Cataby

Cataby is a tiny townsite located some 170 km north of Perth, Western Australia on the Brand Highway, 17 km to the west of the town of Dandaragan. Cataby is perhaps best known by travellers as a rest-stop. They make good burgers in Cataby.

Midland to Moora, 7 day tour 1990, cumulative distance 450 km.

Lancelin to Cataby, day 3, Wednesday 31 October 1990. After breakfast in bed (milk, brie, jam roll) I went for a lovely morning swim, then got going at 8:57. There would be tailwinds nearly all the way on this day.

The Lands Dept. map showed no back roads across country to Cataby, only the long way round by sealed road, looking like about 80km. Fortunately I had a copy of part of an RAC map showing all roads and distances in the area in complete and accurate detail. This showed that there were back roads to Cataby, including about 33km of unsealed track, giving a road distance of 64km to cross a straight-line distance of only about 40km. It also showed 84km as the road distance via Regan’s Ford and Brand Highway.  … Read more

Cataby to Moora, day 4, Thursday 1 November 1990. I left Cataby at 8:32. The turnoff was only about 200m down the highway. Once on the Dandaragan Road it seemed increasingly difficult to push the bike, and I thought that the previous day’s work had done me in. But after a couple of km I looked back and was rewarded with a panorama of the country behind. On long country rides I become affected by ‘hill-blindness’ and can’t often tell whether the road ahead of me is climbing, falling or level. I first noticed this in 1978, when on entering Margaret River for the first time, from the north, I couldn’t understand why the bike wouldn’t run easily ‘downhill’ from the bridge to the hotel.  ... Read more