For the 16th year running, a small but dedicated crew drove the 5 hours south of Perth for the PDC Bluff Knoll trip. We stopped as usual at Katanning (the fun slide capital of Western Australia) then after a bit of lunch we headed off toward the Stirling Ranges.
The first climb, Mount Hassell, afforded us some stunning views across the ranges and adjacent pastoral land, then our weary legs carried us back to camp for gourmet sausage hotdogs on the BBQ, funny stories and drinks around the campfire. We rose early Saturday morning for a cooked breakfast, and then set off to tackle Bluff Knoll. It was one of the coldest trips in memory, but we rugged up and pressed on, reaching the summit in just under 1.5 hours. Visibility was hindered by low cloud, and there was no snow this year, although lunching in the freezing Great Southern wind you wouldn’t know it, so we were happy to get back to the car and its warm heaters to defrost. Dan (AKA The Machine) decided to run back to camp, and made it back the 8kms in just under 50 minutes…! The rest of the afternoon was spent kicking the footy, throwing the Frisbee and making a roaring campfire so we could hunker down for the evening.
We shared even more great stories and chinwagged around the fire until our beds called out to all the weary bodies. Sunday we packed up, and started the long drive home, aching but content. It was another successful year of PDC people getting together and enjoying one of our state’s most beautiful regions and its magnificent landscape.
