In the north of the Perth metropolis is an area called Joondalup, ‘the lake that glistens‘ in the native Noongar language. And it is from Joondalup Lake in Neil Hawkins Park that the Yaberoo-Budjara Trail sprouts, snaking north, following the movements of elder Yellagonga and his peoples: the Whadjuk tribe, who came under the Noongar umbrella.
The trail is around 30km starting at Joondalup lake, through some desert-like scrub in Neerabup National Park, finishing in Yanchup National Park.
I started off around 10am. Being dropped off at Joondalup Lake, I made my way along the eastern shore. Being November and about 20C, it was cooler than you would imagine Australia but being a lilly-livered pale Englishman, I felt like I was hiking the Gobi desert.
No Aussie hike is complete without a warning sign about snakes in the area.
I trekked onwards and for a little bit the track became a bright red path and then onto Burns Beach Road for a kilometer before entering the start of a long deserty-bush area of Neerabup. National Park and the feeling that the trail has started proper.
There are an assortment of waymarkers on the trail that utilise a silhouette of the Xanthorrhoea or grass tree. The trail is quite obvious and well marked and if pushed you could possibly navigate the main trail through Neerabup without a map but I wouldn’t like to try it in the latter stages in Yanchup National Park.
I soon saw my first wildlife of the trail: kangaroos! They were quite well camouflaged and were at a distance hence the awful picture quality. And they didn’t hang around either. You could tell these ones were quite formidable creatures, packed with heavy muscle but able to deftly hop through the bush hardly disturbing the surrounding flora.
The trail through Nerrabup was quite exposed and I’m glad I bought my sun-hoodie, cap and plenty of water.
A black hoodie seems to be counterintuitive in such conditions. However, I found it to be cooling and protected my neck and ears from the sun. Mine was The Cormac Hoddy from Arc’teryx.
Also reppin’ the Wine For Dudes cap. They’re one of the wine tours down in the Margaret River region. No one else from the tour ordered a cap but this was my favourite souvenir!
On the trail there were infrequent but informative signs giving history of the surroundings. It was a weird feeling, like you’re in well maintained wilderness!
In some parts there was a clear reminder that civilisation is never far away. The Neerabup part of the trail is sandwiched between State Routes 2 and 60 and where State Route 2 finishes, the suburbs of Ridgeway and Butler keep the squeeze up. Still the tunnels under the roads do provide some wanted shelter from the sun.
The Yaberoo Budjara trail is divided into 5 sections:
- Neil Hawkins Park to Burns Beach Road – 2.5km
- Burns Beach Road to Quinns Road – 7.5km
- Quinns Road to Romeo Road – 6.7km
- Romeo Road to Lacey Road – 5.6km
- Lacey Road to Loch McNess – 5.2km
There are section signs en route to let you know when you start a new section with information about the area ahead and I found them quite handy as pace setters.
Further on some trees started to provide much welcome shade. And also a chance to spot some wildlife and take some arty shots!
That wasn’t the last of the ‘roos…One rather beefed-up Kangaroo appear on the trail ahead. We kind of had a stand off. My experience with Australian wildlife was next-to-none so I fellback on Plan B: message my girlfriend on Whatsapp about what to do!
Luckily after about five minutes stood staring at each other like a scene from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, our mate bounced off into the brush and I breathed a sigh of relief. My girlfriend later laughed. Standard.
The trail moved on and stretched out into the distance. I was feeling tired and stopped to drink. Something stung me on the back of leg. I quickly hurried on. Australia is deadly!
In 2020 a large bushfire swept through the region. It took out a lot of Yanchep National Park and the surround. Evidence of this is seen in much of the vegetation that has started to grow out of the charred remains which is a reminder of the amazing ability of these plants to bounce back after such adversity.
Alas, as the trail neared the suburb of Butler, a new highway was being constructed which was an apt introduction to human influence on the landscape. A detour was set up and the trail led me along the equivalent to the UK’s M25 and across a construction site.
Following the flagged walkway across the construction site, it seemed strange to walk passed huge diggers and ‘tradies’ working away. At one point I was shouted at by one irate workman as I had walked over a flattened area I was not meant to! ‘Get out the way you fuckin’ idiot!’ ha! I actually appreciated this Aussie directness as you kind of always know where you stand here. I apologised and he conceeded the walkway was misleading. All good.
The detour led down an overgrown dirt track which ran between a large highway and a swamp. Before I left, I had been warned about poisonous Brown snakes on the trail and the habitat they liked to be found in. This seemed pretty much the ideal habitat. So I grabbed a long stick and waved it about on the ground infront of me to give fair warning to any slippery customer to come my way. I have no idea if this worked, was necessary or even if Brown snakes live in these types of places but eh, better to be safe than sorry.
The Valley of (potential) Death soon opened out onto a dirt track which continued to follow the highway. It was so different to the previous trail I wondered if I had actually left the Yaberoo Budjara by mistake.
But no, I saw a trusty trail marker and realised that this was the worst part of the trail I had read about by previous hikers.
Despite being a disruptive eyesore at this part of the trail, I couldn’t help but remind myself that this country is fairly ‘new’ in the grand scheme and progress has to be made. That highway was actually the one I drove down to actually get to the trailhead. I definitely had a conflict of emotions as I walked along ruminating about this. I broke into a light jog at this part as light was fading and there was not much to see during this stretch.
The Final Section! After that jog alongside the Wanneroo Road, I was in need of some much sought-after nature again! I was also very tired and low on water. But light was fading and I knew Yanchep National Park’s many and tall trees block the light quite efficiently.
The trail that initially promised a forest vibe opened out into a path similar to that of Neerabup, but steeper inclines and declines. But it was a welcome change from walking alongside a highway!
The national park soon became forest again my trusty stick came in handy ias I was paranoid (or justified!) that spiders may have weaved webs across the path and I didn’t want to walk straight into one!
I was getting close to the end now and reaching my jorneys end. I noticed signs of urbanisation like this Hikers Crossing sign!
And at last the final kilometer through the curated part of the park, past Loch McNess (any relation?)…
…around the Roo’s…
…and finally a rest on the grass to await my lift home! It’s amazing to think I had followed the trail of the Whadjuk tribe and experienced the landscape they inhabited so many years ago. Thank you Yellagonga for allowing me onto your land and provide one of the highlights to my trip down under.
