The walk from Collie to Balingup marked the first ecological shift along the track to include more forest walking and a bit of farmland. For us, this section also marked the start of rain that, unknowingly at the time, would linger for the rest of the walk!
The next couple of days were wet and uneventful. We had been informed by other walkers on the track that the scenery improves after Balingup, with the best parts to come once we reach Pemberton. Given how much we had enjoyed the previous two sections, we were excited to see what the next few sections of the track had in store for us.
Arriving in Balingup at around 1pm we resupplied at the general store. The store offered a decent range of options, but was not quite as good as the general store in Dwellingup. Passing through Balingup was a spirit lifter for Maddie, who at the time was suffering from bad blisters and an unhappy knee. Her grandparents used to own a farm there and we took a quick photo at the town library Maddie used to visit with her grandparents as a kid. We then headed to the Mushroom Cafe down the road for some lunch with other hikers that we had met the day prior. This cafe was a real surprise and served up some of the best food along the entire trek. Both the pies and blue cheese and broccoli soup well and truly exceeded our expectations.
