End-to-Enders gather

On Sunday 15 March, the Foundation hosted a picnic for walkers who had registered an end-to-end walk on the Bibbulmun Track since it was officially opened in 1979.

We were delighted that our Patron, Kerry Sanderson AC CVO, attended. Kerry, who is Chair of the WA Parks Foundation, gave an informative update on their current projects, the importance of open spaces and the synergies between the Parks Foundation and the Bibbulmun Track.

Despite the ominous weather forecast, the rain held off, the sun came out and everyone spent a pleasant few hours sharing stories, catching up with old acquaintances and making new ones. Sadly, around 100 people didn’t show up due to fears of the Coronavirus.

BTF Events Manager, Steve Sertis, handed out prizes to those who met certain criteria including our latest member, anyone who had walked or cycled to the picnic or had brought their fuel stove to make a cuppa!

A rogues gallery of End-to-Enders was on display, a selection of log-books and red registers saw many people searching for their entries during their walks, and some of the valuable archived documents of the history of the Track proved fascinating.

The real value of the event, however, was the personal interactions. Meeting up with people that some had only heard of, or maybe met out on the Track once. ‘Oh wow, it is you! I saw you walking out of Chadoora Campsite when it was bucketing’ were some of the more typical comments.

Thanks to everyone that attended and made it such a great day.