Schafer to Northcliffe

Reaching the farm section was a bit of a shock as this was much more open than the farm visits on previous days with no forest bordering the paddocks. Instead you walk along a vehicle track between green fields that are lined by some very mossy trees. As a bit of a poster child for the drainage powers of the native forest, this area was very boggy and waterlogged so with already wet socks I just waded through the small lakes of water that sometimes reached my knees. About halfway along the first vehicle track it rained quite heavily but it was all part of the fun and I continued wading. Relief eventually came from both the rain and the wet track as I reached another vehicle track that was a bit more substantial than the one I'd previously been on. Turning south I was delighted to see a dry sandy road leading into the distance and with open views all around I could watch the dark clouds roll by. Some pristine farmland is located on either side with a few lots of farming equipment to photograph plus the odd herd of cows in the distance. I really enjoyed this part as it was carefree walking through a lovely part of the countryside.

As you continue along towards the house the trees get a lot bigger and it transported me back in time a little bit when perhaps this walk into town from the nearby properties wouldn't have been such a foreign concept. The romantic notion of country life stayed with me as I passed the house and the track leads you into a small section of bush bordering Middleton Rd. Seeing a car rush past on the tarmac road brought me out of my little nostalgic state but once I crossed the road and continued down the Karri lined gravel road that connects up the properties along here, I was back into feeling like I was in another time. This is also where the Bibbulmun first joins up with the Munda Biddi as they both head into Northcliffe. Reaching the end of the vehicle track, I was confronted with tape blocking off the way forward. Thinking a diversion was in place I had a look around at where the track could go from here and the only option was to go onto private property so I accessed my inner rebel and walked over the tape.

Not sure what it was doing there but this was definitely the proper way as you head deeper into the forest and alongside the Gardner River. It isn't long before you have to cross the river and this is done by a wide-ish wooden bridge for both the Munda Biddi and Bibbulmun. Dual markers right next to a heavily moss covered log provided a nice example of the two long distance trails getting along nicely and this wasn't the only fun thing to photograph. The river wasn't a raging torrent at this stage but was big enough to try some long exposure shots as the water collided with the mossy boulders. It wasn't anywhere near as impressive as the Cascades from day one but it was fun nonetheless. The trail splits with the Munda Biddi just up the hill and the Bibbulmun continues along vehicle tracks along the Gardner River. You get close to it a few times but have to scramble off track a little bit of you want a really good view.