Dave Evans Bicentennial Tree to Warren C

Apart from being a hiker's paradise, Pemberton has some gastronomic delights. We sampled one last night, Jaspers Pemberton Restaurant and Whiskey Bar. Serves were big, and prices reasonable given the plush old-wordly but cosy interior. We had to have our first explore into the world of whiskey with a Whiskey Flight 101, specially curated paddle of 3 whiskeys for the whiskey uninitiated. We had Dalwhinnie, Auchentoshan, and Glenfiddich. The paddle came with water, a pipette for the water, and ice. We had to first sniff the whiskey with an open mouth so the aromas would hit the back of our throats. Then try each whiskey neat, then with 1-2 drops of water to open the flavours, and then with ice to close the flavours. To my surprise, I did get how water opened the flavours of each whiskey, but I thought ice just made it cold. It closed nothing for me. Grace's favourite was Auchentoshan, and I'm still not sure which one mine was. I think I need to taste more whiskeys.

This afternoon, we ate at Hidden River Estate. We shared the duck liver pate entree, which was just as nice as it was last October. Outstanding was the Almond Halva Tiramisu, which we shared. I have noticed that most strangely, my appetite seems to have an inverse relation to the lengths and frequency of hikes; the longer and more frequent the hikes, the less hungry I am. I had no problem gorging at Gourmandise in Albany when our hikes were short. I have read about this most peculiar phenomenon in personal recounts of long-hikers and end-to-enders. These people hike 30+km a day, everyday, for weeks. What hiking I do is nothing, yet this strange phenomena, especially for a piggy like me. Maybe it's just my body adjusting to a healthier way of being. If that is so, it is just another reason to take more hiking holidays.

We did do a little hike today. We had to stay back at the accommodation to attempt a booking at Rottnest Island. Bookings for November opened this morning at 8.30am. I logged into the website at about 8.15am, and when booking opened, I had over 2000 people ahead of me in the queue. We did not get dates we wanted, so November's holiday will not be in Rottnest. Anyway, we only had 3 hours between disappointing Rottnest booking attempt and lunch. So it was a short 8.2km hike from The Dave Evans Bicentennial tree to a bit past the Warren campsite. The Warren River National Park is my favourite part of Pemberton. I will admit to looking with envy at the one tent in the campsite, despite the rain . And yes, we did have our raincoats.Read more