Boyanup

Perth to Donnybrook, day 1, Friday 15 November 1985. As in some other years, I decided to take the morning Australind train and start my ride from Bunbury. I was going to stop at Donnybrook for the first night so there was no hurry. For the first time the old Australind stopped at the new rail terminal which made it easier for me because it was closer to the start of the south-western highway.

I got the 9:30 am train from Perth. It took about 3 and a half hours to get to Bunbury in those days and I arrived there at about 1 pm. I had had ‘brunch’ on the train, pies and cakes from a deli.

I got the bike out of the luggage compartment, stowed the bag, donned the backpack, left the station and rode along Picton Road to find the T-junction.  ... Read more

Donnybrook to Cottesloe, day 9, Saturday 23 November 1985.

I decided to sleep in a bit and generally take it easy on this last morning. There were only 39 km to Bunbury and the train didn’t leave till 3 pm in those days. I had my arrowroot for breakfast, then waited for a while before getting ready to leave.

I had a rest stop at Boyanup, then reached the Bunbury rail terminal at Picton and bought my ticket and relaxed. The new terminal was not so close to the beach and I can’t remember whether I took the trouble to ride to the beach and back on this occasion. I know I did in some other years. I certainly would have wanted to on this occasion, if there had been time.  ... Read more

Perth to Greenbushes, day 1, Monday 21 November 1983. As in 1979 – 1981, I decided to take the morning Australind train and start my ride from Bunbury. My plan required me to ride from Bunbury to Greenbushes as my first night’s stop. I was still brooding over the hardships and shortcomings of the 1981 ride and wanted to do a similar thing better. This was the ride that taught me what I should already have known, that a relatively new bike, though already used successfully, has to be fixed up, tested and proved before taking it on a long country trip with hills steeper and longer than those around home.

On this ride I started wearing proper cycling shorts with a crotch-pad, and sensible shoes.  ... Read more

Perth to Donnybrook, day 1, Monday 23 November 1981. As in 1979 and 1980, I decided to take the morning Australind train and start my ride from Bunbury. My plan required me to ride from Bunbury to Donnybrook as my first night’s stop. This was a distance of only 39 km.

The North Boyanup Road shortcut was not so well known or used in those days and I just followed the south-western highway as it showed on my map, through Dardanup and Boyanup. Now, of course, the former North Boyanup Road has become the main south-western highway. The distance to Donnybrook this way is only 36 km.

The reason for going such a short distance on the first day was that there was no-where to stop between Donnybrook and Greenbushes.  ... Read more

Boyanup is a town located on the shores of the Preston River, on South Western Highway in the South Western Australia agricultural region, 195 km south of Perth and 18 km south-east of Bunbury, Western Australia. Boyanup is an Noongar Aboriginal name, said to mean “a place of quartz” as “Boya” means “rock” or “stone”.

Harvey to Donnybrook, day 3, Wednesday 12 October 2005. I made a mistake on this cool sunny morning – I was looking for the back road to Wokalup to save a bit of distance, but couldn’t find it! It must have changed. The realisation began at this point, and was reinforced during the trip, that I must get a new set of maps before doing another trip. My old well-used maps with their memories have to be replaced.

I ended up doing a big round trip through the outskirts of Harvey, pleasant enough in itself on this fresh morning, and coming back to the hotel to go back to the south-western highway by the normal road. This added 5 kilometres to the day’s ride, which I didn’t need.  ... Read more

Donnybrook to Bunbury, day 8, Wednesday 23 October 2002. I left Donnybrook with some relief at 8:57, vowing to book the motel as many days as possible ahead of need the next time. There was a fresh WNW wind, directly against me. I decided to turn off at Boyanup, to make a different way than usual, go along a new road, avoid the heavy traffic and turn the headwind into a side or tail wind for the last run into Bunbury. I needed this to give me heart for the Mandurah challenge. It was quite contrary to my usual quest for short cuts, but the day’s ride would still be very short and five consecutive days of headwinds had sapped my confidence.  ... Read more

Bunbury to Greenbushes, day 1, Monday 12 October 1998. I left The Bunbury Motel ($55, Unit 11, nicer than last year, could open a window) at 8.16 on a cool morning with moderate NE-NW winds. The odometer read 6214.

I rested and took a drink at 6234, at Boyanup, then again at Donnybrook, 6249, reached at 10:08. I felt that I was making good speed and the riding seemed easy, due to the tailwind. The 5 km pegs showed that the odometer was reading about right. Calibrating the odometer is an important first-day job. I got up the anticipated hills all right and reached Kirup, 6267, only 23 km from my destination. I felt confident of making it at this stage.  ... Read more

Donnybrook to Harvey, day 8, Monday 19 October 1998. I left the Donnybrook Motel at 8:40 with a moderate SE breeze that was to help most of the way. I was surprised that the weather had turned around so quickly – after the days of rain with a NW-W-SW regime I expected a day or two of fresh S-SW. It was as though a couple of days had been omitted from the cycle and the easterly trend was already clear.

I passed through Boyanup at 6645 and took a right turn to get onto the Dardanup Road, formerly the South Western Highway. I stopped for a rest at 6649. There was a feeling of a headwind as I headed NW. I passed through Dardanup at 6655, turned right into a headwind, then turned left to get a tailwind as I headed due north.  ... Read more

Harvey to Donnybrook, day 3, Thursday 17 October 1996. As in 1991 I had decided to bypass Bunbury and go straight to Donnybrook via a short-cut through Waterloo and Dardanup. Left Harvey at 7.52. Stopped at 1007, at Brunswick, at 8.49, having done 22 km in 57 minutes – the best hour of the trip. Winds were calm with a light westerly drift developing later in the day to help me slightly into Donnybrook.

It was here that I had the only accident of the trip. I had finished my drink and rest and was walking the bike over the grass towards the gravel path that led back to the main road. There was a little hump just where the grass met the gravel.  ... Read more