Team Bibbulmun - A Journey of 1,318,897 Steps

By Alan Chung

Let's Do This!

This October, Shirley, Brandon and I are hitting the trails! The three of us have committed to hike the iconic Bibbulmun Track from end-to-end for the first time in our lives. 

The Bibbulmun Track is one of the world's great long distance walk trails, winding through the Perth hills through the heart of our state’s scenic South West. Many people, myself included, have taken the opportunity over the last 18 months to really explore our wonderful state, and this is our next step in exploring the great outdoors.

Covering 1,005 kilometres (approximately 1,318,897 steps) on foot from Kalamunda to Albany carrying nothing but the packs on our backs, we are determined to complete our walk before the end of October. Through rain and sunshine, from dawn to dusk, we will be covering some big distances everyday – some days up to 50+ kilometres, burning through some 10,000 calories a day between us. Adventure!

Our adventure will definitely have its challenges, and it will not be easy; which brings me to my personal story.

In committing to this adventure, we would like to take this opportunity to raise funds for a cause that is very dear to my heart, the National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF).

My mum was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1997. She was only 42. She fought hard, and she won. But she was challenged yet again, in 2004, when she was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. Again, she fought, and she won. However fate had other plans, and in 2017, for the third time in her life, she was diagnosed with leptomeningeal disease. The cancers she had fought so hard against had spread to her brain and spinal cord. I lost mum in February 2018, after a nine month fight with her third cancer battle. She was only 62.

October, the month we start our walk, is Australia’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month. When the NBCF was founded in 1994, nearly 25% of all women diagnosed with breast cancer died from the disease within 5 years of diagnosis. Over the past 27 years that survival rate has steadily improved. Now, 91% of women are still alive 5 years post diagnosis. The NBCF believes this achievement is due to research - the most effective way to improve the prevention, detection and treatment of breast cancer. We have chosen to support the NBCF, to help fund research to improve our understanding of how cancer originates, grows and spreads so that we can stop deaths from breast cancer.

Please help me, help the NBCF, by making a donation towards this cause by clicking the ‘Donate’ button. Every donation, dollar and cent counts towards this lifesaving research and we would be incredibly grateful and humbled for your support.

We will be posting updates in the leadup and whilst on our hike (so much that our limited phone reception will allow), so check back for updates!

Thank you so much for your support!

My Achievements

1. My Pink Hero Pledge

2. Uploaded Profile Picture

3. Shared My Page

4. Received First Donation

5. Halfway to Fundraising Goal

6. Reached Fundraising Goal

7. Logged First Activity

My Updates

Finished!

Tuesday 26th Oct
Bibbulmun Track, 1,005km, E2E done and dusted!

52km - Walpole to Ramehead

Sunday 24th Oct
Biggest day

Stretch Goal!

Sunday 24th Oct
We smashed our $10,000 goal so let’s try get this bread. 

$12,500 is a good stretch target. 

Halfway there!

Sunday 17th Oct
Day 15 of our journey today, reached Pemberton last night, 594km done and dusted.

Halfway through our journey and also halfway through October, which is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The folks at The Advocate Newspaper interviewed me - link below if you want to check it out.

https://theadvocate.org.au/news/hitting-the-trails-for-breast-cancer-awareness-month/

Reception has been very patchy, thank you to everyone for your kind messages of support and also to those people who have donated to our cause, extremely grateful.

Rocktape please sponsor me

Monday 11th Oct

Bibbulmun E2E Day 6, 7 and 8: Chandoora to Yourdamung, 115.5km.

Monday 11th Oct
And so we beat on, still tired and hungry, losing more weight by the day, plagued by a few injuries - the first aid kit and rock tape is getting a real workout.

Saw some wild pigs, met so many lovely strangers. They say never take candy from a stranger but on the Bibbulmun, take the candy, take the chocolate and take the snacks. Thank you, fellow Bibbulmun friends.

Collected our first resupply from Dwellingup and appreciated our first hot meal in a while - chicken parmis and pints before racing off again to hit another hut.

We are a day behind schedule, so missed the time cut off to pick up our box in Collie, so a huge huge thank you to the legend that is Hayden Hamilton for picking up the resupply box for us. Much appreciated.

Looking forward to a hot pub meal in Collie tonight as we approach the 1/3 mark!

Incredibly stoked to also announce that we have hit $11k in our fundraiser. Thank you all so much!

Night run

Thursday 7th Oct

Chandoora

Thursday 7th Oct

Day 5

Thursday 7th Oct
Bibbulmun E2E Day 5: Gringer Creek to Chandoora. 50.55km and 1,080m elevation.

It was a day of many firsts: scaled the top of Mount Wells for the first time, got lost for the first time, saw our first snake, first echidna and walked (ran) at night for the first time as we raced 15.6km last night to get to our hut.

Today is a much shorter rest day of 34km, pub lunch in Dwellingup Town, few beers, picking up our food package and restocking up on snacks!  

We are over 20% of the way there!

Days 1-4

Thursday 7th Oct
We are alive!

Bibbulmun E2E Days 1-4 done and dusted, covering 143.6km from Kalamunda to Gingers Creek, and a whopping combined elevation of 3,775m.

4am starts, walking, walking, walking. We are very sore, tired and hungry. Conquered three mountains of the Darling Ranges, got soaked in the rain, got bitten by our first tick, one of us cried a few times and we ran out of food. Massive shoutout to @lianetran for dropping us a rescue food drop, very much appreciated!

Extremely grateful and proud to announce that we have met our fundraising target of $10k. Thank you again to our support network, you guys are amazing.

Thank you to my Supporters

$515

Richard Lai & Kim

Good luck - Baxter is thinking of you! She is having a good time here

$512

Richard & Kathy Baillie

Best of luck - this a seriously elaborate way to win a work week challenge. Your Mum would be proud of this amazing effort ? Much love Kathy, Richard, Elliott and Xavier

$510

Greer Van Raalte And Dominic Fielding

Go you good things!

$500

Josh

Bro, I really wish I could go with you. I lost my mum in nearly the same way: breast cancer, then later brain tumor via spine. She passed away at 61 yo and never got to see me graduate, get married, or meet her granddaughters. Will be there in spirit and cheer you on. Don't forget to put The Climb by Miley Cyrus on your playlist! Looking forward to seeing you on the other side.

$400

Michael & Louise

Wishing you all the best of luck!

$310

Ali Lee

$310

Yung Lim

Goodluck, all the best and stay safe!

$309

Lac Tran

All the best to you all I will be your back up if you need me on the way. Hahaha Never give up I believe you guys will make it.

$300

Tham Tran

Good luck you 3. I will make you Phở if you survive, enjoy and have fun.

$300

Phillip Chung

All the best - Mum would be proud Love Phillip Shyuen Chloe and Caleb

$300

Jono Chiew

Have the best time guys! Well at least try to. ?

$300

Penny And Hilton

MKL would be proud! Good luck! Love Penny & Hilton

$260

Shayne Elliott

Best wishes and good to see your passion for making positive change

$260

Hong Tran

$250

Kelly Doohan

Anyone who can fit a months worth of stuff into a tiny back pack and carry for 50kms a day deserves my money! More importantly cancer doesn’t discriminate and research is the key. I applaud your journey. Fingers crossed for good weather!

$250

Alan Chung

$250

Shirley Lai

$250

Brandon Tran

$250

Rudy

Mum would be proud Alan ?

$250

Lisa

Good luck guys!

$208

Gail Brunt

stay safe. Enjoy

$200

Brenton & Cheryl Ritchie

Absolutely inspired with what you are undertaking Alan and proud of you guys. Cheering you on each step of your journey and the impact you are making.

$200

Tim Avery & Ruth Zhou

Go you good thing!! Very inspiring team Chung. Best wishes for the rest of your trek ?

$156

Alicia Nguyen

Officially 75% of target! Amazing thing you guys are doing! Good luck and stay safe! ?

$150

Lisa Lai

Good luck !!! All that practice will pay off!

$108.16

Daniel Huynh

Good luck on this massive adventure! Remember to have fun and enjoy the challenge.

$104.40

Trev Lu

Well done my gaginang brother, amazing what you Shirley and Brandon have done.

$104

Chun

$104

Denise Baillie

Well done team!

$104

Anthony Mirabile

Great work guys!! Huge effort

$104

Kieran Kennedy

Amazing Effort. Absolute Commitment. Great stuff Alan and team. HUGE!!!

$104

Louise Mattaboni

Amazing effort, so proud of you!

$104

Simone Tam

Raising money for such a good cause! Good luck on the massive hike guys. Can’t wait for all the stories once you’re back!

$104

Viviane Nguyen

I completely resonate with your experience Alan. It takes special people to take on big challenges like this, and to bring people together to fundraise for an amazing cause. Your mum would be very proud. Good luck guys!! xx

$104

Kam Poon

Have fun and take care

$104

Lynne Featherston

A wonderful journey for a top bloke. Best of luck to the three of you. Have no doubts about your ability Alan. An inspiration in all that you do. Take care and all the very best ?

$104

Kath

Amazing cause ? Good luck!

$104

Lonnie Nguyen

Alan, your mum would be so proud of you. Good luck on your hiking journey! Love Aunty Lonnie.

$104

Paul & Bao

$104

Caroline

Good luck Alan, Shirley and Brandon! So sad to hear your mum’s story, am sure she would be so incredibly proud of you guys.

$104

Julia Cowper

Thanks for fundraising for such a worthy cause and a good luck Brandon and team for your huge challenging adventure, be careful, keep hydrated and stay safe :)

$104

Colin James

Great work Alan............unfortunately I also lost a partner to this cruel disease and your effort's like this hopefully make that cure much quicker.

$104

Wendy Lim

Go out there and give it your best shot! I know your mum would have been so proud.

$104

Ken

$104

Anonymous

$100

Wakdom

Congratulations!

$100

Rajat Pujara

Well done Alan and team! Such a proud moment. I still remember when you use to say Rockingham is far and look how far have you come. So proud of you bro.. Respect

$100

Ella & Jimmy

Amazing work team! And big congrats on finishing the hike (felt like i lost some calories after reading what you guys accomplished haha). Enjoy the much deserved rest and recovery. Love from Ella & Jimmy

$100

Minh Trung ( Daddy's Friend)

Good luck guys

$100

Niss

Get it.

$100

Kit Teguh

Thanks for having the balls on cracking the Bib, demolishing it and saving the world along the way. Legends.

$100

Hoa And Quan Truong

Good luck to you all.

$100

Maddy Loh

Smash it! You got this! Go team! ??

$100

Holly Vo

All the best to you all. So proud!!!

$100

Lyn-les

You guys are amazing xxxx congrats and well done! This is an amazing cause and your mummy would be so so proud!

$100

Mark

Smash out all those steps mate!

$100

Anonymous

$100

Cuong Pham

All the best guys and be safe.

$100

Cassidy

Great cause guys! Good luck and I hope you reach your goal. Cheering you on! ?

$100

Uyen Tran

Good luck

$88

Isaac Yeo

Great effort, by great people, for a great cause. All the best on the trek!

$52

Clarissa Quah

Wow you guys are amazing! Good luck!

$52

Alex, Linda And Zara Neo

Love what you are doing!!. Good luck, keep safe and wishing you a safe journey home!

$52

Matt Bunney

You were always my hero

$52

Anonymous

$52

Ivan R

Well done Alan, inspirational!

$52

Michaela

Good luck ! Looking forward to hearing all about the highs and lows when you guys get back.

$52

Shay

$52

Elaine Beveridge

Good Luck Alan

$52

Margaret Squires

Such a fantastic cause - enjoy your trek on the Bib xxx

$52

Tetia Hoppmann

$52

Vishnu Kalakota

Well done team

$52

Saj Dissanaike

Awesome work Alan, you’re a legend. Good luck for the trek!

$52

Jess Mai

So proud of you guys! Such a wonderful cause and great way to fundraise. Hope you bring along water and not just beers ?

$52

Giang And Nhi

Wow, so proud of you for doing this and honouring your mum in this way. She would be so proud of you! All the best with the challenge, we know you can do it.

$52

Eliza Samineeni

Amazing work guys!

$52

Alefia

Great going guys, all the very best to you Alan & team, for a very inspiring journey for a splendid cause, more power & strength to you guys, stay safe??

$52

Vanessa Way

Wooo go guys and gal! What an amazing cause xx

$52

Kelly And Anthony

Amazing cause guys! Good luck!!

$52

Don Delfante

good on u alan and group your doing a great service for all the greater good of our community i applaud you all well done

$52

Jinnee And Nick

Good luck and enjoy your adventures for this great cause!

$52

Paul White

Well done Alan. Good luck and what a great initiative.

$52

Terry Dawe

Amazing effort, keep going guys!!

$52

Anonymous

$50

Liane Tran

Break a leg, not literally

$50

Lai Kwun Yek

The C word has touched most families but doesnt make the journey any easier. Good on you for taking on the challenge and dedicating it to the cause. P.s in physio world we call rock tape magic tape :P so am glad it worked its magic

$50

Jocelyn Hua

$50

Chun Tan

All the best guys! Respect

$50

Joel Edwards

Best of luck mate, better step up the training.

$50

Anastasia

Good luck! Take care of each other! Can't wait to hear all about the walk when you are back

$50

Kriss Soord

Pleasure to meet you 3 on the track. Well done with the fundraiser ??

$50

Reg Gregory

Best of luck Alan, Shirley and Brandon!!

$50

Andrew Sub

Amazing effort for an amazing cause.

$50

Lisa Waine

Well done Alan, your mum would be so proud of what you are doing.

$50

Helen Durczak

Good luck Brandon and team

$50

Cheryl Giovenco

Go Alan!!

$50

Sabrina Loh

Good luck guys!! Awesome stuff, looking forward to your updates!

$50

Simone Pereira

Good luck out there :) Super proud of you!

$50

Alvin Wibawa

Well done and good luck Brandon + siblings

$50

Hoa Truong, Minh Trung

$36.40

Gayathri Nadarjah

All the best Allan and team?Fantastic cause and quite an adventure.

$36.40

Sam Jefferis

Well done Alan, what a great effort ❤️

$36.40

Ash Collins

Nice work!

$36.40

Adam Lock

Good luck!

$36.40

Mevan Wimalaratne

You guys are warriors! Great work ❤️

$36.40

Sara

$36.40

Anonymous

$35

Quentin W

Great cause and good luck!

$35

Katelyn Trebley

Amazing work guys ??

$25

Kingston Tran

Good luck guys! You’re my hero! ??‍♂️??‍♀️ ??‍♂️

$20.80

Tina Dawson

It was great meeting you of the track -twice. I’m glad I got to hear your story. You are inspiring in many ways. Good luck with the last few days of the walk and reaching the new target.

$20.80

Hurley Steven

$20.80

Sue And Charlie Soord

Keep up the great work/walk. You guys rock :) XOXO

$20.80

Alana

Amazing effort guys!! Share the step count at the end! It better be exactly 1, 318, 898 ?

$20

Greg & Gail

Congratulations on this epic journey Alan and Shirley, that is a mammoth effort and a very worthy cause. Your neighbours, Greg, Gail and the boys

$10

Anonymous

Nice work Alan & Shirley ??

$2

Gary Lai

Good Luck guys.