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.