Perth to Wave Rock 1995

Perth to Wave Rock, 11 day tour 1995, 554 km cumulative distance

The aim of this trip was to reach Wave Rock at Hyden, starting by catching the train to Merredin and returning as far as Midland or Armadale to catch the train the rest of the way back to Cottesloe. Midland was decided upon as the trip progressed.

Charles A. Pierce

Other Days on this Tour:

Daily Locations for this Tour:

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Perth to Bruce Rock, day 1, Thursday 26 October 1995. Niteroad had picked up my bike and taken it to Merredin on Tuesday 24 October. I caught the Prospector train from East Perth at 8:45 am on Thursday 26th. I had packed a brunch consisting of a salami calabrese roll with capsicum and a cheese roll with capsicum, and a couple of cans of Coca-Cola. I ate this slowly and dozed sometimes as the train rolled comfortably through the sunlit countryside.

The train was 10 minutes late leaving Perth but arrived in Merredin on time. Then I ran into the great convenience of the new, privatised, fragmented way of running the railways today. The station building was closed, and I had to hump my luggage 200 metres to the information place to find out where Marley’s Transport, the Merredin depot for Niteroad, was located.  ... Read more

Bruce Rock to Narembeen, day 2, Friday 27 October 1995. I only had 39 km to do this day, so I didn’t hurry getting going. I left Bruce Rock at 8:49. It would have been better to leave earlier because of the heat. The maximum temperature that day was about 30 and winds were ENE which meant that they would be opposing me some of the way and help me a bit on the southward legs, on the zigzag road to Narembeen.

At one point on this journey I turned a corner from heading due south to heading due east, and copped a gust of wind straight in my face at the same time that I was presented with the vision splendid, of the sunlit road extended, 10 kilometres ahead.  ... Read more

Narembeen to Kondinin, day 3, Saturday 28 October 1995. I left Narembeen at 7:47. The morning was cool and the winds were light SE turning to S and SW. The land rose to some highish country between Narembeen and Kondinin, then fell gradually towards Kondinin.

I had drink breaks at 2936, 2950 and 2964. At one point a large kangaroo bounded across the road in front of me and kept going into the scrub. It would have been taller than I. My stomach ache was a lot less and the ride, which I had been worried about because it was the longest (though still short by the standards of previous years) for the trip so far, was quite steady and straightforward.  ... Read more

Kondinin to Hyden, day 4, Sunday 29 October 1995. I left Kondinin at 7:32. The first 8 km or so of the road to Hyden are mostly uphill. This is usually the case – inland towns are either near a river or for other reasons on relatively low-lying land. One can usually count on a climb to get out of a town and a downhill run for the last few km into the next one.

The wind was easterly, against me all the way. There was some cloud, but the day was mostly sunny with a maximum of about 29 in the part of the country where I was. The road from Kondinin was at first lined with trees, pleasant on a cool sunny morning.  ... Read more

Hyden to Wave Rock, day 5, Monday 30 October 1995. Rain had fallen during the night and north-westerly winds were blowing strongly. This worried me because having fought easterlies all the way from Kondinin, it looked as though the weather had changed and I was to fight westerlies all the way back. I felt discouraged and frustrated by this, and hoped that the weather would continue to change quickly and that I would have at least lighter southerly side-winds. As it turned out, the low pressure system had got stuck in the bight and I was to have headwinds until Thursday.

Anyway I had a leisurely morning, starting with a big buffet breakfast. Then I set off for Wave Rock, found a real tourist trap with a shop full of the usual hats and stuffed koalas at high prices, and had to pay $2 and go through a turnstile to see the Rock.  ... Read more

Hyden to Kondinin, day 6, Tuesday 31 October 1995. I didn’t have the buffet breakfast, just the usual biscuits and cake and milk before an early start. This was to be a challenge day. The winds were indeed from the WNW, gusting up to 20 knots, the sky was overcast and the morning cool. I left Hyden at 7:21 and took drink breaks at 3063, 3078 and 3093.

Because I had expected a hard time it didn’t seem so bad, I just took it steadily, up and down the gentle slopes and along the long straight stretches of road, where you can see 5 or 10 km ahead. The maps told me that the last 8km into Kondinin were mostly downhill, so when I was 15km out and making good time, realising that I could make it in under 4 hours I started to push hard.  ... Read more

Kondindin to Corrigin, day 7, Wednesday 1 November 1995. Rain had fallen during the night. There didn’t seem any need to rush for an early start since this wasn’t a challenge day, the wind wasn’t going to get any stronger and might back a bit more southerly as the day went on. I had decided to go to Corrigin via the Pioneer Cemetery and Kondinin Lake. Tourist brochures show this lake as a shining expanse of water with a yacht on it but of course I’m a local and I knew it would only be that good under exceptional conditions.

The winds were fresh from the west and the skies threatened more rain. I left Kondinin at 8:43, heading south out of town instead of north, the usual route to Corrigin, which would have taken me back part of the way I had travelled from Narembeen the previous week.  ... Read more

Corrigin to Quairading, day 8, Thursday 2 November 1995. The day was still overcast with some showers possible. The wind had at last backed SSW. This promised an easier day, though it was to be the longest yet at 64 km. Rain had decreased to localised showers, and in the country these can be seen coming a long way off, and the likelihood of avoiding them assessed, on the basis of your own velocity and the fact that the squalls travel from north-west to southeast at 20 – 30 kph. I had fun dodging the showers, and was successful.

I left Corrigin at 8:00. I had drink stops at 3180, 3196 and 3212. My gear adjustment had changed during the ride, I had had the back wheel off once, so the chain came off at 3215 while I was trying to get into ‘easiest’.  ... Read more

Quairading to Beverley, day 9, Friday 3 November 1995.

The Miracles of Beverley

I enjoyed the do-it-yourself breakfast in the hotel and left Quairading at 8:00. The morning was cool and sunny with light SE winds. This day should have been a ‘doddle’ but I found it unexpectedly hard and slow, as though I still had headwinds or was going forever uphill.

I was now in range of the ABC-FM transmitter which is located nearby, and at one stage was delighted with Handel’s ‘Zadoc the Priest’ in full stereo. It was a week since I had had a musical ‘fix’ so I had a strong emotional reaction to this music, which is one of my favourites. The chords and harmonies, the shifts from major to minor and the final climax are always very moving.  ... Read more