Deepdene Campsite to Cape Naturaliste, Cape to Cape Track, Leeuwin Naturaliste National Park - December 2019

Deepdene Beach

The end was getting closer.

I was up early again on my last day on the C2C track. While I’d been lucky for a couple of days with mid 20˚ temperatures, today was predicted to head back up into the mid 30˚ region again. So with the predicted warm temperatures I was hoping to finish up by about lunch time. The lunch time finish would also hopefully allow me to get up to Fremantle at a reasonable hour to reunite with Sam, who was flying into Perth at lunchtime. So anyway with all that in mind I was shuffling my way out of the Deepdene Campsite by around 7am, saying goodbye to the school girls from Perth on the way past.

Heading back out to the beach this morning.

Before I could resume my long walk along Deepdene Beach I had to retrace my walk back through the dunes, the sand now a bit cooler than last night however almost as soft. Trudging through the dunes I met up with the English girls that I’d been talking to yesterday, they’d picked a great spot in the dunes near the beach to stealth camp last night and were also packing up and getting ready to head off. Dropping out of the dunes I arrived at Deepdene Beach to find that the tide was a fair way out, even better news was that the sand around the waterline was pretty firm and good to walk on.

Once back on Deepdene Beach I turned left... and kept walking.

And so it started….the long walk down Deepdene Beach. With around 7 kilometres of beach walking I was pretty happy to have a fairly low tide. Deepdene Beach is yet another of those stunning Western Australian Beaches, white sand and turquoise water once again being the order of the day. I’d been visualising walking a lot of this beach in bare feet last night however once on the beach this morning the thought of finishing off the walk with sandy feet inside my socks was a little less appealing.

Early morning on Deepdene Beach.

I crossed some nice rock platforms towards the southern end of Deepdene Beach.

Deepdene Beach

Deepdene Beach is arguably the most remote section of the C2C.

Deepdene beach starts off fairly typically, lots of waves and white sand however nearing the southern end of the beach I started walking past some rock platforms. Initially these platforms were fairly low and actually would of made good spots for a swim as the platforms stopped the waves and allowed for calm pools of water to form behind them. A little bit further on and the platforms got a lot higher and similar to yesterdays walk south of Cosy Corner Road, I was again walking honeycomb rock high above the surging ocean below me. This section of the C2C was fairly slow going as I carefully made my way along the rocks, jumping the occasional gap whilst the waves crashed below me. 

I started to walk another honeycombed rock platform.

Deepdene Beach

Honeycomb rock on Deepdene Beach.

Looking out to the Indian Ocean from the rock platforms.

The going gets a little rough along here.

Rough walking on the C2C above Deepdene Beach.

Eventually I left Deepdene Beach via a bit convoluted route through some very soft and steep dunes before turning away from the coast and climbing steeply to meet a 4wd track high above the coast. With plenty of time up my sleeve I headed a few minutes down the 4wd track to check out Augusta Cliffs North Lookout, although really the view was pretty similar to the one that I’d had on the climb up from the beach. Retracing my way back up the 4wd track I rejoined the C2C and continued on. The next section of the C2C involved contouring through the coastal scrub high above the Augusta Cliffs, for a lot of the next 4.5 kilometres I was walking a tunnel through head high coastal heathland vegetation so there wasn’t a lot in the way of views, although just before the C2C started to drop down to Skippy Rocks Road the long range views opened up again, Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse now suddenly appearing very close at hand.

The C2C at the southern end of Deepdene Beach.

There are some interesting limestone pinnacles along here.

Touching the sand one last time.

Deepdene Beach

Climbing away from Deepdene Beach.

There was a couple of heartbreaking dunes to climb at the southern end of Deepdene Beach.

Climbing the soft sand....at least the views were good.

Cape Leeuwin is looking a lot closer now.

The turquoise Indian Ocean.

Looking south along the Augusta Cliffs from the Northern Lookout.

The C2C now dropped fairly steeply, crossed Skippy Rocks Road and soon reached the southern registration station. Staying close to the coast as I headed for Quarry Bay I passed a very pretty rocky cove that looked like it would make great swimming or diving spot. While water (and heat) had been my main concern on my C2C walk it was somewhat ironic that when I dropped onto Quarry Beach I was suddenly walking across numerous fresh water springs that were pouring out of the limestone, it appeared that this beach was draining the whole Leeuwin Naturaliste Ridge that I’d been walking along for the last 7 days.

After climbing this old 4wd track for a few minutes.....

....I set off along this walking track, the C2C now traversing high above the Augusta Cliffs.

I was taking my views where I could get them on this cliff top section.

The sets rolling in from the Indian Ocean.

The C2C heading through the heathland above the Augusta Cliffs.

Climbing away from Quarry Bay I headed climbed over another low headland to arrive a couple of minutes later at the site of the historic waterwheel. It was here when I again started to pump into tourists again, I hadn’t really seen anyone but other walkers since I’d left Hamelin Bay yesterday afternoon. After checking out the wooden water race that supplied water to the old water wheel I again briefly left the tourists as I walked the last couple of hundred metres of the C2C track. Arriving out of the scrub at the finish sign I asked a kind person to take my finish photo and then wandered over the lighthouse precinct. Fully expecting to have to pay to get in here the attendant waved my through and gave me somewhere to leave my pack as I meandered my way through this historical precinct to finally arrive at the lighthouse just on lunchtime, my Cape to Cape walk was finished.

Resting in the shade...today was a little warmer than the last couple of days had been.

Looking north along the Augusta Cliffs from the Southern Lookout .

I saw plenty of these blokes so I figured that maybe I should get a photo.

We call these guys Stumpy Tails or Shingle Backs over east, I'm not sure what my Western Australian brothers and sisters call them.

My day wasn’t quite over yet though. Returning to the entrance for the lighthouse precinct I grabbed a drink and then went outside to try and get a ride into Augusta, the thought of a 8 kilometre road bash not filling me with joy, especially as the day was now once again pretty warm. After five minutes or so I was lucky enough to get a lift into town and throwing my gear into the ute it did feel like my adventure was over. After stopping at Hamelin Bay for a quick shower and picking up my food dump at Contos I settled in for a fairly uneventful drive up to Fremantle, arriving around 6pm, ready for my next little adventure.

Cape Leeuwin

Signing out....I still had a bit of a walk to go.

The C2C approaching Quarry Bay.

This would be a great spot to dive.

After seeing virtually no ground water over the length of the walk I arrived at Quarry Bay to find a multitude of freshwater springs seeping over the rocks and sand.

The Dirt.
I walked 17.7 kilometres and climbed 334 metres on todays medium grade walk on the C2C. Over the seven days of my C2C adventure I’ve walked 166.7 kilometres and climbed 4129 metres according to my GPS (I'm pretty sure that the metres climbed figure is fairly optimistic). There were no real camping or accommodation options today until I made it into Augusta. I filled up my water containers out of the tanks at deepened Campsite, apart from that the next water was at Quarry Beach. The Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse charges admission however they let walkers finishing the C2C in for free, there is also a small café there. The car park at the lighthouse is the best spot to cadge a lift into Augusta I think. I used the maps and notes out of the 8th edition of the Cape to Cape Guidebook by Jane Scott & Ray Forma as well as my GPS topo maps.

Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse from Quarry Bay.

The great scenery continued to the end.

Another freshwater soak behind Quarry Beach.

Quarry Bay

My last climb away from the coast.

The historic Water Wheel wooden water race.

So what to make of the Cape to Cape Walk, well the usual question I ask myself is would I do it again…and the answer for the Cape to Cape Walk is definitely, although like the majority of the walks that I do nowadays I’d like to spend a little more time on the walk and walk some shorter days next time. If you are just camping on the C2C then you are fairly limited with your itinerary, I’m thinking that stealth camping is not actually allowed (although my English friends assured me that it was). Now having said that so long as you don’t stealth camp near a town or one of the accommodation options then I don’t think you’ll have too many issues, just remember to leave no trace so you don’t stuff it up for the walkers coming behind you. One of the things that I liked about this walk is that it’s a little like a European walk in that sometimes I had the option of camping or staying in paid accommodation, something that I really appreciated on the stinking hot days at the beginning of my walk. One thing that people have to be aware of is that this walk is a little harder than might be imagined, the soft sand takes a bit of effort to walk, especially if the weather is hot.

Relevant Posts.
Day 6, Cape to Cape Track, Leeuwin Naturaliste National Park, 2019.

The end:)

Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse.