DIY tours in South Western Australia

Bunbury to Mandurah, day 5, Friday 1 December 1979. I had a good breakfast in the old ornate but dingy dining room and packed up and set off towards the junction, at 9:10 am. Getting out of Bunbury was simpler in those days, before all the bypasses and extra roads and roundabouts. I turned left into the Old Coast Road, crossed the bridge and trundled north.

About 11km out of Bunbury I encountered Australind again. I had been through here in 1978. In those days it was still a distinct town, not yet subsumed by the growth of Bunbury. There were a few houses, the smallest church in the southern hemisphere, and a roadhouse in the green and yellow livery of BP.  ... Read more

Mandurah to Cottesloe, day 6, Saturday 2 December 1979. At last the dawn came up and I dragged myself wearily in to the breakfast room. I had been looking forward to a Brighton breakfast but in the event I didn’t feel at all hungry, and was sure that anything I ate would quickly be lost, but I had to get some nourishment for the ride home, so I ate a full breakfast. I felt quite weak.

After breakfast I went back to my room and had another upset. But I got ready and set off. There was a north-easterly headwind and the day was warming up, though it was still early because I had not slept in and had the sense to realise the need for an early start.  ... Read more

Cottesloe to Margaret River, 6 day bicycle tour, 1978. This is the second of a series of retrospective bike stories, of rides taken before 1987. 1987 was the first ride to be fully documented in the current format, with distances, speeds, rest stops and so on, moreover written as soon after the event as possible.

Cottesloe to Harvey, day 1, Monday 27 November 1978. I hoped that this ride would be better than 1977, learning from the mistakes of the previous year. Unfortunately I didn’t know what all the mistakes were. But one had certainly been, starting too late on a hot morning. So I decided to start at sunrise, which at that time of year is not long after 5 am. I had no definite objective, I was just going to see how far I could get in one day.

I rose at 4:30 and I always remember the cacophony of bird-song in the summer morning twilight. I got my stuff together, the same bags as before, the same hat, the same clothes, then set off as the sun rose.  ... Read more

Harvey to Bunbury, day 2, Tuesday 28 November 1978.   I tried to get away reasonably early. I had a nice breakfast in the dining room and set off on the familiar road to Bunbury. When I reached Brunswick Junction, just for a change I decided to take the road to Australind and come into Bunbury from there. The distance is about the same but it made a different route.

I turned left at Australind and headed down the Old Coast Road for the last few kilometres into the city. This was the first time I had ridden on the Old Coast Road, the first of many. I crossed the bridge over the estuary and arrived in the city centre in the early afternoon.  ... Read more

Bunbury to Busselton, day 3, Wednesday 29 November 1978.   The breakfast wasn’t as good as it had been in the Rose in 1977, but it filled the spot. The weather stayed mild and breezy, with the wind in my face as I started towards Busselton, this time taking the correct way to find the main road.

There was no rain this year and I didn’t feel the need to stop so often. I stopped for a drink and a rest at Stratham, then continued to Capel. About a kilometre before Capel there was, on the other side of the road from the first isolated house, a sign saying Bunbury 27 km, when it should have been only 25. This sign is still there and it is still wrong.  ... Read more

Busselton to Margaret River, day 4, Thursday 30 November 1978.  I got my breakfast delivered to the door on a tray again ($2.75) and enjoyed that. I don’t think I took an early swim before setting off. I don’t do that any more if I am facing a challenging day, as this was, setting off for the unknown. I wait until the challenge has been overcome before relaxing with a swim. Sea bathing can suck out a lot of calories.

After showering I got ready, paid (I hadn’t got into the way of paying the night before, and hotels didn’t demand it in those days) and set off down the Bussell Highway as though going to Dunsborough, but with the intention of turning left about 7 km out and heading down the unknown (to me) part of the Bussell Highway.  ... Read more

Margaret River to Busselton, day 5, Friday 1 December 1978.   The day was cloudy and windy with westerly winds and showers. I felt a bit depressed – I didn’t see any spooks or anything, but that old hotel had a bad feeling about it, or so it seemed at the time. I had a full breakfast in the old dining room, got packed up and paid. I queried the cost of breakfast, for which they charged you for each bite, almost. The hotel was run by the Auto Motels chain in those days.

I got going at mid-morning. I was intending to go back to Busselton eventually but in the blithe unworried way I still had in those days I thought it would be fun to take a detour through Yallingup and see the Yallingup cave (now called the Ngilgi cave), perhaps swim at the famous beach.  ... Read more

Busselton to Cottesloe, day 6, Saturday 2 December 1978.  I slept well and enjoyed breakfast delivered to my room. I can’t remember whether I had another quick morning swim – I might have done. The day was sunny and cool and there was a moderate south-westerly wind blowing, which promised an easy run to Bunbury. I had decided already to take the train at Bunbury, as I had the previous year.

I headed down Queen Street, over the river, down the Causeway and was cruising along the Bussell Highway, 3 km out, when just opposite a garage, there was a snap and a dragging sound, the pedals swung freely but with no push. I looked down and saw that the chain was broken.  ... Read more

Cottesloe to Meelup Beach, 6 day bicycle tour, 1977.   This is the first of a series of retrospective bike stories, of rides taken before 1987. (1987 was the first ride to be fully documented in the current format, with distances, speeds, rest stops and so on, moreover written as soon after the event as possible.) This provided not only a record of the ride but a time capsule of the person I was at the time. To write about a ride nearly thirty years after the event is to try to look back on the person I was then and explain the mistakes and stupidities. The earlier rides took place in November-December, which of course meant that I was battling heat or strong south-westerly winds.  … Read more