Dunsborough to Rocky Point, Cape to Cape Walk, Leeuwin Naturaliste National Park - December 2019

Twilight at Eagle Bay tonight.

Over the years I’ve had a couple of goes at walking the Cape to Cape Track over in Western Australia, although for a variety of reasons I’d never managed to finish it. The first time I’d planned to walk the track the Margaret River bush fires wiped out a large section in the middle of the walk only weeks before I was due to head over, now that wasn’t a dead loss though because I headed over and did the Stirling Ridge Walk instead, however it wasn’t the Cape to Cape. The next time I made the long trip over from Melbourne I had Sam with me and we were going to walk the track before heading over to Mauritius for a week. This time I actually managed to set foot on the track, in fact we made it down to Moses Rocks where Sam tripped on a limestone outcrop and hurt her arm, which meant that we had to bailout to the emergency department at Margaret River hospital. Now that wasn’t a total loss either as we had a few extra days to enjoy the region before flying OS, however I still hadn’t managed to walk the track.

So with my Christmas 2019 holidays coming up and a trip to Indonesia out of Fremantle planned, I figured that the time was right for me to have a third crack at the walk. After finishing work at lunch time on a Thursday I settled into the ute for the 3,700 kilometre road trip from home to Augusta in Western Australia, arriving late on Saturday afternoon. Augusta is the closest town to the spot where I was planning to end my walk, Cape Leeuwin. After spending the night at a motel in town the next morning was spent organising my gear before I headed up to Contos to stash some food and fresh socks in the bush.

With everything sorted I meandered my way back down Caves Road to Augusta where I parked the ute outside the police station before making my way to the pub…..you might be wondering about now whether I’m ever going to start actually walking, well I was wondering that anyway. The thing is that the Trans WA bus that I needed to transport me from Augusta to Dunsborough only runs once a day on Sundays and doesn’t leave Augusta until around 3:30pm. So with an enforced wait what’s a man to but to head to the pub, although with the temperature well into the 30˚s outside I decided to stick to water and soft drink whilst I enjoyed a long counter lunch watching the cricket.

Augusta Police Station.

Eventually it was time to shuffle my way from the hotel to the bus stop and head off up the coast to Dunsborough. Throwing my pack into the empty cargo hold I climbed onboard the equally empty bus and settled in for the 90 minute journey, managing to snooze off some of the effects of my long lunch in the air-conditioned journey north. All good things come to an end eventually though and at around 5 pm on a stinking hot Western Australia afternoon I was deposited at the Dunsborough bus stop. All good hey, now the walking part of the journey can begin - kinda. You see I still had what was probably two or three kilometre walk through the suburban streets of Dunsborough to reach the start of the Meelup Trail which was my approach trail for the Cape to Cape Walk.

My ride up to Dunsborough has just arrived.

So after a full day of what felt like mucking around it was around 6pm by the time I reset the GPS and finally set foot on the trail (if you have a bit of OCD like me it could even be argued that I didn’t actually start the walk until I reached the Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse the next morning and actually set foot on the C2C). Likewise you could quibble that the title of this post shouldn’t read the Cape to Cape but instead the Meelup Trail, whatever…. I’m too tired to argue.

It was 6pm on a stinking hot Western Australian afternoon when I finally set foot on the track today.

Geographe Bay from the start of the Meelup Trail.

I’d originally hoped to stealth camp somewhere out around Shelley Cove tonight but with Western Australia not having daylight saving time I soon realised that I was going to run out of daylight a long time before I got that far, not to worry at least I was walking now and the stressful part of the day was over. The Meelup Trail starts off very easy as it heads along the coast in the direction of Cape Naturaliste, the track never really straying too far from the water. Being such a warm day I shared this initial section with a few locals making their way out to one of the secluded beaches that the track allows access to, however I definitely wouldn’t call it crowded.

The Meelup Trail starts off pretty easily.

I managed to resist the temptations of Curtis Bay.

After passing by Bird Rock and Curtis Bay I made my way up to more substantial Castle Rock, the red rock contrasting nicely with the turquoise water of Geographe Bay in the early evening light. With road access I once again started seeing a few people out enjoying the cooler evening temperatures when I reached Castle Bay, actually road access along the complete length of the walk is reasonably common, especially on the northern and middle sections of the track. Now it was very tempting as I shuffled past these stunningly beautiful spots, chomping on yet another fly, to want to drop my pack and jump into the cool water however I was on a bit of a mission, I wanted to at least make it to Eagle Bay where I hoped to top up my water and have a cold shower.

The coastal views along the Meelup Trail are stunning.

The Meelup Trail climbs a little over the headland between Curtis Bay and Castle Bay.

Castle Point

Castle Rock

Late afternoon approaching Castle Bay.

Approaching Castle Bay on the Meelup Trail.

Meelup Trail, Castle Bay.

Castle Bay

Crossing Meelup Beach I was starting to have my doubts that I’d make it to Eagle bay before dark though, the sun was now getting very low in the sky which meant that the light was getting better and better for taking photos…and I can never resist the chance to take what I always imagine will be a great shot. Approaching Point Piquet the track crossed over to the inland side of the Eagle Bay Meelup Road for a little while, I’m not exactly sure how long it stayed on that side of the road as I lost it near a big rocky outcrop and emerged onto the road. So instead of following the Meelup Trail for the last few hundred metres into Eagle Bay I trudged along the beach in the fading light.

The locals were out enjoying early evening temperatures.

Approaching Meelup Beach on the Meelup Trail.

Meelup Beach

Leaving Meelup Beach the Meelup Trail climbs a little.

Point Piquet

I lost the official Meelup Trail around here. This is Lookout Rock I think.

This looked like the trail however I was soon deposited onto the Eagle Bay - Meelup Road.

Once I lost the track I just dropped onto the coast and turned left.

Glancing at my GPS I managed to pick the correct spot to exit the beach and a couple of minutes later I found myself at the deserted amenities block at the bottom of Gypsy Street in Eagle Bay. Now it was time to drop my pack for awhile. After filling up my water containers (I wouldn’t get water again until I reached the tank at Mt Duckworth tomorrow) I cooled myself under the cold shower for awhile. Coming straight from Melbourne into the middle of what was a Western Australia heatwave (they had a week of 40˚ plus temperatures in Perth) I was feeling the heat a little, having only returned from above the Arctic Circle a couple of months ago probably wasn’t helping either!

That's Eagle Bay in front of me.

Eagle Bay, yes they really struggle for good beaches over in Western Australia don't they.... bastards;)

Eagle Bay

With the sun now well and truly set I grabbed my pack and shuffled off into the gloom, the plan now was to find somewhere discreet to stop for the night. The Meelup Trail gets rougher and rougher as it heads for Cape Naturaliste and by the time I’d left Eagle Bay the track was starting to get a little vague, although even in the half light of early evening there was no real chance of going too far wrong so long as I kept the water to my right. After making my way out of the little settlement along a rough pad that tracked along the back fences of some very flash beach houses, I soon left the constraints of the little town and was back in the bush. Once all the houses had receded from view I started to look for somewhere to stop for the night. When a flat shelf above a small sandy cove near Rocky Point emerged out of the gloom I dropped down to check it out, what it lacked in flatness it made up for with a view (and a cooling sea breeze), day one of my Cape to Cape walk was finished and I hadn’t even set foot on the Cape to Cape track yet.

Looking out over Geographe Bay from Eagle Bay.

I climbed up to this beach toilet block at Gypsy Street in Eagle Bay to re-fill my water containers...and have a cold shower!

The Dirt.
I walked 9.3 kilometres and climbed 110 metres on this very easy first day of my Cape to Cape walk, these figures don’t include the walking through the back streets of Dunsborough to reach the start of the Meelup Trail. Water is available at Eagle Bay along with a cold beach style shower. There is also a shop at Eagle Bay apparently although I didn’t go looking for it. Accommodation of different descriptions is available in Dunsborough and Eagle Bay, although don’t expect it to be cheap, this is prime real-estate. Camping is a bit more problematic, the first official Cape to Cape camp is around 6 to 8 hours walk from the start of the Meelup Trail, if you start in the morning that would be a easy enough walk however starting at 6pm made things a little harder, I decided to stealth camp and while I’m guessing that this wasn’t strictly legal I figured that there was little difference between a stealth camp or the fishermen spending the night on the beach. If anyone reading this waffle decides to stealth camp then make sure you find a spot away from any houses and practice leave no trace principles.

Relevant Posts.

Melbourne to Augusta Road Trip, 2019.
Cape Naturaliste to Gracetown, Cape to Cape Track, 2009.

Making my way out of Eagle Bay it was pretty well dark by now.

My stealth camp near Rocky Point, I was lucky to pick up a bit of a breeze off the ocean as it was still very hot.