Last weekend was a long weekend for us West Aussies to mark WA Day. A few friends and I decided to head out for a hike to kick off our long weekend.
Paruna Wildlife Sanctuary is located in Avon Valley, about an hour’s drive north east of Perth. It’s only open during the cooler months, autumn through to spring. It’s a privately owned and managed parkland that is well maintained and the walking trails are easy to follow. There are 3 hiking trail loops you can walk on depending on how far you want to walk. There’s a $10 entry fee per person and you have to book in advance to ensure you snag a spot as they only allow a limited number of hikers into the sanctuary each day.
The Possum Loop Walking Trail is the shortest at only 2.3km and is easy and suitable for almost everyone.
The Quenda Circuit Walking Trail is 6.5km in length. I previously walked on this trail with a different group of friends many years ago. It’s not too difficult and quite a nice walk without being too vigorous.
The Numbat Walking Track is the longest of them all at 12km. As we had a fair bit of time and were up for a bit more of a challenge, we decided on this track. The walk is rated at medium to hard depending on your fitness level. It also incorporates parts of the Quenda and Possum trails.
For more information on the Numbat Track you’ll find it here:
- A WA local hiker’s blog – Life of Py
- TrailsWA
- Australian Wildlife Conservatory and their Trail Notes for the Numbat Trail
I was undecided about what camera to bring along and eventually decided to once again bring my good old Fujifilm X-T10 camera with the all-rounder Fujinon 23mm f2 lens. Given it was going to be a long walk, I was very conscious of the weight of my backpack. Which is why I opted for the smaller and lighter camera set up for the hike.
As we anticipated to take around 5 to 6 hours, we headed out of Perth around 7am and began our hike around 8.30am. It was an unusually cold autumn morning in Perth last Saturday, so it was very difficult to bring myself out of the warmth of the house. But it was totally worth it. The day did feel warmer as it progressed and the exercise we were getting for the actual hike also warmed us up.
It was an absolutely beautiful day from a weather perspective to do the hike. No rain, blue skies with whispy clouds. It was so calming and peaceful to be walking out in nature in the quiet of the morning. Hearing the sounds of nature as we walked and chatted along the way. The challenge with the hike (other than the length) was the fact that it was hilly. However because of that we were rewarded with some beautiful scenery – rolling hills, hilly landscapes, creeks, granite outcrops, wildflowers, some wildlife, open powderbark forests – to name a few things we saw along the way.
We were surprised by how many cars were parked in the parking lot when we arrived but we didn’t feel it was particularly busy when we were on the hiking trail. We bumped into a few hikers along the way, however the sanctuary was large and long enough that you still felt like you had it all to yourself. As we were hiking in the autumn, we weren’t greeted with all the colourful wildflowers you’d expect during the spring.
We stopped around the 8 to 9km mark, after midday, for a short lunch break and break from the walk. One of the best parts of the hike was definitely the boardwalk close to the end of the loop. The boardwalk takes you to a viewing platform with 3 benches. We sat there a short period of time, just taking in the great views, rested and celebrated that we pretty much succeeded in walking 12km!
The rest of the way from the viewing platform is just a short walk along the fence back to the carpark.
By the end of it we were tired from the walk, but also felt pretty satisfied that we made it in good time of just over 5 hours with our short breaks in between.
While the focus of the hike wasn’t photographic and I spent minimal time focusing on photography, I did manage to take a handful of photos that I liked, to capture the trail and our day. These were all raw images that were subsequently edited in Adobe Lightroom Classic with either a Classic Chrome or Astia based Fujifilm simulation.
In addition to just spending some quality time with friends, combining hiking and photography (two of my favourite past times) to kick off my long weekend was such a joy. Though I won’t lie, the next couple of days did led to varying forms of limping due to all that muscle soreness in the legs. Well worth it though!
If you’re based on WA and are looking for a hike to do, do check out Paruna Wildlife Sanctuary. There’s a walk for every fitness level. Not to mention the benefits of just getting outdoors into nature.
Thanks for stopping by today, and happy shooting.
Your friend,
J.
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