Day 4. Sanderson Bay – Cape Younghusband – Hanson Bay – Grassdale. 13.3 kms. 45.3°C! (Peter Thomas)
We knew it was coming as the weather reports are posted in all the camp kitchens and a ranger dropped in to Banksia Camp last night to tell us the fire conditions had reached “Extreme” and a total fire ban was in place (“Don’t even knock any rocks together.”) We left at 7 a.m. and had a really lovely meander along the clifftops before entering the coastal heath, tall dense mallee again with tea tree but by the time we reached the South West River inland from Hanson Bay it had started to heat up dramatically. The river crossing was definitely one of the day’s highlights. After South West River we entered open country as this was now reclaimed farmland. We reached Tea Tree Camp just on noon again and just laid in the kitchen shelter while we cooled down somewhat. A very hot north westerly was blowing which didn’t cool us at all so, after lunch, we decided to head for Hanson Beach. It took us an hour to cover the 2 kms. back to the beach as we had to stop every ten minutes or so to rest in the shade. By the time we reached the beach we had just about had it. A thorough soak followed by lying down in the shade set the afternoon’s activities. It had started to cool somewhat by 6 p.m. so we made our way back to Tea Tree Camp and a cold dinner.
Lighten The Trip Fantastic 