Bussleton to Bunbury - 62 kms

Another great days cycling through quiet roads and farmland - also forrest of some special tree I can't remember, but is was a little grey and boring - but special. We arrived at Bunburry at 10.30am before the luggage trucks, so stretched out on the grass and ate lunch at 11.00am. Bunbury is a nice little town with a dolpin display centre where the dolphins come into shore - not sure what else is there. Lots of time to read and relax before the big 108kms tomorrow - only 2 days to go!

Margaret River to Bussleton - 69kms

Back on the bike today - and a fantastic introduction back to the bike. We rode through wineries and farmland on quiet backroads with dappled shade. Anne and I took it easy today, as we had obviously eaten too much on our rest days and cycling at pace did not come naturally. We stopped at the chocolate factory and had a coffee, but Anne gave the chocolate she purchased the thumbs down. I stuck to the free samples which were ok.
Arrived at Bussleton with its famous pier - nearly 2kms long. Following a quick dip in the ocean with the stingers we walked into town to find a great gelati shop along with many of my fellow riders - yum. They made good coffee too! Early night - fell asleep around 9.00pm.

Rest Days a Margaret River

The rest days were spent - cycling- and eating and drinking. Monday - I toured the shops and then decided to head out to Prevelly Beach to watch the surfing competion. The waves were huge - 2.5-3 metres by my calc's looking at the surfers. Headed back home and picked up a bottle of Cape Mentelle Sauvignon Blanc Semillon and a few nuts and some gorgeous vine cherry tomatoes and ripe kiwi fruit. Only 25kms travelled today.
Up early on the Tuesday, and off to Lake Cave with my friend Anne - caught the 9.30 tour, although we had to run down lots of stairs to catch up with the rest of the tour. Lake Cave is small but beatiful. This formation is called the hanging table. Peddled on to Voyager Winerey - as Anne had not been there and then on to the Eagles Heritige which rehabilitates lots of birds of prey. Saw a great flying demo with five black kites (which are brown). On to Cape Mentelle winery for a taste, then back into town for a spot of browsing. We did not get dinner from the campsite tonight, instead we picked up a great green curry with rice and cheesecake desert swept down with a Cape Mentelle Georgiana. Someone has to do it.
Back on the bike tomorrow.

Augusta to Margaret River via Hamelin Bay

Yet another rain shower overnight so everything was wet as usual when it was time to pack up. A long breakfast line meant I skipped breaks and headed for the bakery in Augusta - unfortunately 100 or so others had the same idea. A leisurely ride with a detour to Hamelin Bay - a great beach, but just a tad too cool at 8.30 am for a swim for me, but other cyclists took the plunge. Watched a school of 20 or more dolphins cruise up and down the shoreline searching for food. Stopped off at various points on the road - galleries, caves, etc, there seemed to be a stop every 5kms or so. Finally made it to lunch at the magnificent Voyager Estate Winery - I think they have about 10 acres of bowling green lawn, so even 2500 cyclists had plenty of room to stretch out! Did some wine tasting then back on the bike. Settled into my cottage shared with my friend Anne for three nights under a roof in the Margaret River Tourist Park - functional and clean. Off to the Alex Lloyd concert which was great - and the venue is magnificent at the Leeuwin Estate Winery, but I must confess I just had one beer!

Monday - Managed to get my washing done, and head into town for lunch. I'm thinking of cycling out to the surfing completion this afternoon to check it out. Will require some pedal power however!

More on Augusta

After setting up camp, I went for a walk along the Blackwood River and down to the beach - where the Southern Ocean meets the Indian Ocean - I could not quite tell where the join line was, but it was scenic and windswept anyway. Met a local man walking his friendly labrador who showed me a poor seabird barely alive in the sand dunes - some sort of skewer we though, on its last legs. He promised to call the local ranger when he got back home to see if she knew someone who could rescue it - otherwise the foxes would dispatch it by dark. He told me that the labrador had run up to a beached leapard seal one day, and just missed being slice in half. I stood on the sand dunes accompanied by some small cheery green parrots fossiking about and watched the waves crashing in from Africa.

I walked along the river on the way home and saw a pod of dolphins - with at least one baby which stuck close to its mother. The river is delightful, with all types of birdlife and a great walking track right along the river and up to town.

Nannup to Augusta - 79kms

A cool start to the day after overnight showers. As I headed out of Nannup, there were low clouds sitting over the campsite and surrounding trees, and the sun shining through the clouds was very pretty. We headed off into the cold all rugged up for the ride today - the first significant distance. Lunch stop was in a small hall, and the local lions club were out in force with mixed plates of cakes and giant cups of tea which went down well as it was cool when you stopped pedalling. Yesterday at Donnelly Mill I purchased a small wombat toy to put on the back of the bike. He has become a bit of a celebrity today, so I have named him Winston. People ride past and talk to Winston, however, one of the police pulled up beside me on his motorbike and said that I had a small furry thing growing out of my bag and it might need cleaning out.

I did some formation riding today - got into a few road trains and pumped out the kilometres. I am starting to feel very fit now, and my stamina is increasing, which is just as well, because there are a few big rides next week. I will have to do some side trips to keep up my cycling kms! Tomorrow to Margaret River and two rest days - also a roof over my head for a few nights.

Manjimup to Nannup 62 kms

After a restful restday yesterday ( walked around town three or four times, ended up settling in the pub to watch the commonwealth games to escape the foul weather) I set off bright and early this morning. Today has been the nicest days riding yet. Very scenic and quiet roads, cool weather with the occasional shower. A great stop off at Donnelly Mill - the locals had a bbq cooking at 9.00am and there were lots of friendly kangaroos and even an emu. Needless to say, they were all very well fed. On to Nannup which has a little touch of Nimbin about it from the outside, lots of cafes and tea houses. I even saw one person with dreadlocks - but I think he was the only dreadlocked person in the town. Time to explore the rest of the town.. Tomorrow off to Augusta where the indian and southern ocean meet.

Wed - Shannon River to Manjimup - 63kms

A great day - slightly overcast and the temp not expected to get higher than 22 degrees. Set off through forests over rolling hill - my favourite cycling countryside. Travelled through national forest for a number of hours and finally hit the wine country. You cant turn around here without tripping over a winery, and I guess that will continue for several days. I was chatting at a rest stop to some Tasmanians who were on the ride last year, and we got onto the subject of falling off. I made the stupid statement - 'Oh, I have not fallen off for years'. Two hours later, I moved over for a car onto what I thought was bitumen, but it was six inches of black gravel and I got turfed off into a ditch. Luckily I was moving slowly, so grazed knee and elbow and bruised ribs were the extent of my injuries. It only hurts when I bend over or lift my bag up.

Just after my accident, it started to rain at about 1.00pm and continued off and on until the next day at around 8.00am. I had a leak in my tent which I will need to remedy today - someone who makes horse blankets told me to rub a candle on the seam, so I have procured my 20 cent candle for the job. Rest day Thursday - today, and time to blob around town and update the blog. Tomorrow off to Nannup - hopefully not in the driving rain. As I always say - there are only two certainties on a ride - hills and rain.

Walpole to Shannon River 70kms

Finally some hills! Western Australia threw its worst hills at us today, and many of the riders were complaining. The more experience rider from hillier parts of the country felt right at home. There are many novice riders and lots of people from WA on the ride, and they are just not used to hills.

A nicer day today, a little overcast and a few showers overnight. Arrived at Shannon River and partook of the Quinninup (every town is a nup) Progress Association bbq and real tea - I had two cups, my friend Anne had three cups. As you may have noticed, the life of the cyclist revolves around food.

A big night in the cafe de canvas - our bar under canvas - and a bottle of wine saw Anne and I off to bed before 10.00 - a late night for us!. Unfortunately I was then wide awake at 1.00am from the effects of the wine and then at 5.00am from my neighbour an 18 month old boy who was not happy about his camping arrangements.

Denmark to Walpole - 73kms

A bit of a slow start as I get into the swing of the ride. Did not leave until 8.00am and was going to be another hot day. A nice ride through forest to start with, and then through varied terrain. I stopped off at a great little shady spot with a chicken wandering amongst the cyclist. The chicken ate half my of my peanut butter and jam sandwich before taking off for tastier pickings. It is such a hot day. Lunch was in a welcome shady spot at Tingledale (how cute) and the locals has a fantastic spread. I had an ice cold strawberry milkshake. Unfortunately, my cycle shoes have turned ferral, and everytime I walk in them, they rub my achillies. So I am now sporting two giant red raw spots. Luckily the shoes are fine when cycling, except my feet are losing circululation and feel like they are on fire - a common problem.

The after lunch ride was really not fun. The temp was up to low 30's and lots of open terrain to cycle through. I could feel myself getting mild heat stroke which shivering and nausea, so I stopped in the shade every 5 kms and rested for a few minutes. One woman was badly affected so we hailed the police and the medic to attend to her. Finally at camp - set up the tent in the baking sun and retired to an ice cold shower - I feel human again.

Tonight I am off on an evening tree top walk in the tingle trees - should be fun. Tomorrow, Walpole to Shannon River (a ghost town) 65km so I won't be posting from there!

The big ride -Day One Albany to Denmark

Finally on the ride! First day of the ride did not start until 9.00am, so I decided to go for an early morning pre ride to Middleton Beach and back - an 18km warm up. Great ride in the cool of the day, but even at 7.00am you could feel the heat in the sun.

A nice ride, with the last hour being very hot. Most of the ride was in open scrubby country with lots of cows including dairy and beef. Arrived at the campsite at Denmark, which was on the cricket ground and settled in. My friend Anne and I were going to go into town, but we chanced accross a bus going to Green's Pool - which I had heard was fantastic. We jumped aboard and headed off down the beach, only to find an icecream van in the carpark - heaven! One icecream later and down the steps to the beach - this place is magic.
A welcome swim in this great place. Anne had her bathers on inside out, and was compelled to change them by hiding behind one of the big rocks. A nice walk along the beach and then back up to the car park - the bus driver had told us the last bus went at 5.00, so we got up there at 4.50, only to be told by the icecream man that the bus had just taken off. The were about nine of us awaiting the bus. Time passed, an more time passed. We were getting worried that we might have to walk the 16kms back to town. We got picked up finally and transported back to town. We were going to hijack the icecream van, but the owner caught on to our ploy and said he would make sure the bus came back for us instead - would have made a good story though.

A few teething problems with queues, etc so getting dinner was quite a long process. Caught up with Cathy and Mandy who are some new friends and laughed and laughed an hour away. I was in bed by 10.00pm - tomorrow Walpole.

The big walk - a visit to the house of pain

Saturday 4th March - day of the big walk. John, Linda, Justine, Shona, Kate, Brian assembled dutifully at Olinda at 8.00am. We were lucky to have the fabulous Julie -the support team person to the stars was our lifeline for the day. One concern - it was going to be very very warm for a 47km walk - 31 degrees down on the flats where we would be toiling in the heat of the day.

We started off slowly - coffee at Jells Park while we waited for the other car to catch up, however the Jells Park Cafe computer crashed and lost everyones order. Twenty minutes later we were still waiting - they were not coping well. Finally the coffee arrived and we hit the trail at 9.22am.

We meandered along a little for the first section, reaching Churchill Park at about 12.00 to find the gate closed! Luckily, it was only pulled closed by someone who obviously wanted to keep the park to themselves. Julie had bought nice pastries that we tucked into for 'morning tea'.

Off on the next leg to Lysterfield lake in the heat of the day. A hot walk, and we were glad to finally get there around 2.30pm. There is a beach at the lake - very nice, but no swimming for us. Poor Julie got a bit lost on the way, so we just lay down under a cool tree and traded mobile phone calls with her until she navigated to the right place with a thousand apologies.

Off again after a longer rest than planned - now we were a little dehydrated. The next section to Upper Ferntree Gully was hell. All muscles cramping due to dehydration. Everyone had some problem on this section. Exhaustion at the rest point, and some welcome refuelling on sandwiches. Thanks to the magic magnesium phosphate tablets and a rest and the cool of the evening, we started up the Kododa trail steps - 30 minutes of stairs after 11 hours walking.

In the cool of the evening, we got our second wind, and with limited light (some misguided souls thought that we would be finished by dark and did not bring torches - I bought two!) we made our way over to Olinda by 11.15 pm finish. Nearly 14 hours walking. Most of us thought we could push on to Mt Evelyn before our planned overnight stop. Back home to Melbourne - a long drive after a long day.