DAY 318: Fremantle to Perth - THE END!!

Sat 6th September 2008
40km @ 14.2 km/hr
Sunny, 20 deg C
Elevation of destination 5m
Distance to date 19563 km (12227 miles)

Today I’m riding to the Perth City YHA, the place I started from on 6 October last year, so as to ‘complete’ the circuit of Australia.
My much looked-forward to 5 days slumming in Fremantle and Perth got off to a bad start last night though. Some youngsters who had rooms either side of mine got drunk, or drugged or whatever, and made lots of noise. To be honest the old hostel building can’t absorb sound very well and you can hear everything that’s going on, however these 4 made no attempt to tone it down, and the racket and lots of noisy pacing to and fro over the squeaky floor outside my door went on until dawn. I only finally fell asleep at around 5 after politely asking them to hush up twice, but to no avail. The room I’m in is pretty unpleasant when you weigh it up too. It’s only just big enough for a double bed yet the ceiling is very high, giving it an odd chlostrophobic feel. It’s the lack of sound insulation that’s the killer though, and I knew I couldn’t stay here another night, despite having paid 5 nights in advance. The kitchen is right underneath too, and I could hear people cooking and banging pans around into the middle of the night after getting in from the pub.
Assoon as the office opened at 8 I went to see the manageress, who was quite unsympathetic, despite me pointing out that there was no night manager here to sort things out, and no telephone no. that guests can ring if there’s trouble. However she agreed in the end not to penalise me by making me forfeit a second nights charges and I got credited for the 4 remaining nights. After all this I felt pretty washed out and deflated on my ‘last’ day of the tour, but a nice steady run along the river into Perth would settle me. Except the poor maps I have have deceived me, and as it turned out only the last few km of the 20km to the city are on proper bike paths.
But I’m ahead of myself. On escaping from Colditz I decided to try a caravan park 3km SE of Freo instead, and as it looked OK I booked in for tonight ($25). I set the tent up and then headed off to ride to Perth. The route around the north of the Swan River seemed more direct and I had to start off on the very busy Stirling Highway, which was awful. Twice I turned off the highway to try and pick up a riverside track but there wasn’t one, so I rode around 12km over some very steep hills all for nothing, having to get back onto the highway again, or rather on the highway pavement which was the only safeish place to be for a cyclist! It wasn’t fun at all, and it took me well over 2 hours to get to Perth. It should have been 25km from the caravan park to the city but I covered 40, and they were hard won. I was soooo glad to see the Swan River again and it’s prefectly-constructed cycleway havens.
I went straight up to Wellington Street and The City YHA Hostel, and leaned the bike up against the wall in the same place as at the start, remembering that it had actually fallen over with a bang that day before I’d even started. It would have been lovely to have been met by someone but of course no-one knew who the hell I was, so I had to ask a passer-by to take the photo, just as I had the first time lol. He did seem interested in my explanation as to what I’d been up to, but with a quizical gaze as much as to say “is this guy normal?”. Actually I’m happy to have that dubious quality questioned! What’s normal anyway?
I celebrated as planned with a good lunch - a delicious crab and prawn baguette and wicked Danish pastry and 2 large capuccinos, and then had a cycle-wander around the city, a kind of random lap of honour....
No way was I riding back to Freo - it was a 25 minute train journey instead, and I’ll be coming and going this way again tomorrow too. The tour is officially over; the obective succesfully completed; I have ridden all the way around Australia for 19563 km (12227 miles) without using any other means of transport (but with a great big thank you to my friend the SE wind, without which this would have been much harder.) I'm very greateful too for the hundreds of folk I have met over the year that have hosted me, given me food, or just words of encouragement. There are some very special people out there, and those whose e-mail address I have I will contact individually once home.
On my return to camp I had a very sociable evening in the kitchen with several other happy campers, and plenty of passionate discussion of the places in Oz that we liked best.

DAY 317: Quinn’s Rocks to Fremantle

Fri 5th September 2008
62km @ 13.4 km/hr
Sunny, 21 deg C
Elevation of destination 5m
Distance to date 19523 km (12202 miles)

What with light rain overnight and a dewy morning everywhere was pretty wet early on. I had nothing in for breakfast so just got packed up and ate on the way at the cafe up the road. I didn’t mention that I have thrown away the tin of milk powder - I suspected that it might have got contaminated and was giving me the trots - and in fact for 5 days since, I’ve been OK. Fingers crossed. I had been topping up the same large tin from bags of powder that work out cheaper than another tin, and perhaps the constant warming up and cooling of the tin and inevitable introduction of dampness has caused the lot to go off. Maybe I shoud have known, but if it was this problem the contents always smelt OK.
The first 15km today is on Marmon Road, which was very busy, but there’s a cycle lane most of the way and where there isn’t there’s a wide shouder. I had a nice surprise when a Ute stopped ahead of me, and it was the lovely couple who had invited me for lunch at the rest area near Kalbarri a few weeks ago! It was nice to see them again, and they are the kind of couple who effuse warmth and make one feel very special - what a great quality that is.
I knew that a cycle track on the sea front began at Mullaloo, and when I was close I turned off right and weaved through a housing estate for 2km down to the sea, and sure enough found the track. This was to last for about 40km i.e. all the way to Fremantle, athough it kind of disappears around Cottesloe for a short spell. Here I found myself approaching a busy town on a busy road so just headed west again and refound the sea and the cycleway.
I stopped for a very nice toasted panini for lunch about 10km from Freo, but that last few km took ages. The fresh SW wind got even stronger as the afternoon wore on and in the end I was unable to maintain 10 km/hr on the flat. I also went the wrong way, not seeing a sign for the city centre, and instead finishing up deep in dead-end dockland, and had to double back. It was a much harder day than the 'just coasting into Freo' day that I had anticipated.
First impressions of Freo are positive; it’s got quite an ‘alternative’ culture with street buskers and unusual shops. It’s a relatively old town by Oz standards, with buildings close together rather than sprawling far apart as in many places here. I’ve booked 5 nights at the YHA which is right in the centre of the city. Internet access is very fast and only $10 for 3 hours, and I finally figured how to upload as it was not straightforward at first. The hostel is quite old and a bit tired-looking, but everything is here that I need. I had dinner prepared for me tonight for a change - a NZ guy, Ritch, asked did I want to share his beef stew, and we had a good feed since he made quite a panfull. Nice, and he even provided the wine! I’ll have to return the compliment soon.

DAY 316: Yanchep NP to Quinn’s Rocks

Thurs 4th September 2008
38km @ 9.4 km/hr
Sunny, 23 deg C
Elevation of destination 8m
Distance to date 19461 km (12163 miles)

Another perfectly peaceful night in the bush - probably my last, this trip at least. There was a very heavy dew again, but I wasn’t planning a quick departure so there was time to get the tent dried off in the sun before packing up. There were plenty of feathered friends around; most vociferous was the Kookaburra, but very noticeable were unidentified birds with a call just like a telephone ringing US-style i.e. one long ring repeated. At first I thought it was someone passing with a mobile!

I got going around 10, braced for a hard hour getting back to the Yanchep NP ‘centre’. It was just as tough as coming out here with some very hard pushes up steep little boulder-strewn inclines. When dragging the fully-laden bike over a fallen tree I managed to snap off the underside PET bottle cage - good job I don’t really need it any more this trip now I’m just about in urban territory again.

I spent until 1400 exploring more of what’s on offer around the park, and there’s quite a lot to see; flowery walking trails, a wetland walking / cycling trail around Loch MacNess, limestone gorge and caves, some oldish listed buildings, lots of amazing trees and plants, kangaroos, and Koalas, and there’s plenty of interpretive signs explaining all about the flora, fauna and geology. It’s all very nicely done, helped by the relative maturity of this long-established park I guess, and well worth a day’s visit. I saw a lot more of the Black Cockatoos all over the park and by the highway later on, and the park signs call them ‘Carnaby’s Cockatoos’; I think this must be a local name for them since this name is not listed in Simpson and Day, and they look like Short or Long-Beaked Black Cockatoos to me. I’m now not sure which; they’re very similar.

I had a good lunch of Nachos con carne at the Chocolate Box tearooms but resisted buying another bag of Rocky Road which got quickly demolished yesterday; plenty of treats to come in Freo and Perth lol....And apparently the ‘Ghost House’ was so named simply because it was never lived in after being painstakingly built in the 30’s - so no ghosts actually reported then. And Loch MacNess was named after an early benefactor who supported the parks initial development, an immigrant from Scotland of that surname (I’ve never heard of that name before and had thought it was an invention).

After a great morning it was back on the job and facing up to the busy Wanaroo Highway again, but thankfully the authorites have seen fit to provide a bitumen shoulder from Yanchep south, so it was a bit more relaxing to cycle on. NB/ a map of the area showed a coastal road from the coastal town of Yanchep down to Quinn’s Rocks with a note that it would be available from June 2008, however the information centre told me it is not yet complete, but is now expected to be open in October 2008. This would eliminate the highway altogether.

After 16km on the highway I was able to turn off for QR, which is 3 or 4km more. I headed to the only caravan park here ($18/nt) since there’s no bush left any longer to camp in, and managed to find a sheltered place to pitch in the face of a strong SW wind which had quite a cold edge to it. It definitely feels like winter down here now as soon as the sun starts to get low in the sky.

I cycled 2km along a coastal cycle track to have a look around, and noted some amazing houses on a prestige marina / housing complex where some of the (presumably) multi-million dollar homes had huge boats moored at the back - the type of boat that can probably cross all the world’s oceans - and this must be where the rich and famous of Perth / WA shack up. It was very tasteful though and not developed in a vulgar manner as can be the case. From there I headed uphill and around the edge of the town centre and bought some dinner to save cooking out in the cold when I get back.

DAY 315: Lancelin to Yanchep NP

Weds 3rd September 2008
83km @ 13.7 km/hr
Sunny, 24 deg C
Elevation of destination 4m
Distance to date 19423 km (12139 miles)

Didn’t sleep well last night for various reasons, so felt a little weary this morning. I didn’t see anyone at breakfast - the young ‘uns were presumably still in bed, and I left just after 9.
After calling at the excellent bakery for ‘emergency snacks’ for the day (2 megabuns), I spent the first 8km plodding up the hill out of town against the wind, which got me off on a bad foot. In fact despite the forecast of NE winds, which would have helped me along, the wind was mostly on the side E/SE and no help in difficult terrain.
All the way to Nanchep NP i.e. all day, the road undulated with some longer and some steeper climbs. It seemed interminable, and the quite heavy traffic and lack of a decent shoulder added to my woes. I got heartily sick of vehicles whooshing by me, sometimes close, and long before I reached my destination I was ready to call it a day. The key issue is the consequent almost contnuous double white lines in the centre of the road - with little shoulder, traffic was pushed towards me all the time. The scenery is pretty monotonous too; coastal scrub / Banksia. There were a couple of rest areas but the tables were unshaded and so pretty useless for my purposes. I did stop in a small shady wood, but got attacked by mozzies and had to dig out the spray. If ‘doom and gloom’ is coming across to the reader, well, that’s just how it seemed; I couldn’t raise any motivation at all today.
I did see a flock of Black Cockatoos - not the usual red-tailed variety but with white patches on their cheeks, and heard more Kookaburra’s than I had in a long time too, not to mention the reappearance of the 28’s (Austrailian Ringneck or Port Lincoln Parrots), which provided some distraction from the tedium. I think too that in my mind I’ve finished this tour now that I’m so close to Perth, and I’m left with a feeling of anticlimax, which may have affected my mood today. I’m only 60km from Freo / Perth after today.
Finally I saw the sign for the Nanchep NP and thankfully turned off. It’s about 1km to the cntre of the park complex, comprising Ranger HQ, visitor centre, and yessss! a cafe that was open!! The latter was my first port of call, not having seen a shop or cafe since leaving Lancelin, and after marvelling at all the hand-made chocolates on display I ordered a Devonshire tea.It was OK but on the small side, so this was a good excuse to go and buy a bag of Rocky Road from the chocholatier to top up calories, which was utterly gorgeous. This is all it takes to change my mood around - sad or what?!
I’d heard there was a campsite in the park somewhere, and on enquiring I found out it was 5km up a walking track. The ranger thought it would be OK for me with the bike, so I decided to give it a go since I still had 2 hours of daylight left.
The first 2km of the trail were reasonable, but after that there were some tough rocky bits and steep uphills where I had to push, but that far in I was committed, and I just pressed on. It was very tough, taking over an hour for the 5km, and I was pouring in sweat on arrival at the Ghost House (an old ruined cottage adjacent to the camping area). There was, of course, no-one else camping here, so I chose my spot and set up. Pretty soon I was enjoying a mug of Semillon and wondering what all the stress today was about as usual (should have faith man!!).
The wildlife is pretty concentrated in this NP, and I’ve seen plenty of ‘Roos, Kookaburra’s and lots of other birds I haven’t identified (what IS the species that calls “pretty, pretty, pretty” all the time? YES - YOU ARE PRETTY, I'VE TOLD YOU!!!).
There’s a large lake in the centre of the park facilities area called Loch MacNess (!), and I must try and find out tomorrow how it got its name as well as getting the story behind the Ghost House (don’t want to know tonight since I’m camped near to it).
The remarkable resonant call of frogs or toads dominates the background as I write, but I haven’t seen what’s making the noise yet.
The last pic is of the Ghost House; the red flowers were growing from a tree blown over onto its side.

DAY 314: Day off in Lancelin

Tues 2nd September 2008
Sunny, 24 deg C
Elevation of destination 5m
Distance to date 19340 km (12087 miles)

Just a pleasant day chilling out, doing very little apart from lazing around in the sun and eating. They have a few hammocks strung outside here at the YHA and I read for most of the morning swinging to and fro gently in the warm sunshine, reflecting that pretty soon I’ll be back in the wintry Scottish weather. Later on I went to watch the parasurfers (kitesurfers?), which looks like fun, but I’m not tempted to have a go...
I spent some time in the afternoon trying to work out how much all the stuff I plan to take home with me will weigh. And as expected I have well over 30kg hold baggage, with only a 20kg allowance. I can probably risk turning up with 27kg as on the way out, when I got away with that much, but I will either have to send a parcel home with some stuff (it would be cheaper than paying excess baggage charges) or dump some items if they aren’t of much value.
Had a laugh watching Grumpy Old Women on TV here tonight - the stuff they say is so true I think! (Oops). Funny, I was just chatting to Lyn about this programme yesterday.
I’m moving on south tomorrow to give myself plenty of time to get down to Fremantle by Friday 5th. Then on Saturday I plan to complete the loop of Oz and cycle the last 15km from Freo to Perth and in particular to the City YHA where the tour started last October, then celebrate with a slap-up lunch or something similarly significant lol.

DAY 313: Bush camp to Lancelin

Mon 1st September 2008
48km @ 15.2 km hr
Cloudy, 23 deg C
Elevation of destination 5m
Distance to date 19340 km (12087 miles)

I woke around 0100 to barking dogs, and I assumed at first that they were at the nearest houses a few km away, but as I listened it seemed to me that the barking was getting nearer - was it my imagination? I couldn’t get to sleep again worrying about it; funny how this got to me. I later felt that there was one feral / wandering dog that was causing ‘domestic’ dogs to get excited. Anyway it went quiet, and I finally got to sleep with no more disturbances, waking after 8 to pitter-patter on the canvas. Just light rain, but enough to slow me down even more, but it soon relented and I got underway at around 0930.
The first 10km was OK, moderately undulating with a light tailwind, but after turning to the north I had more of a headwind and the road started to undulate more significantly. This continued for the next 20km, and included some steep hills up to 9 or 10%. I also had half an hour of rain at the highest point, and felt very cold even though it was still 16 deg C. There was me thinking today would be easy - well, it wasn't!
The vegetation remained low shrub / small Banksia-type trees, with plenty of grass trees everywhere including in the sheep meadows lol (do the sheep eat that stuff I wonder?). There was hardly any traffic though which was good. Shelter was not much of an issue in the light wind. Finally I topped the hill and started a shallow descent for a few km until hitting the Yanchep to Lancelin road. Here another climb began, and the N/NE wind had freshened, so the last 9km (or 8, or 10, depending on which of the 3 signs at the junction were correct lol) was tough. There was a 3km descent into Lancelin but I had to pedal hard to get down in the wind, so all the pain ascending earlier did not have any reciprocal pleasure in the downhill.
Checking the map just now I note that the ‘direct’ 4WD route from Cervantes to Lancelin is only 75km, whereas the route I took on the bitumen was fully 179km!! Maybe I should have done more research on the former track, but I understand that it is unrideable.
I rode straight to the YHA in Lancelin and checked in for 2 nights. This looks a very nice place; modern, comfortable, HEATERS in the room, internet where you can upload etc.etc. I also have a dorm to myself tonight as it’s not busy. The town is dead; it’s low season, but that’s an advantage to me lol!
After getting all the usual chores done (including a wonderful shower!) I had a look around the town and bought some wine for later to have with my fish and chip supper. I wish I’d arrived here earlier now, this is such a comfy pad......There’s even wireless internet here.

DAY 312: Bush camp to bush camp 31km E of Lancelin

Sun 31st August 2008
111km @ 17.2 km hr
Cloudy, 23 deg C
Elevation of destination 70m
Distance to date 19292 km (12057 miles)

A spot of rain fell as I was rousing myself but it didn’t come to much, anyway, there was a heavy dew over everything to start with. This has been a great camping spot though, and there wasn’t a breath of sound last night apart from an occasional bark from a distant dog.
The first 5km undulated to the junction with the Jurien Bay to Brand Highway road, then it was flat for 9, but the last 21km to the highway featured big undulations of 2km up at 5% or so followed by a similar descent, painstakingly repeated 5 or 6 times as I slowly passed a long wind farm. There was a light to moderate NE wind all day that mostly helped me along nicely, so I got further than expected. The sky was darkish all day, and I fully expected rain, but it never came.
Once on the highway there was no mercy from the traffic volume, Sunday or no; it was very busy. None of the 65km on the Brand Highway today had anything like a decent shoulder, and there was none at all for a lot of the way. There was a gravel shoulder, but it wasn’t of consistent quality with stretches of roly poly pea gravel, soft strctches, and a deep camber in places that made me slide right off the road once to escape a road train. As one of the main highways in WA it’s appalling that there isn’t a properly designated shoulder to cycle on; funny thing is the carriageways seem wider than usual, and I’m certain they could paint in a decent width of shoulder without making the main cariageway too narrow. It is a pretty dangerous road, so beware! At one point a local mine road train came within a foot of me on an open road when there was absolutely no need - another psychopath driver presumably, having fun with me? It left me feeling very angry and nervous, and after that I got off whenever a lorry was coming, as far as I could see anyhow - it’s not always easy to see what’s coming up behind you in the mirror if the lights in the wrong place.
After 30km on the highway there are 2 roadhouses at Cataby, where I stopped for a snack. I don't know; you don't see one for a hundred km then there are 2! In fact they are Cataby; there’s nothing else there except for a hotel, and I smiled at the signs at the roadhouses' rivalry, one of which says “Open 24 hours” and the other going one better by claiming “Open 25 hours”!
There was another 35km of highway truck-dodging to do before the turnoff to Lancelin, but I was surprised to find another roadhouse just 2km before the turnoff at Regan’s Ford on the Moore River, which isn’t marked on my map. I had to stop of course and sample their wares, and I took the opportunity to ring Lyn from there too.
As I rolled out, weaving around yet another coachload of tourists returning from the Pinnacles, the sky was black, and I momentarily considered staying in the caravan park next to the roadhouse, but trusted to luck and carried on. I started to think this was a bad move since the first 2km of the Lancelin road were wall to wall posh olive orchards, and after they finished there were several km of occupied plots, but finally these fell away and it was back to bush. Part of this is the Moore River NP and I think I was probably camped close to the park boundary. Again, it was a nice campsite with lots of wildflowers around.
It’s been another cool day, much cooler than I have been used to for the past few months, and I felt very cold indeed at dusk, until I was able to climb into my sleeping bag. I only have around 40km to Lancelin tomorrow so I can take my time in the morning again.

Pics show yesterday's camp (first) and today's (second).

DAY 311: Bush camp to bush camp 17km E of Cervantes

Sat 30th August 2008
69km @ 15.4 km hr
Cloudy, sunny intervals, 24 deg C
Elevation of destination 122m
Distance to date 19181 km (11988 miles)
Destination = S 30°23.511’ ; E 115°11.036’

What a slow start today - didn’t wake until 9\8, and away around 10! I’m definitely winding down. I could hear Skippy the ‘roo thumping around nearby while I was having breakfast, but he didn’t show up to join me unfortunately.
It was a very short ride of 7km into Cervantes, and it didn’t take long for me to decide not to stay here tonight; to me it’s nothing more than a sprawling housing estate by the sea that happens to be near WA’s biggest visitor attraction, The Pinnacles. I found the sea accidentally at the end of the road to the caravan park, but there were no signs directing one to any other foreshore access - is this all there is? I was further put off when told how much internet access was - $10/hr at the bottle shop and an Australian record (for me) of $12 at the newsagent / Telecentre. I don’t know what the Telecentres are all about - have they been provided for the community? Do they get to use it for nothing? Why do they charge visitors so much then? Where does the money go to? Anyway they weren’t getting mine - the charges were just plain greedy as far as I’m concerned and I refused to play fleece the tourist today. Rant over...
I bought a few groceries and a passable pastie, had another quick look around, found nothing, so hit the road again. To just 1km out of town to Lake Thetis to see the stromatolites, or rather the remains thereof. These simple organisms apparently predate all life, and are responsible for originally producing all the oxygen in the earth’s atmosphere - this is what I was told so if it’s wrong, please let me know someone. What is now left to be seen are the calciferous, coral-like clumps that are in evidence around the edge of the lake. A 1km or so concrete path is in the process of being built around the lake and I was able to cycle around it. The interpretive panels are not in yet.
I then decided to ride the 34km there and back to the Pinnacles and see what all the fuss was about, and turned off right again 2km E of Cervantes. It was quite a pleasant ride; flat for the first 12km then Tobleroning up and down the gearbox for the next 5km. I rode up to the manned entry booth and was told I didn’t have to pay, as a cyclist - good onya guys, that's more like it! At last something free around here lol! I was able to ride around the 3.5km sandy road that winds through the Pinnacles Desert as they call it. It is a pretty amazing sight actually; thousands of upright pillars sticking wierdly out of the flat sandy ground. Briefly, they are the products of weathering -

1. on shore winds have produced 3 or so rows of lime-rich (seashell) sand dunes over the past 2 million years...
2. with time the lime leached out of the dunes and settled into a harder layer beneath the ground...
3. roots and land movement penetrated and caused the harder layer to crack and fissure...
4. the upper strata subsequently eroded to leave the cracked layer exposed...
5. further weathering of the cracks left the pinnacles as seen today...

I seemed to attract quite a lot of attention with the other several hundred sightseers as I rode around; I guess they don’t expect to see someone cycling around a place like this. I enjoyed this ride around, but I had a wary eye on the black clouds hovering around - would it rain on me and spoil the party?
Anyway after about an hour I’d seen all there was to see and turned around and headed back the way I’d come, faster this time what with the downhills and a more favourable wind, and by 1620 I was back where I’d turned off. The wind was even more in my favour as I headed NE so I decided to press on for as long I could. I passed a rather nice camping spot but as the wind was still good I carried on, but a few km further on the wind dropped, there was a long uphill, and nowhere to camp. This road from Cervantes (to the Brand Highway) is very undulating so far, with deceptively-steep hills. The rain was still threatening and I didn’t want to get wet and cold, but Lady Fortune came to my rescue when I spotted an old disused track on the right, and in I went unseen. Well, what a lovely spot - easy to get in and a beautiful array of trees and shrubs, especially Banksia, another WA emblem. Some 100m in I cleared the small stones away and gathered dead leaves to put down as a comfort layer on the somewhat stony ground, and set up. Later I walked the old track for at least 1km marvelling at the beauty of it all - my own private floral forest for a while. Completely hidden from the road too. Note the grass trees (pic), which are very common now, and the Banksia seed (pic). And it never rained...
As I ate my usual mound of pasta (linguini actually) it became quite cold, and I was glad to get in the tent and get my legs into my sleeping bag for warmth. I type sat in my Thermarest chair, then when finished revert back to mattress only to lie down for a read, or more likely, to do some Sudoku. I've now got a book of 'Hard, Harder and Hardest' puzzles, and I'm struggling a bit with the former - I probably need a pencil so I can start trying numbers, then rubbing out if found incorrect later. Any advice gratefully accepted!