Cranbrook

Cranbrook is a small town in the Great Southern region of Western Australia between Katanning, Kojonup and Mount Barker, situated 320km south of Perth. It is billed as “The Gateway to the Stirlings”, referring to the nearby Stirling Range National Park.

Tenterden to Tambellup day 1, Thursday 18 October 2007. I did a few more jobs for Liz then put the front wheel back on the bike and finally rolled off down the gravel track towards Ronaldshaw Road at 10:32, 283.

Ronaldshaw Road is now sealed all the way to Salt River Road, which runs from the centre of Cranbrook all the way to the other end of the Stirlings. I stopped in Cranbrook to buy drinks, then used the facilities and set off for Tambellup at 11:15, 292. The day was cool and partly cloudy and there was a light E-SE wind, which didn’t impede me much. The country was undulating rather than hilly and I got good views of the Stirlings from time to time, slowly receding behind me.  ... Read more

Perth to Albany, 12 day 779 km bicycle tour 1987. This Great Ride of 1987 was a major departure from previous rides, those between 1977-1985, and contained the ‘Chesapeake Road’ episode which has become a life metaphor and was referred to in the 1998 ride story (Cottesloe to Windy Harbour).

This ride was not surpassed for total distance and nights on the road until 1996 (Kelmscott to Rocky Gully), and that ride had a lower number of kilometres per day.

This story was originally written into a clone of an Apple IIE computer and printed on a crude early dot-matrix printer. That computer failed in 1989 and the 1987 story was faithfully copied, from a retrieved printout, into an XT computer with a slightly better printer.  ... Read more

Mount Barker to Cranbrook, day 8, Monday 12 October. The morning was overcast and the wind blew gale-force, spitting rain, from the north-east. I had thought the previous night that it would be good to turn right off the Albany Highway at Kendenup and take a detour through the western edge of the Stirlings. This would have nearly doubled the day’s ride and most of the addition would have been gravel with presumably many steep hills and sandbogs.

When I got to the Kendenup turnoff I felt the force of the opposing wind and saw the Stirlings becoming shrouded in rain or low cloud. I decided to save the Stirlings for a separate ride in the future. So my day’s ride was only 42km but it seemed hard enough.  … Read more

Cranbrook to Kojonup, day 9, Tuesday 13 October. The wind had shifted round to the north-west overnight but maintained its intensity. I was now heading north-west. I hoped that it might shift southerly during the day but there was no chance of that, according to the radio, because the approaching cold front wasn’t due through till night. Patchy showers fell.

The undulating country was pleasant but the ride was hard. I was glad at last to come to the top of a rise and see Kojonup spread out below, and to come abreast of a sign and see that it said KOJONUP. The motel unit was $27. It had a locked connecting door to the next unit and people there could be heard as clearly as though in my room.  ... Read more