Pingelley to Yealering 1989

Pingelley to Yealering, Day 4, Friday 27 October 1989. I left Pingelly at 8:04. I couldn’t pay my hotel bill because I couldn’t find anyone anywhere in the place. I resolved to pay by money order later in the trip. It was a lovely cool sunny day with a light breeze that the radio promised would freshen and tend westerly during the day – perfect for the day’s ride.

Nice country, large fields of grain, some forest, lots of wildflowers and birds. I stopped for a rest at 17207km, 17222 and 17237. The last rest was at the intersection, of the straight sealed road that runs due east into Yealering, with the 10km of gravel track which I had taken as a short cut from the main Yealering road.

I arrived in Yealering at 11:54. The day was quite warm now and the town looked attractive as I entered the wide main street. Tall gum and pine trees and silver-painted wheat silos and the traditional country pub (which appeared in a movie some years back) gave a stately look to the place.

The blue lake gleamed through trees in the background. The lake has a nice swimming area and water-ski club. The water is clean but salty. Trees grow right down to the water’s edge.

The town is larger than I expected with several streets of pretty houses and gardens, also numerous tall trees including bristle-cone pines and palm trees. I sent five postcards from the post office, also the money order to Pingelly Hotel, after which it was pleasant to sit outside on a bench and watch the local people coming and going and bustling about on this pleasant warm afternoon. Two little girls were trying to outdo each other riding their bikes on-and-off the footpath with sickening bumps over the high kerb. Bits of bike and thong and hair-ribbon scattered about.

Dinner was prawn curry with salad and chips, which the hotel had on special for $4. Then I went to the deli (open 7 days) to get some milk and had a long talk with Rosemary, who was in attendance there. She is a member of an informal group who are piecing together the history of Yealering, restoring and improving the place and trying to promote it as a tourist destination. I agreed particularly with the last objective and promised to help.

Reading at Yealering: 17250km. Day’s ride: 58km.

Cumulative distance: 230km. Average km/day: 57.5

Charles A. Pierce

Other Days on this Tour:

1. Midland to Yealering Wheatbelt Tour 1989
2. Midland to Wooroloo 1989
3. Wooroloo to Beverley 1989
4. Beverley to Pingelley 1989
5. Pingelley to Yealering 1989 (This post)
6. Yealering to Narrogin 1989
7. Narrogin to Quindanning 1989
8. Quindanning to Dwellingup 1989
9. Dwellingup to Perth 1989

Places Mentioned in this Post:

Related posts:

1. Midland to Yealering Wheatbelt Tour 1989
2. Beverley to Pingelley 1989
3. Yealering to Narrogin 1989
4. Yealering
5. Cottesloe to Yealering Tour 2003

Tags: Pingelly, Yealering