Manjimup to Northcliffe 1998

Manjimup to Northcliffe, day 3, Wednesday 14 October 1998. The morning was cold but clear with a moderate SW wind. I left the Manjimup hotel at 8:43 after breakfast of biscuits and cheese in my room.

karri forest

I proceeded the way I should have gone in 1987, not via Pemberton but straight down the South Western Highway , then right into Wheatley Coast Road and straight on into Northcliffe. Wheatley Coast Road starts at Muirs Highway, SE of Manjimup, and goes straight through Northcliffe down to Windy Harbour, though at some point it changes its name to Windy Harbour Road. This way is about 8 km shorter than the way via Pemberton. In 1987 I didn’t even have a proper map until I bought one in Northcliffe and discovered the Chesapeake Road, the road that made the 1987 ride possible.

The odometer read 6347 as I left Manjimup. I reached the Vasse Highway (to Pemberton) turnoff at 6363 then took a rest at 6365. I reached the Wheatley Coast Road at 6377 and saw a sign that said ‘Northcliffe 25′, not far but further than indicated on the map, though still little enough to make this the shortest route. I took another rest at 6383. The route was very scenic but hilly and I did get off and walk up a couple of steep ones as I approached Northcliffe. There were patches of blue orchids beside the road from time to time. I arrived at the hotel at 11:57, 6402, so the sign had been right.

It was during this stage of the ride that I became aware that the right-hand pedal, despite oiling, was still noisy and was making a snap, snap noise every couple of revolutions. This was of course annoying but also worrying because I had no spare pedal and was getting further away from where I might be able to get one. This problem was to become a saga.

The Northcliffe hotel was a basic country pub but cleaner and better maintained than when I had last stayed here in 1987. It seemed to be run by a family, with much of the work being done by an old man who was recovering from a stroke and went around in bare feet. He was always popping up here and there to see if the guests had everything they needed.

My room was Room 2, $50 for two nights. It faced south, down the main street. It was well-maintained and had two comfortable single beds. There was no flyscreen on the windows but there were full lace curtains that did the same job, and the windows could be opened. The only problem was a chimney that gave off a lot of smoke and smell when they first started up the heater or cooker or whatever it was, but the fire would soon start to burn clean and there was no more problem.

Rest, shower, shopping, washed clothes and the canvas back pack that I would not be taking to Windy Harbour the next day. I got a map of the Northcliffe Forest Park that I commended in the 1987 report. I got the map from an environmental centre with ‘Save Old Growth Forests’ painted on the sloping roof in big white letters. The weather was closing in again, cloud cover and light rain while I rested, but it didn’t rain in the afternoon though the sky stayed gloomy.

I started my forest walk at the other end this time, near the centre of town, and found the path rather overgrown and the signs absent or partly obliterated. The park can’t have been the great success that was hoped when it was started in 1985, when it was first commended to me by someone in the hotel.

Not far into my walk I came to a point where the path was completely blocked by the fall of a huge tree. The great log and a chaos of branches, and the fact that at this point was a bit of swamp and a small creek, apparently made further progress impossible, but I found a way through.

I clambered over the branches, finding a new copy of the walk map, crumpled up. It must have been there only a few hours because it wasn’t even wet from the rain that had fallen earlier. Someone had come that way, found the obstruction, crumpled and thrown away their map and walked back. I finally climbed up onto the log and walked along it until I could see the clear sign of a man-made crossing of the creek that enabled me to pick up the thread of the path.

I came to a junction where a sign invited the walker to visit the town dam, so I took that way, came to a clearing with a shed and a car park and an attractive setting of a river and a weir and birds. I took a photograph, then walked back to the junction and walked on northwards.

At one point my right foot went into a deep hole, maybe made by some burrowing animal. I went down and was perhaps lucky not to have broken a leg, but I picked up my bag and went on, putting out of my mind fancies about lying with a broken leg in a deserted forest with daylight fading.

I found the famous twin karri, two giant trees growing from a common root base and stump, as described in the 1987 report, and the burnt hollow but still living tree with a spiral scar going up the trunk. Then I took the road out to Wheatley Coast road, since there was not enough daylight left to finish the walk and to take the rest of it would have meant either having to get past the blockage again or coming back out the same way. I had had a good long walk.

Had mixed grill for dinner. Took a walk before bed and enjoyed the bright clear view of the stars.

Reading at Northcliffe: 6402 km. Day’s ride: 55. Aggregate: 188 km. km/day 62.7. kph, Manjimup to Northcliffe: 17.

Manjimup to Northcliffe 1998

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