October 4th
Along Wilshusen Rd(183.2)-Collie(210.6)
Mileage: 27.4mi/44.2km
Campsite Elevation: 991ft/302m

Note: Anyone that missed the brief emu video I got yesterday, I was able to load that video onto that post when I got to town today. 

I got to sleep through the night and wasn’t woken by rain this morning! Hallelujah! I didn’t start walking until 7:10am. I wanted to get a bit of an earlier start, but I had some technical difficulties with the blog post this morning that took an extra 20 minutes or so. I was thankful to have service inside the tent rather than having to stop and post in the middle of hiking. It was cloudy and misted on and off the first half of the day, but I held my ground and didn’t wear my rain pants! 

Sandy terrain.

Pink wildflowers.

The event of the morning was that I knew I would catch up to another end-to-ender named Lance. I saw him around 11am when he was seated along the trail on a tree examining a map. Just for the fun of it, he was practicing his map skills. Lance is quite at home out here and sure does know a lot about nature. I think he could name every thing out here. His attention to detail is impressive. Leonard is definitely savoring this hike and looking at every detail. We chatted for a bit, and very quickly, without prompting, I was told of the other American ahead named Mike that I have mentioned. At this rate, I probably won’t see him until the end when he turns around on his yo-yo, but I feel like I will have his whole life story by the time I meet him without even needing to inquire.

Lance and his map.

Since I was on a schedule to make it to town, I moved on and told Lance I would see him at the shelter not far away where I was having lunch and he was camping. It was fun to get to spend time at lunch with Lance. This is not his first long adventure. He is from this area and does a lot of mountain biking here. There is a well-known mountain bike trail that parallels and, sometimes overlaps (coincidentally did today) the Bib called the Munda Biddi. Lance’s plan at the end of the Bib is to do immediately jump on the Munda Biddi and ride back north to complete his trip. He is even a bit of a sailor. He did a sailing race that went around the world and took 10 months. It was really great to meet Lance and I wish him the best on the rest of his hike and then bike. 
The second half of the day was just a power through to get to Collie. I wouldn’t have done the miles I did today if it wasn’t to get to Collie. The timing just landed right to make it happen tonight rather than tomorrow. Collie is the largest town along the Bib. It is really cool that with all of these towns, the trail is made to walk through them. Funnily, I came across two mobs of kangaroos (that bolted of course) just as I got closer to town. 

Side trip to Perrin Lookout over Lake Ballingall connected to Harris Dam.

Harris Dam

Getting creative and finding a way for me to enjoy greater quantities of peanuts.

Private farmland on the way into town.

Collie is actually a 1.5mi/2.5 side trail out and back, but I love that it’s included in the mileage of the trail. I love that I am able to fully walk for a full 1000 km/600 miles without needing to hitch or anything for a re-supply. Pretty darn cool to have a trail that fully walks into each town. 

Street I came in on.

I got to town at 5:30pm and checked into Colliefield’s. It came highly recommended, and seems to be the best deal in town. They are Bib members and give a discount if you are a member as well, which I am. Btw, if you hike this trail and are not a member or do not donate to the trail you should!! Just the shelters alone are worth paying dues toward! This trail doesn’t come out of nowhere and has an amazingly great volunteer system behind it, but they need funding. With all these bush fires and maintenance and rebuilding, it’s pretty amazing how well they’ve been able to maintain the trail. All hikers should do their part and contribute. Ok, theres my rant. 

Colliefield’s somehow is left out of the Bib accommodations guide in paper and online, which must be an oversight. I’m giving it a shout out so future hikers know that this is the place to go. The $42US/$53AUS is a steal out here considering it also includes laundry, good wifi, soap/shampoo, and breakfast. There is a cafe downstairs and 14 rooms upstairs in an old and solid building that is very quiet and close to everything in town. I highly recommend Colliefield’s. 

My cozy room for the night.

My body (especially feet) was not wanting to walk far for dinner, so I got some great easy food from Lindaz Central Deli just a couple doors down. Pam working there tonight was great and they have great prices with a variety of meals to go for prices much more reasonable than the nearby restaurants. I ended up eating two meat pies for dinner and enjoyed them! One was a steak and gravy filled one and the other had minced meat with potatoes and cheese on top. They are much more filling than they appear! I also got a meal I can heat up and eat tomorrow for lunch. A big shout out and THANK YOU to blog follower David for his help today. See the chocolate milk David!?

It was glorious to put my feet up, eat in my quiet room, watch an episode of Modern Family, and go to bed early. The hard clay-like ground of much of this trail seems to be wearing on my feet as the days go on. Adding the sidewalk walking into town today did them in. I’m already 1/3 of the way through and am getting closer to all that sandy walking ahead along the grand coastline. That may be a welcomed change for my feet. Another great day, and I didn’t even need to wear rain pants! 

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