Armadale to Pemberton 1991

Armadale to Pemberton via Nannup, 11 day tour, cumulative distance 712 km

Charles A. Pierce

Other Days on this Tour:

Daily Locations for this Tour:

Armadale to Pinjarra, day 1, Monday 21 October 1991. I took the train to Armadale railway station and left there at 10.05, with the odometer reading 21939. The 5km pegs showed that the odometer was reading about 4% low. This remained constant throughout the trip.

DIGRESSION – FLASHBACK TO 1978.

This road was etched into my memory with trauma after the 1978 experience, when I set out from home at 4.30 am with no hotel booking and no definite objective for the day, except to see how far I could get in one day.

In those days I was inexperienced and less fit, I had a heavy old bike and not much idea of how to maintain it properly. The headwind became stronger hourly – I later heard that it was gusting up to 38 knots, a record for a ‘sea breeze’.

  ... Read more

Pinjarra to Harvey, day 2, Tuesday 22 October 1991. Left Pinjarra at 9.01. The headwind was still not strong and did not increase much during the day’s ride.

I stopped at 22009, then at Waroona (22020), changed since I last rode through in 1977. It now has a big motel and wide brick-paved footpaths and a general spruced-up look. Like many towns, it describes itself as the gateway to something.

I rested again at 22034, then arrived in Harvey (22048) at 12.16.

The Harvey Hotel burnt down during the 1980′s but instead of abandoning it they decided to rebuild it in a traditional way but with modern comforts. The long corridors and high-ceilinged old rooms are still there but many rooms now have private plumbing, including a small bottle of local wildflower scented shampoo.  ... Read more

Harvey to Donnybrook, day 3, Wednesday 23 October 1991. This was going to be one of the challenges of the trip. I had decided to bypass Bunbury and go straight to Donnybrook via a short-cut through Waterloo and Dardanup. It looked like about 70 km, and I didn’t know how bad the headwind was going to be. It proved to be steady and moderate SE so that it didn’t help me for the last few km into Donnybrook, where the road turns ESE, as a south-westerly would have done.

Left Harvey at 7.58. Stopped at 22061, 22068 (to look at Brunswick River and pump the tyres, though they didn’t need it) 22077, 22090, 22099 (Boyanup).

When I turned off the SW highway at Waterloo the road went due south, into the headwind.  ... Read more

Donnybrook to Bridgetown, day 4, Thursday 24 October 1991. I left Donnybrook at 8.26 on a fine morning with a moderate SE headwind. This was the fourth day of riding south and I had been lucky so far with the winds. I had been down this road before, (1981 as far as Balingup, 1983, 1985, 1987) so I knew what to expect, but it still developed as the low point of the trip.

I kept going up what seemed to be an everlasting hill for 17km before stopping at Kirup for a drink. At that point I felt like giving up the whole venture. But looking at it logically, what could I do but go on? Going back, even downhill with a tailwind, would be demoralising, and I would still have to get home.  ... Read more

Bridgetown to Kin Kin Retreat, Day 5, Friday 25 October 1991. I left Bridgetown at 8.15. The weather was still cool and sunny with a similar moderate headwind, but it was turning more easterly.

The road between Bridgetown and Manjimup is comparatively flat. I rested at Donnelly’s Well (22184) and at 22198 (Cosy Creek Road).

I cut 5km off the journey to Kin Kin Retreat by bypassing Manjimup and taking back roads, including 7-8km of gravel, through Palgarup, Balbarrup and Dingup. I joined the Muirs Highway 8km SE of Manjimup, some 18km by Road from Kin Kin. The road was hilly and the south-easterly wind resisted me.

I rested again at Smeathers Road, 22212. I reached Wheatley Coast Road and began a steep descent which lasted most of the 4km to the Kin Kin Retreat turnoff.  … Read more

Kin Kin Retreat to Pemberton, day 6, Saturday 26 October 1991. Left Kin Kin at 7.55. Another fine cool day, with an easterly wind. I rode the 4km of gravel back to Wheatley Coast Road, then turned left, south, towards Quinninup. True to the map, there were about 7km of gravel before the sealed surface began about 1km north of Quinninup.

The road climbed towards Quinninup, then descended to the South Western Highway after that small town. At South Western Highway junction, 22240, I had a break, then turned north for 2-3km before turning onto another gravel road, Grays Road, to take a short cut to Pemberton. This cut many km off the journey and I wasn’t worried, when planning the day, by the prospect of a bit of gravel.  ... Read more

Pemberton to Nannup, day 7, Sunday 27 October 1991. Left Pemberton at 8.35. Rolled down the hill past the centre of town and the silent mill, then began the long climb towards the Vasse Highway junction. There, for the first time, I took the right turn, the road to Nannup, rather than the left for Northcliffe as I had in 1985 and 1987.

The previous night I had assumed that the winds would start SE and turn S to SW as the day went on. Since I would be heading WSW, then NW, then north, this would suit me well. In the event the wind wasn’t quite as ideal as that but still favourable.

As I started on the Vasse Highway I met three cyclists coming out.  ... Read more

Nannup to Busselton, day 8, Monday 28 October 1991. I had originally planned, if I got this far, to go back to Donnybrook via the back roads through Cundinup, thence to Bunbury and the Old Coast Road. But it seemed better to go instead to beloved Busselton, with all its pleasant memories and attractions.

I remembered from 1983 that the road was up and down through the forest then, about 19km from Busselton, I came to the edge of the scarp, saw the coastal plain spread out below, and had an easy run the rest of the way.

I left Nannup at 8.44. The wildflowers were the best they had been. I rested at 22357. Saw another orchid, with violet petals and a yellow tongue with a black tip.  ... Read more

Busselton to Bunbury, day 9, Tuesday 29 October 1991. There was no hurry about leaving Busselton this morning because I was only going to Bunbury and the Bunbury-Busselton road could be ridden by a cripple in his sleep (that description nearly applied to me a couple of times in past years).

I had a morning swim and set off at 9.39, going as usual by Geographe Bay Road to get back to the Bussell Highway through Wonnerup. There was something nudging at my memory but I couldn’t remember what it was, until I came up against a pile of sand, and I recalled from 1988 that a storm washed away a section of Geographe Bay Road during 1986. It was much too close to the sea and they haven’t bothered to rebuild it.  ... Read more