Neergabby to GinGin 2010

Neergabby to GinGin, day 5, Friday 29 October 2010. I was amazed on this cool sunny morning how the wind direction could change so much in less than a day. From yesterday’s fresh post-rain westerly I was expecting a light southerly tending west as the day wore on, but instead there was a fresh east-south-east wind. I had only about 30 km to travel on this day and it would have been easy to do it the previous day with that strong tail-wind, but I was glad to have stayed over in a new and interesting place.

Gingin

There was no hurry this morning so I took another walk through the natural bush on the western side of the track, Chitna Road. More of the flowers were open and I took more pictures.

There was a bobtail lizard wandering around in the covered courtyard. He ducked behind a fridge before I could get a picture. I left Brookside at 10:30. I rested at 258. The tiresome headwind at least kept the flies off. They swarmed around if I stopped. As I approached the Brand Highway I passed a farm where a large herd of brown cattle took off in a gallop beside the road. Cattle and sheep ignore cars and trucks but they are alarmed by bikes. Eventually they came to rest and I saw a pair of ibis pecking around the paddock.

I reached the Brand highway at 270 and, remembering the error of 1994, turned left this time and looked for the Gingin turn-off to the right, which I reached at 271. There was a long straight climbing road before the outskirts of the town, then a downhill run into Gingin.

I arrived at Gingin at 275. I stopped near the shops and checked my map of the town for the hotel. It was further up, opposite the railway station. Motel units for guests are alongside the old hotel building. The unit was $100 for the night. This was a fourfold increase from $25 in 1990, but the units were just the same, rather poor and small but adequate for one night. I went into the hotel and found the barmaid who took my money and gave me the key. She called me ‘darl’.

I dumped the luggage and rode back to the shop to get food and drinks. I had already decided just to ride back to Guildford the next day. The easterlies were going to persist and the day would be hot again, and although I had the address and phone number of a Bed & Breakfast at Bindoon, I knew nothing about its facilities and it looked hard to find, being in a maze of new streets to the south-west of the town. If I stayed at Bindoon I would still have 70 km to ride back to Midland or Guildford on an even hotter Sunday.

So I just bought pies and drinks and cakes. The motel unit had no microwave but there was a toaster with a broad top on which I could heat pies.

I had a rest then showered. I didn’t wash any clothes. I was going home the next day so I just put dirty clothes in a plastic bag and stowed them. I would use the spare cycle pants.

I set off to walk around the town. Gingin has historical interest which has been made the most of by local people. The old railway station has been restored, opposite the one remaining hotel. A detailed story about each point of interest is on a board in front of it. There is a beautiful scenic walk through the wetlands around Gingin Brook, with an abundance of plant and animal life. This is named the Jim Gordon VC Walk after one of Australia’s four Victoria Cross winners, who came from Gingin and won the VC in 1941. The storyboard didn’t say whether he survived the war. I left this till later.

First I visited the Anglican graveyard where there are interesting gravestones going back to the mid-nineteenth century. Then I went down to the park and looked at the weir and the water-wheel. After that I walked around the town. There was a cold wind and I was glad of the evening sun. I came to a dead end and walked back again. On my way I saw a flock of pink and grey galahs settling down in a tree. They made a nice picture in the yellow light from the low sun.

As I took the Jim Gordon VC Walk I thought I was doing it for the first time. I had no memory of having done it before, though when I checked old bike stories back home, it seemed I had done it in both 1990 and 1994.

It was nearly sunset when I walked back up the hill and inspected the restored railway station and took pictures. Then I crossed the road to go back to my unit. The motel units are directly on the boundary between hotel land and farmland. The farm starts right at the walls of the units, and there is a fence at the end of the row. Foals and horses and sheep were running about and made a pleasant scene in the evening light.

Friday night is pub night in Gingin as elsewhere, and a huge din of live music, revving car engines and fights and raucous laughter came from the hotel and street all evening. I took a walk just before bed and looked in the door. There was quite a big party on the footpath as well, with all the smokers.

I had pies and cakes for tea. The pies heated up on the toaster very well.

Reading at Gingin, end of day: 277km. Day’s ride: 34km.
Cumulative distance: 215km. Average km/day: 43.

Neergabby to GinGin 2010

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