Coogee

Mandurah to Cottesloe, day 6, Saturday 2 December 1979. At last the dawn came up and I dragged myself wearily in to the breakfast room. I had been looking forward to a Brighton breakfast but in the event I didn’t feel at all hungry, and was sure that anything I ate would quickly be lost, but I had to get some nourishment for the ride home, so I ate a full breakfast. I felt quite weak.

After breakfast I went back to my room and had another upset. But I got ready and set off. There was a north-easterly headwind and the day was warming up, though it was still early because I had not slept in and had the sense to realise the need for an early start.  ... Read more

Coogee is a southern coastal suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located within the City of Cockburn. The suburb takes its name from the lake, Lake Coogee, in the area, which translates to “Body of water” in the native Aboriginal Noongar language. To the southwest of the suburb lies Woodman Point, an “A” Grade reserve with several kilometres of beach frontage onto Cockburn Sound. The Reserve features large picnic areas and is a popular fishing locality.

Mandurah to Cottesloe, day 11, Thursday 20 October 2005. After breakfast I went down to Stewart St. beach for another swim in the cool sunny morning.

Breakfast was $8 extra, it used to be included in the price of the room if you just had cereal and toast. The bread to make toast was so thin and cheap that the toast shattered when I applied the topping.

After my beach swim I had another go in the pool and the spa, then went back to bed for a while so that my bike pants could dry in the morning sun. I had to use them as bathers. On one ride I had two pairs of bike pants that I could use alternately for riding or swimming.  ... Read more

Mandurah to Cottesloe, day 11, Wednesday 20 October 1999. I was up early to get the lavish ‘continental’ breakfast included in the room price, before the dining room got too crowded. There was all the toast and cereal you could eat, also fresh fruit and fruit juices and coffee.

I didn’t go for an ocean swim, thinking it would be better to do that when I got home, when I would get more benefit from it. I had a spa, then in a leisurely way prepared to leave. There was no hurry on this last day, the weather was cool and the tailwind might kick up if I left a bit later..

I left the resort at 10:03. I rode up what should have been an easy road, a light breeze at my back, but the going seemed very hard.  ... Read more

Mandurah to Cottesloe, day 10, Wednesday 21 October 1998. I was up early to get the lavish ‘continental’ breakfast included in the room price, before the dining room got too crowded, but the Christians were up earlier than me. However, they were having a morning service in a separate room and didn’t come in to breakfast until later. There was all the toast and cereal you could eat, also fresh fruit and fruit juices and coffee.

I was tempted to have another swim and a spa before leaving but I have seen the folly of that before a long ride – the energy gets sucked out of me and I was facing a warm day with headwinds and my right leg was going to be a problem, so I decided to save the swim for when I got home.  ... Read more

Mandurah to Cottesloe, day 8, Wednesday 29 October 1997. After a cooked breakfast and the usual help-yourself cereal in the dining room that hadn’t changed in 20 years, except for the wallpaper peeling a bit more off the ceiling (no other guests showed up), I left the Brighton Hotel at 9:38 with a breeze already behind me. This truly was to be one of those ‘southerly buster’ days. I looked forward to enjoying this last easy run home, in contrast to 1979.

At 4351 I stopped for a rest at a ‘Rules’ supermarket in one of those ghastly southern coastal suburbs. The little centre didn’t carry any name to identify the area. A woman was sitting with bags of shopping when I arrived and was finally picked up by a taxi as I was about to leave.  ... Read more

Mandurah to Cottesloe, day 13, Sunday 27 October 1996. The final day. The dining room at the Brighton doesn’t open till 8 on a Sunday, but there was no rush today. I enjoyed my help yourself breakfast of all the cereal, toast, jams, coffee or tea and milk you can eat. Then I showered and packed up in a leisurely way and started to ride at 9:39.

This time it took a while to get the pedals to engage. I thought for a minute that the bike wouldn’t work at all. Finally I got going and pedalled for a while in top gear, heading north up Mandurah Terrace. My right knee was sore because with all the trouble with the ratchet I had wrenched it a bit by pushing strongly forward on the right pedal, expecting the usual load, and finding the pedals not engaging, pushing nothing.  ... Read more

Lake Clifton to Cottesloe, day 8, Monday 2 November 1992. I left Lake Clifton at 8.47. There was a fresh SE wind that was to last all day. The speedo read 25136 as I turned onto the Old Coast Road. I passed the Parkridge Hotel, formerly the Lazy Crab resort, at 25150. This might have been a better place to stay in terms of evening out the distances for days 7 and 8, but it was more expensive and lacked peacocks, besides which I had forgotten it was there and didn’t think to look it up. I rested at 25152.

The SE wind was opposing me quite strongly as I approached Mandurah, because the road turns more E. I reached Mandurah at 10.31, 25168.  ... Read more