Hiking Hewitts Hill to Helena Hut – Bibbulmun Track with kids

Continuing on from Day 1 on 13 March 2020 Kalamunda to Hewitts Hill

Day 2 – on 14 March 2020 we went from Hewitts Hill to Helena Hut on the Bibbulmun Track with our Miss 12.

Youtube video for this section can be found here.

How far did we walk from Hewitts Hill to Helena Hut

Day 2 of our Bibbulmun Track adventure we did 21.5km. 

Total completed 33.6km and only about 966km to go LOL

Drama Drama Drama

We all had a great nights sleep, excited to get moving and after about half an hour Miss B’s blister was giving her grief.  Needless to say it was a LONG walk to Mundaring Weir. 

Once there, we decided I would go back to the rig and exchange her boots for her worn in trail shoes.  

Firstly we removed her boots, cleaned the blister and found, it was quite a doozy. 

She was adamant to continue.  I tried to call an uber/taxi to take me back to the rig, which was only 5-10 minutes from where we were, but no-one would come. 

Very frustrated we went into Mundaring Hotel to see if there was a local taxi service and the owner offered to take me, as he was heading into town!!  So very thankful I could of cried. 

The fix and back on the track

After exchanging the shoes I accompanied him to the shops where I popped into the chemist and was overheard by a customer explaining my daughters blister. 

This lovely lady told me I HAD to have fixomull waterproof tape and Scholl waterproof instant pain relief (blister bandaids).   The fixomull tape can be put on when you feel the heat of a blister coming and will stop it – I am not kidding it works.  We used it to cover B’s blister in recovery after the scholl had done its magic.

I seriously can not say just how much this meant to us and how great they were. 

We will now never go on a hike without either one of them again.

Hit the track jack

So against ALL odds we patched B up and hesitantly hit the track again. 

We were actually getting closer to our rig as we headed towards Perth Discovery Centre.  Not wanting to get our hopes up or put any pressure on Miss B.  Being our usual positive optimistic selves, we were still a tad nervous about her ability to go on.  Let’s face it feet on a hike of 1,000km, are pretty important!

At Perth Discovery Centre she was doing great.  She wanted to continue and onward we went, to Ball Creek. 

Being fulltime travellers, we talk about safety first and monitoring our bodies carefully with hydration and fitness a lot. Therefore, we knew we could rely on her assessment.

Water tanks at huts

Never depend entirely on there being water in the tanks at each hut, or more importantly that it will be able to be consumed.  They are checked and maintained in hiking season, although at times on busy track days you can come across an empty tank. 

Write it in the book or if there is reception notify the Bibbulmun Track Foundation.

Upon hitting Ball Creek, one tank was empty and the other was so full of mosquito larvae, you couldn’t drink it. 

We put water into the Lifestraw as an emergency and continued on to Helena hut.  Miss B was doing great and said her blister was not giving her an issue.

Hydration

You must take hydration seriously, the other two felt the heat too, but were fine.   But, this was a very warm day and with a dodgy water tank at Ball Creek Hut, we were being extra careful with water. 

It was not helped by our late start to the track dealing with blisters/shoe change over either.  On a normal hiking day we would start early and be finished by the early afternoon when the heat is at it’s worst.

But as I moaned and groaned, I made a mental note to pay more attention to my husbands advice in the future. He is health and safety 101.  

We had sqwincher electrolytes with us, which we were very thankful for.

Also as previously mentioned we had our lifestraw, which when we hit Ball Creek Hut was ESSENTIAL to even have a chance of drinking the water and it was still deemed emergency only!

Lunch on the Bibbulmun Track 

Our favourite lunch on the Bibbulmun Track, would have to be Vitaweats with John West Iron Tuna, Roasted capsicum and three bean salad. 

It kept us full was yummy and fresh.  A big thumbs up from us, although it is not exactly light. 

Having left our travel rig and not wanting to leave fresh vegetables, we also took a bag of carrots for nibbles and finished them in the first couple of days. Miss B and I love carrots and it was nice to have something fresh but I would not recommend the weight.

Thankfully, we took Brett, who is similar to a pack horse and loves us to be happy. 

We appreciate you love xx

Onward to Helena Hut

The bush is so beautiful in this area it is just beautiful.

Lets just say, I was pretty happy to reach Helena Hut.  Not that there was any question it would happen.  Obviously, I was still earning my track fit and pack fit status and with temps of late 30’s I really felt it today.

Brett may or may not have been a little frustrated with the pace. As always we stick together and make sure everyone comes home – thanks love I appreciated it.

We we rewarded with an amazing hut!  Such a great job done by Bibbulmun Track Foundation.  Great water here, water never tasted so good.

There is average Telstra reception at Helena Hut on the Bibbulmun Track. 

Move positions, stand on your right foot with left hand in the air and your tongue out!  Just kidding not too bad at this hut 🙂

Getting things sorted at the Hut

We set up for the night, took dehydrated dinner out and soaked.  Generally about 10 minutes before cooking. 

Meanwhile, we washed down with nappy wipes, checked & dressed B’s blister, made beds and chatted to our new hiking friend.

Got stuck into the washing with our portable Scrubba washing machine, (buy one here) which kept us smelling a bit more pleasant for our company! 

We have used it on multiple hikes all over the world and would not do a through hike without it.

What a day! Loving life on the track a little more at this time, clean, fed and tucked into bed.

Next Section Helena hut to Beraking Hut

Tips and Links

For information on our planning & preparation for our Bibbulmun Track hike click here details on dehydrating which we strongly recommend click here.

When hiking outside of hiking season Hydration is very important (even in Hiking season) always take more than you think you will need.

Hiking poles were a life saver for both Miss B and I.  Leanne (me) only uses one as I like to have a hand free.

Check out our youtube video for Hewitts Hill to Helena Hut of the Bibbulum Track