After travelling the Southern Hemisphere for several months, Jim and Lesley Warburton took a break from the trains and boats and decided to tackle Cape to Cape Explorer Tours 8 Day Self Guided Catered Comforts hike. Reining from England where they had previously completed a hike of 135 miles, they saw the 135km distance of the Cape to Cape Track as a sign not to be ignored.
Interestingly, the Warburton’s selected late January, the hottest time of the year to tackle the track and they had an absolute blast! ‘I think the art really is making very early starts’ Jim said, ‘You get the nice clear skies and you see more wildlife’. Lesley’s highlights were also seeing so much wildlife, including a New Zealand Fur Seal on the beach (pictured below).
New Zealand Fur Seal resting on the beach near Joey's Nose
As a Botanist, Lesley was also delighted by the amount of wildflowers they spotted along the walk considering the time of year; ‘There’s such bright ones, beautiful reds and purples and whites and yellows’ Lesley said. Jim also loved the wildness of the last day, along with the incredible geology of the limestone and granite.
Managing Director Gene Hardy with Lesley and Jim Warburton at Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse
The Warburton’s also shared that they were now going to head to Nepal, somewhere very close to their hearts. ‘Seven or eight years ago we made a commitment to build a school in a village there (Nepal)’ Lesley said, ‘we just saw the lack of opportunity for the kids, only 60% of kids go to school in Nepal’. After a long process, the school has now been up and running for several years with a syllabus similar to what you would see in Australia. The school is equipped with class sizes of 25, 10 classrooms and 10 teachers and is currently offering 150 children the opportunity to come and learn without having to walk for over 90 minutes each way.
Children reading at the school the Warburton's built in Nepal
The Warburton’s described that one of their main challenges was actually getting the kids to school. One of their incentives to parents have been providing every child with a school uniform, because the parents often can’t give their children new clothes, so the thought of their children getting new clothing mean that they have a greater reason to send them to school. The Warburton’s are already in Nepal and have kindly sent us a couple of photos of the children at their school. We look forward to hearing the progress of their students in their future!
Children playing at the Warburton's school in Nepal
Interested in hiking the Cape to Cape Track but can’t make it in either Spring or Autumn? No worries! We offer our self-guided walks all year round and as you can see, there’s always a new experience to be had. Click here to check out our 8 Day Self Guided Catered Comforts package to start your experience today!