Go South Young Man…!!

My ride to Walpole from Perth was the best one I have had in Australia to date…!!

I left Perth with the spare tyres  strapped to my top-box, and this additional load changed the balance of the bike… The front wheel was a bit lighter, but after letting a bit of air out of the tyre, this improved the grip and I soon got used to the extra weight…

Leaving Perth... As lightly loaded as ever...!!

Leaden skies over the city had me thinking "rain gear"...!!

I took the coastal road south of Perth, as suggested by John, leaving the highway soon after crossing the Swan River and seeing Perth fade away in my side mirrors… I passed through Mandurah, where horses grazed in almost every paddock… Then I saw the racecourse and that explained why so many of them were in this area…!!

It was cold and overcast, and remained that way for the rest of the day… The sun peeped out from behind the clouds on rare occasions only, and for most of my ride, I was uncomfortably cold…

This did not help the chest cold I had been nursing since my ride into Perth a week ago, but I kept hoping for a change for the better in the weather, and kept searching the skies ahead of me for a patch of blue…

South of Mandurah, I rode through the village of Wannanup and then crossed the Dawesville Channel that drains the Harvey Estuary, and sped on to Lake Clifton… I was on what is known as the Old Coast Road, and traffic was light… On either side of me, farms planted with lush grazing rushed by… It reminded me of parts of central England… Emerald green fields under grey skies…!!

Heading towards Margaret River to see if it matched the hype...

I stopped just outside Capel to wolf down one of Michelle’s sandwiches and checked my map to make sure I was not off course… Gi-Gi seemed determined to get me to Walpole using the motorways only, while I wanted to see a bit more of the countryside… It meant an added 150 km to the day’s ride, but I had plenty of time to spare, considering that I had only planned for 600 km…

I passed Busselton and Carbunup River, a small settlement where plump cattle lay chewing the cud in neatly fenced fields… About 30 km further south, I entered the town of Margaret River, intending to see what all the fuss was about…!! On the run into this picturesque little village, grape vines marched off into the distance on either side of the road, and signs suggesting I stop and do some wine tasting became more and more common…

But as many of my friends will tell you, I usually can’t tell the difference between a good bottle of wine and one that contains vinegar, so I saw no need to stop and waste any money confirming this fact…!!

The Big Fella was however thirsty, so I reluctantly refueled while I watched tourist buses offloading their inquisitive cargo into the waiting and welcoming arms of the wine merchants in town…

Made me want o kick my boots off and go walkabout...!!

I was more interested in the dairy products that were for sale from many cheese factories on the southern edge of Margaret River, and briefly considered buying a hunk of whatever was on display, to chew through later… I was not prepared to have a bag of cheese flapping about on the outside of my panniers, and having no other space to put anything, I gave up the idea and concentrated on winding my way through the tree lined country roads instead…

The area is indeed pretty, but then, after you have ridden from Darwin to Perth, you will think any other place on earth is pretty too…!!

Leaving the farms behind and entering the Sate Forests...

I am not sure what they put in the fuel at Margaret River, but I do know that the Big Fella seemed to get a spurt of adrenaline after that particular visit to the pumps… Perhaps it was just the great combination of a sweetly running motor and wonderful roads to ride on… Fact is, as soon as we left town, I had the bike “dialled in” and from there all the way to Walpole, 300 km away, we never put a wheel wrong…

The was like a ride on rails…!! We glided through every corner, skated down every straight, and got to our destination in what felt like half the time it actually took…!!

I stopped at Karridale, bought a cup of coffee, and then saw a large “BILTONG” sign… I went back into the store, and asked the owner what he knew about making biltong… He gave me a long look and then nonchalantly replied,

“Meer as jy, my vriend…!!” (More than you do, my friend…!!)

The Karridale Crossroads Store... Get your biltong here...!!

I burst out laughing, and he called his wife who was from Cape Town, to come and meet me… He was from Zimbabwe and spoke enough Afrikaans to get by… We chatted outside in the little garden attached to the coffee shop/post office/general dealer that they owned before the guy disappeared inside to help a customer, but returned minutes later with a large piece of biltong for me…

“Here, tell me what you think…!!” he said handing it to me… I bit a chunk off the large “stick” he had given me, chewed thoughtfully for a few minutes and then pronounced myself satisfied that he did indeed make good biltong… He beamed happily at my compliment, and when I asked him how much I owed him, he said,

“Never mind, it’s on the house…!! Ride safely…!!” and then turned away and went back inside…

I chewed away at the stick while I sipped my coffee, and then waved to them through the window as I left, seeing them grinning back at me…

Fields of little yellow wild flowers on the exit from Karridale caught my attention and held it for the remainder of the ride until we entered the  Blackwood State Forest and went on towards Nunnup…

The road dipped and climbed through the forest, crossing little creeks and ducking around low ranges of hills… The Big Fella was in his element…!! The rides up until now had been all about endurance and patience… Long, long stretches of emptiness as far as the eye could see, and roads that were as endless and straight as an arrow…

The thickly wooded forest that lines the Vasse Highway...

But here, you had to get back to actually riding your bike, anticipating corners and looking for the correct lines through them… Cars and caravans saw me coming from a distance, my lights blazing, and either slowed to let me pass or hugged the verge to give me room… I found the best speed to take this road safely and enjoyably at, was about 120 km/h, and held it there all the way to the Pemberton turnoff…

After an exhilrating ride through the first section of forest, I stopped to slake my thirst before tackling the last 100 odd km to Walpole...

Another amazing section of the road to Walpole awaited us...

We reached Walpole as the sun was sinking into the Tingle forest surrounding the town… These massive Eucalypts lined the road and made for an impressive sight as we slowed down to enter the town…

Parked outside my room at the Walpole Lodge...

I stopped at the tourist information office in the park across from the dozen or so shops that make for the main street, and asked about cheap accommodation…

“Well Dear, its the school holidays you know…” replied the friendly old duck behind the counter… “All the cheaper places are fully booked…!!”

I also discovered to my bitter disappointment that the boat cruise for the next two days was also fully booked… This cruise had been suggested to me by Trevor and Chenty, who said it had been one of the highlights of their trip through Australia… The skipper, Gary, is apparently a legend in these parts and is a wealth of information and anecdotes about the history of the entire region…

The small room suited my needs perfectly, and with it came free Wifi...!! I nearly fainted...!!

And speaking of my good friends, all through the forest ride, I instinctively knew that they had come this way a few months before…

It was a weird feeling I had, picturing them riding through here… I looked into my mirrors a few times during the ride, imagining Big Red muscling up behind me, or following him through a long looping corner, like we did on the roads into the Cameron Highlands in Malaysia, and the ride to Ranong on the Burmese border…

I longed to have Trevor and Chenty with me today…!! It would have been a great ride to make together…!!

I was directed to the Walpole Lodge, a backpackers hotel one street above the main road, where I was warmly greeted by Julia and Steele, who manage the establishment… The only room available was one without a bathroom en suite, but opened out onto the back lawn, where I could park the bike right outside my door…

This suited me perfectly, and I did not mind paying the A$45 per night…  And when Julia mentioned that they had free Wifi, my jaw dropped open in astonishment…!!

“So there are forward thinking hotel-owners in this country….!!” I exclaimed loudly…

I had constant access to the kitchen and coffee on tap throughout the day, which further gladdened my heart, and without any further delay, I set about unpacking my gear… A group of hikers had checked in earlier, and we got talking about our respective trips… They were hiking a 700 km trail from Perth to Albany…!! One of their members was a herpetologist, and was regarded as “Dr Gecko” here in Australia…

In reply to my queries, Julia then went through a long list of things to do and places to see in the Walpole area, and gave me a map to find my way around…

I decided to spend the following day riding though the forests and doing some work on my blog, taking full advantage to the Wifi on tap…!! Walpole had been a good destination to head for, and despite spending more than six hours on the road, I felt strong enough to do it all over again…!!

More days like today would be a wonderful thing…!!

©GBWT 2011