Kondinin to Hyden 1995

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.

Wave Rock

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. The country all the way was not as bleak as I had expected, but pleasant, with scrubland and woodland. The roads were generally in long straight stretches, with gentler climbs and descents than are found nearer the coast. But when you have a headwind for 60 km it is like having an extra set of brakes always half on, or like climbing a hill of varying steepness all the way.

I rested at 2992, 3007 and 3022. I hadn’t been able to get the usual three-packs of fruit juice in Kondinin, but I had some left over from previous purchases and also some Power-Ade from the Kondinin Roadhouse. I passed the turnoff to Karlgarin at 3019 but didn’t bother to go there and add 2 km to my journey – I didn’t need anything and didn’t know whether the place could supply anything, or was just the usual cluster of sheds.

The road ran along the railway for quite a distance, which made the going easier, because railways are built on flattened beds with hills and valleys evened out, and companion roads tend to share these. The last stop was just after the 15 km peg from Hyden, on a curving, sloping section of road.

I arrived in Hyden at 11:35, 3037. I rolled up to the front door, but this was the tavern part, not the accommodation part. I went around to the accomodation part but it took me some time to find a door open or anyone about. There was a man engaged in building activity who couldn’t help me, then at last I found a boy working in the kitchen who checked me in and gave me my key, though he couldn’t take any money.

I should have anticipated that on a Sunday morning, with the tavern closed and tourists usually arriving in the evening, there wouldn’t be anyone about. But in the event it worked out all right.

I arrived with a great sense of relief and satisfaction, because a couple of days earlier it had seemed that this place was out of reach, and now here I was, in good shape, with no more big riding to do for nearly two days.

The room was dark, because the heavy curtains were drawn across the sliding windows (which had sliding flyscreens without defects). I turned on the light and was pleased with what I saw.

The ceiling was high, and there was a digital clock radio, a colour TV with remote control and an air conditioner mounted high on the wall with a sophisticated control panel hanging down. There was a fridge and plenty of furniture. The room and bathroom were spacious and clean. The bed was wide and comfortable. Everything worked. There were 47 units like this in the place, as well as the restaurant and tavern, and building work was going on at various points.

The existence of an international tourist attraction nearby of course accounted for the incongruous growth of this facility in a small (pop. 129) wheatbelt town on the way to nowhere. The next stop, some hundreds of km to the southeast, is Lake King (don’t blink or you’ll miss it), then there is a further long hike to Ravensthorpe and Esperance, but these places are more readily accessible via Wickepin and Lake Grace.

After a trip to the roadhouse for supplies I settled down for my well-earned rest with some tea and a packet of biscuits.

Later I looked round the town. The map showed that this was the end of the railway line here, and showed a railway station. No trace of this remained, only two somewhat buckled tracks coming together as one and terminating in a welter of dried-up wild oats. The sleepers were badly deteriorated along the single track, but the rails here and further up showed signs of use. Rails long disused are rusty and rough, but these were smooth and had a bit of shine on them. This was puzzling – the track didn’t look fit for use by anything larger than a light tram, but there was no evidence that such a thing existed round here (though there is now between Northcliffe and Pemberton).

I wondered about the feasibility of a private rail service down here for the tourists, collecting them off the existing Prospector service at Merredin and running them down to Hyden in a couple of hours.

A couple of tourist coaches were in, so there was a good crowd for the buffet dinner, which was excellent, made more enjoyable because the nature of my holiday made it all right to ‘pig out’.

Afterwards I watched TV, examined maps and wrote up the log for the day.

Reading at Hyden: 3037. Km for day: 61. Aggregate: 204. Km/day: 51. Km/hour to Hyden: 15.1.

Kondinin to Hyden 1995

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