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02. June 2018

A walk to Bob’s Hollow

Limestone cliffs and the Indian Ocean
Limestone cliffs and the Indian Ocean

Our house sit is near the southern end of the Cape to Cape Track, a well know walking path which runs for 135 kilometres between the lighthouse on Cape Naturaliste and the lighthouse on Cape Leeuwin, in south-west Western Australia.  Many people walk this track, usually over about seven days.  We aren’t planning on doing this, but there is access all along the track, and we have sampled it at many places along its length while we’ve been staying here.  

The coastline here is always beautiful, but our most recent meetings with the Cape to Cape Track has proved to be exceptional, with breathtaking views of the sea at every step and wonderful geological structures along the way.  This is the section from Conto Spring to Bob’s Hollow.  

 

It’s a relatively short walk of 7.5 kilometres return.  Most of the walk is along the top of limestone cliffs up to 100 metres high.  Here are the cliffs as seem from Conto Spring, a beach-side camping area near a natural spring:

 

Cliffs with sea mist
Cliffs with sea mist

 

This is a close up of the main part of the cliffs, with spray from the breaking surf blowing in:

Limestone cliffs
Limestone cliffs

 

This is the view from the top of those cliffs, looking south back to Conto Spring:

Looking back towards Conto Spring
Looking back towards Conto Spring

 

This is the view looking down from the top of the cliff face to the sea and beach below:

Looking down the limestone cliff face to the sea and beach below
Looking down the limestone cliff face to the sea and beach below

 

This is the view from further along the walk, looking north towards Bob’s Hollow along a curve of limestone cliffs:

Looking north along the coast
Looking north along the coast

 

This is the view looking back south towards Conto Spring, now in the distance, with some of the limestone cliffs visible:

Looking south along the coast
Looking south along the coast

The walking track

This part of the cape to Cape track is mostly a narrow, sandy, dirt track that cuts through the low bright-green coastal heath, with some sections of the path up and down the cliff faces.  Just about every point on the route has excellent views of the sea and the coast.  

The walking track through the coastal heath
The walking track through the coastal heath

 

Unlike other sections of the Cape to Cape path, in which the coastal heath is higher than your head limiting your view, the heath in this section is usually at chest height or less, due to its exposure to the winds.  The low heath is very dense, and pushing through it without a path would be very tiring!

The walking track through the coastal heath
The walking track through the coastal heath
The walking track through the coastal heath
The walking track through the coastal heath

 

While most of the track is a sandy dirt path, occasionally outcrops of the underlying limestone, which have to be picked through, obstructed it:

Limestone outcrops on the path
Limestone outcrops on the path

 

As is usual with limestone, it forms interesting and even fantastic shape; this one looks like an abstracted representation of a pelvic bone that Henry Moore may have designed!

Limestone outcrop on the path
Limestone outcrop on the path

 

All along of this section of coast there are limestone reefs formed from ancient shorelines.  These reefs make great surf breaks:

Surf breaking on a reef
Surf breaking on a reef

 

Here’s an intriguing side path that runs through a narrow chasm in the cliff face:

A pathway through a chasm
A pathway through a chasm

Limestone cliffs

The limestone cliffs are eroded and pocked with small caves.  All along these cliffs these are signs of their continual collapse as they erode.

Limestone cliffs and caves
Limestone cliffs and caves
Limestone cliffs and caves
Limestone cliffs and caves
Limestone cliff face
Limestone cliff face
Limestone cliffs
Limestone cliffs
Limestone cliffs
Limestone cliffs

Bob’s Hollow

Our destination, Bob’s Hollow, is a small and picturesque bay.  The cliffs that define most of Bob’s Hollow are the usual limestone.  This is the view of Bob’s Hollow from the top of the limestone cliffs:  

Bob’s Hollow bay from the cliffs above
Bob’s Hollow bay from the cliffs above

 You can see a large boulder of limestone in the foreground that has separated from the cliff face.

 

The headland that defines the southern end of Bob’s Hollow is much harder gneiss, which forms rounded boulder as it erodes, rather than the sharp-edged rock masses that result from the eroding and dissolving limestone.

Bob’s Hollow beach
Bob’s Hollow beach
A wave rolling into Bob’s Hollow bay
A wave rolling into Bob’s Hollow bay

 

Waves breaking over the rocks of the headland reveal the clear, turquoise water of the Indian Ocean:

A wave breaking on the headland
A wave breaking on the headland

The walk

This is a very enjoyable walk due to the excellent views at all points, the beautiful bright-green coastal-heath vegetation, and the dramatic limestone sea cliffs.  

 

We started our walk where the Cape to Cape Track crosses the access road to Conto Springs.  You could start the walk at the Conto Spring carpark, walk along the beach a little, and climb up a track up the cliff face.  We parked our car here. 

 

This is our route, captured on my phone using the Handy GPS app, shown on a Google Maps aerial view:

 

Google Maps aerial view of our route
Google Maps aerial view of our route

 

You can see my route, and download a kml file to use in your GPS navigator or navigator app here.

 

If you are after a slightly longer walk, I believe that you could enjoyably extend this walk north along the Cape to Cape Track at least a further two or three kilometres to the next beach; but of course, you could go all the way to Cape Naturaliste and enjoy it, too!

Tags

If you enjoyed this blog post, you can find related posts under these headings:

Australia, Bushwalking, Western-Australia

 

Previous post:                              

< Augusta’s swimmers’ beach   

 

Next post: 

Injidup Natural Spa >



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Find all of my posts here:

February, 2019

A day in Tasmania's Liffey Valley

January, 2019

Visiting Bridestowe Lavender Estate

Our pets of 2018

December, 2018

Rocky Cape National Park

Poppies in Tasmania

October, 2018

Hobart street art

Tulips on Table Cape

September, 2018

Flying over the Australian landscape

August, 2018

Climbing Mount Barrow

Climbing Mount Arthur

July, 2018

Walking the South Esk track

A pastoral walk in nth Tasmania

Launceston’s beautiful churches

Return to Launceston

June, 2018

Injidup Natural Spa

A walk to Bob’s Hollow

May, 2018

Augusta’s swimmers’ beach

Seeking big trees in S-W WA

Margaret River vineyards

St Ayles skiffs at Augusta

Cowaramup Bay

Jewel Cave

April, 2018

Walking at Cape Leeuwin

Boranup Gallery’s timber furniture

March, 2018

Flying, and observing humanity

February, 2018

January, 2018

December, 2017

Our House-sit in Mountain River

November, 2017

A visit to Ben Lomond

Our Trevallyn house-sit and its views

More of Launceston’s Macaque monkeys

House-sitting and kayaking at Beaupre Point

October, 2017

Climbing Mount Cygnet

Bushwalking in the snow!

September, 2017

Question Time at Parliament House

August, 2017

Walking to Mt Ainslie & Mt Majura

 A walk on Coila Beach

July, 2017

June, 2017

 Vincent Van Gogh at the NGV

May, 2017

April, 2017

Climbing Platform Peak, Tasmania

The Tasman Bridge Disaster 

Climbing the Tasman Bridge  

Cornelian Bay boat sheds  

March, 2017

Walking the Alum Cliffs track

A surprise find: HMAS Curlew

Paddling to the Coningham NRA

Kayaking at Snug Beach

A break at Snug Beach

February, 2017

January, 2017

December, 2016

November, 2016

 

Barossa Farmers Market

October, 2016

Navigating the wilderness - Handy GPS

Travelling with a desktop monitor

Free-range pasture eggs

Parking in Melbourne, Australia

September, 2016

August, 2016

July, 2016

Get a scarf!

Macaques of Launceston

Launceston's Cataract Gorge

June, 2016

May, 2016

April, 2016

Planning a great Aussie road trip

A evening at Coolum Beach, Australia

Jimdo – Inserting YouTube videos

March, 2016

Our house-sit in Marcoola, Australia

February, 2016

Window seats

The amazing-ness of aeroplanes

January, 2016

November, 2015

December, 2015

October, 2015

Our house-sit in Cazorla, Spain

A Porto attraction

September, 2015

More gum trees in Portugal and Spain

Port wine in Porto

Porto, Portugal, and its bridges

A disturbing event

Australians living in Portugal

Staying in Lagos

Faro sea food

Portuguese pavement

Faro, Portugal

August, 2015

Kilkenny (beer)

Ringo the killer cat

Our house-sit in Ballycarrigeen Lower, Ireland

July, 2015

Best food in Melrose

Porridge in Scotland

 Highland games

Hiring a car

A short trip to Edinburgh

 Melrose

Crossing the River Tweed valley
Our house-sit in Melrose

The Eildon Hills

House-sitting in Scotland

House sitting

June, 2015

I've been TSA'd!

A big day's travel from the US to the UK

May, 2015

Bison in Yellowstone NP

Driving in Iceland

April, 2015

March, 2015

Spontaneous artistic ice-up

Flying to the Arctic Circle (nearly)

The secure area at Incheon Airport 

Incheon Airport, Korea 

Stopping over in Korea – Incheon Grand Hyatt

Flying into Incheon Airport, Korea

'Night' flying with Korean Air 

Flying to Seoul, Korea

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