two giant ice creams later, we thought we’d replenish our shrinking food supply. There wasn’t much on offer, unfortunately. Guess it would mean more tuna on crackers and sesame bars for us. Terrific.

Day Seven: Deepdene Campsite to Cape Leeuwin (finished – woohoo!! Time to drink wine!)

Our last day. We started going a little loopy at this point (perhaps we overdosed on omega-3?). We could see the elusive Leeuwin Lighthouse in the distance like a tiny white needle. So close. Almost there. Funny how as soon as you see the finish line everything slows down. I suppose we were lucky for that because we had some awesome views of the rough ocean, rocked by the preceding night’s storm. Four hours later – we arrived at the end of the Cape to Cape. We did it! We celebrated with more ice cream and accepted a generous ride into Augusta offered by a very friendly local, Walter. We felt like sand-encrusted warriors as we limped through the town of Augusta, marveling once again at civilisation. The Cape to Cape was over, but our love for the southwest had just begun.