DIY tours in South Western Australia

Busselton to Margaret River, day 2, Tuesday 28 November 1979. After having breakfast brought up to my room on a tray, I got going at mid-morning. I reached Margaret River a few hours later, got into the old hotel again and left my bike in the same place as I had in 1978.

As in 1978 I went for a swim at Gnarabup Beach, came back, showered and changed and had a meal in the bar. I was determined to look at a couple of the other caves the next day. There was nothing much on TV so I went to bed.

Had I written this story at the time, there might have been more that I remembered about this day!  ... Read more

Margaret River to Busselton, Day 3, Wednesday 29 November 1979. I had breakfast in the old dining room again. Then I got ready and set off. This was to be a long day but I had the new bike and felt able to do more. I was intending to go back to Busselton but had decided to explore a bit further south and get off the main road when heading north again, using minor roads to see a bit more of the country.

I set off down Wallcliffe Road, turned left into Station Street, rode past the old train station and turned left into Clarke Street, then right into Boodjidup Road. This goes down at an angle until it joins Caves Road.  … Read more

Busselton to Bunbury, day 4, Thursday 30 November 1979. I got my breakfast delivered to the door on a tray again and enjoyed that. I don’t think I took an early swim before setting off.

After showering I got ready, paid and set off up the Bussell Highway towards Bunbury. I don’t remember anything about the ride so it must have been uneventful and easy enough, as expected. I of course made the usual stop at Colroy’s.

I booked an upstairs room at the Rose Hotel and began to focus my mind on the next day’s unprecedented effort. It is hard after nearly 30 years, and with advancing age, to find anything unprecedented to do on these rides any more. I had dinner at a Chinese restaurant in the main street and then took a little walk across the tracks and towards Koombana Bay and the long jetty.  ... Read more

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