Perth to Cape Leeuwin 2000

Perth to Cape Leeuwin 2000 – 10 days, 739 km cumulative distance. The aim of this trip was to visit the old south-west tip again, but to do it in a way originally intended in the failed ride of 1983; that is, to go inland, then rush to the coast at Augusta, go around to Cape Leeuwin, head back up through Margaret River to Yallingup and Dunsborough, go right up to Cape Naturaliste, back through Dunsborough, thence round to Busselton, Bunbury, Mandurah and home.

PREAMBLE – THE FAILURE OF 1983

In 1983 the old, slow Australind train only went to Bunbury in the mornings, arriving about 1pm or later, thus allowing me about 5 hours to cycle to the first night’s stop before sunset.  ... Read more

(PRELIMINARY)

The new bike built for the 1999 ride had given excellent service for a year. It had extended my range and shortened my times for all my trips, and given a minimum of mechanical trouble after a few early adjustments. It had done over 2000 km before the start of the 2000 ride and the distances given in this story start at 36 because the 3V battery in the hi-tech cyclocomputer seems unable to last much more than 1000 km. The device is now on its third battery.

I took the bike down from Perth to Bunbury on the evening Australind train on Sunday 17 September, arriving at about 8:17. The train was late because a small child was supposed to be met by someone at Pinjarra, the person was late and the train driver was unwilling to leave the child alone at the station without an adult there.  ... Read more

Bunbury to Noggerup, day 1, Monday 18 September 2000. I left the Bunbury Motel at 8:38 on a cool overcast morning with light WSW winds. The odometer read 36. I was riding due east to get onto the old South Western Highway and head for Dardanup. It was good to ‘break the surly bonds’ of the city and move out into the open country. I reached Dardanup and turned left into Ferguson Road. A sign said that this led to the Ferguson Valley, in the sense that they were trying to encourage tourists in. I rested at 53.

The hill-climbing inevitably began as I left the coastal plain and mounted the scarp. I found the going quite hard because I wasn’t as fit as I normally would have been at the start of a Ride.  … Read more

Noggerup to Boyup Brook, day 2, Tuesday 19 September 2000. I left Noggerup at 8:32 on a cold cloudy morning. This was to be a rest day, a ride of 40 km or less. It was the only rest day of the trip and I needed it to get in shape for the two days to follow. A light southerly headwind blew. I rested at 120. The hills were typical of the area but nothing extreme. The country was beautiful with everything green and the wattle and other flowers in full bloom.

I reached Boyup Brook at 143, 10:48. My room was ready, since I had booked a week before. It had two single beds and typical old-fashioned hotel furniture, and a spacious bathroom.  ... Read more

Boyup Brook to Nannup, day 3, Wednesday 20 September 2000. This was to be the first challenge day of the trip. The distance wasn’t extreme but it would be hilly. The day started sunny and cold but clouds soon covered the sky. The wind was light SE changing to S then SW. I was going to take a rest in Bridgetown and decide whether I could go on to Nannup. I was determined to go on because stopping for the night in Bridgetown would throw the whole trip out of whack and it would become another 1983, but the option was there if I really needed it.

After a nice big breakfast in the silence of the deserted pub I let self and bike out of the front door and rolled away at 7:47.  ... Read more

Nannup to Augusta, day 4, Thursday 21 September 2000. I started from Nannup at 7:28 on a cold morning – che gelide manine [cold hands!]. It was sunny and the forest looked beautiful in the clear white light. As in 1981, the first 20km seemed easy despite the hills.

I rested at 244 at a quaint picnic spot that hadn’t been there in 1981. A gravel bank had been built beside the road and tables and benches placed on it, made from lumps of wood that happened to be shaped more or less to the purpose. A number of other lumps of wood, shaped naturally to resemble birds and animals, had been placed or hung about.

Soon after resuming my journey I passed a log that looked like the one at which I had taken my first rest in 1981.  ... Read more

Augusta to Margaret River, day 5, Friday 22 September 2000. I didn’t look at any of the caves on this trip – I have seen them all several times, there aren’t any new ones and they will still be there next time, and I wanted to do other things and not get too tired.

I left the motel at about 7 am on a cool sunny morning, arrived at the Flinders Memorial at about 7:30 and made the usual record of my visit. I can still see ‘CAP 4/12/80′ from my first visit 20 years ago. It was a beautiful morning and I enjoyed Cape Leeuwin, this blasted hillside where all the cold fronts come ashore. A fisherman far below on the rocks prepared for an pleasurable day.  ... Read more

Margaret River to Dunsborough, day 6, Saturday 23 September 2000. I rode up to the Margaret River post office to send a postcard and left there at 9:00, 381. I rode over the bridge then turned left up Carter’s Road, then right into Caves Road. I took that route in 1978 on the rainy windy morning of a wonderful day which turned out to be the last day of that ride; when, the next day, I had a broken chain 3km outside Busselton and had to take a lift to Bunbury to catch the Australind train home.

The morning was cool and partly cloudy with a light southerly. I rested at 397, and right there on the side of the road, beside a log, was an orchid.  ... Read more

Dunsborough to Busselton, day 7, Sunday 24 September 2000. The day was cool to mild and sunny with northerly winds shifting north-westerly, then south-westerly. I was going to make it all the way to Cape Naturaliste for the first time and it was a perfect day for this. I got lost trying to get out of Dunsborough the old way – there are lots of new roads and the turning of the old main Naturaliste Road into a shopping mall has complicated things.

I started on the proper road at 450, went up and down a lot of hills, passed some paddocks containing livestock and others containing only arum lilies, crossed streams and traversed forests until the sea and the lighthouse came into view.  ... Read more

Busselton to Bunbury, day 8, Monday 25 September 2000. After an early morning swim I got ready in a leisurely way and didn’t leave Busselton till 9:57.

I did not attempt on this occasion to leave Busselton by the coast road and join the main road via Wonnerup, as I have done most times in the past. Erosion destroyed much of the coast road during the 80′s and 90′s and new developments have made it hard to find the way, so I just went south down Queen Street and found the main Bussell highway. Part of this is a new bypass, and the old section has been renamed Tuart Drive, a scenic route. Of course trucks still use it.

I rested at 519, then left the main highway to find Capel, which used to be on the main highway until they built the bypass.  ... Read more