Pingelly

Mandurah to Wandering Tour 2011, nine days, cumulative distance: 357km.

I had planned to ride from Mandurah to Dwellingup on the first day, Monday 24th October, then to Boddington on the second and Wandering on the third.

On the Friday before starting the ride, I tried to book the first 3 nights’ accommodation. Dwellingup was all right for the Monday, but Boddington was fully booked for the Tuesday. So after fruitlessly searching Google and other sources for accommodation near Boddington, I decided to try to do the nearly 90 km from Dwellingup to Boddington in one day on the Tuesday.

The Wandering tavern does not supply accommodation, so I tried to book the Millfarm Bed and Breakfast. They were fully booked but were able to give me the number for the Wandering Brook Estate.  ... Read more

Wandering to Pingelly day 5, Friday 28 October 2011.

I warmed up the other steak sandwich. It wasn’t so nice as the first one eaten fresh the night before, and the chips were soggy, but I stuffed it all down so I shouldn’t be found wanting on the long ride across empty country to Pingelly. While I was eating, a vehicle passed close by the chalet, slowed, then kept going. Again it didn’t occur to me that the absence of a motor vehicle near the chalet would have suggested that there was no-one there.

I got ready to leave then walked up the hill again, getting to the house at about 8:30 with the money. Two cars were parked in front of the house.  ... Read more

Pingelly to Beverley day 6, Saturday 29 October 2011.

I left Pingelly at 9:14 on a cool sunny morning with moderate E ? SE winds. The wind was perfect and the road was wide and its surface was smooth, and there wasn’t much traffic and no steep hills, just gentle undulations. This was one of the best runs of the ride.

I got to Brookton, 384, non-stop in about an hour. I stopped in the main shopping street and had a rest and a drink. The place was bigger than I remembered, probably because I had only stopped on the eastern side of the railway line before. I had to head into the wind up Brookton Highway for a couple of km then turn back NW into the continuation of the Great Southern Highway towards Beverley.  ... Read more

Cottesloe to Harrismith 1999 – 11 days, 726 km cumulative distance. The aim of this trip was not decided at the outset. It depended on weather and wind conditions, how I felt and how the new bike, built with some difficulty and finally with some haste, would go. I was clear that I wanted to reach Wickepin on Day 4, but after that I would be flexible.

Originally I had planned to start from Albany and come back through Denmark and Walpole, visiting the Valley of the Giants and trying the new tree-top walk, but the ‘Walpole Problem’ of a 120 km gap with nowhere to stay between Walpole and Manjimup made me realise that I would have to come back through Northcliffe and up the South Western Highway, which I had only done the previous year.  ... Read more

York to Pingelly, day 3, Tuesday 12 October 1999. The morning was cool and cloudy with a light N drift. I left the motel at 735, 167, and cycled east until I reached the start of the Top Beverley road, seeking to save a couple of km and avoid heavy traffic.

I rested at 190. The wind was very light, from the NW. I rode on through Beverley, 198, without stopping, and rested again at 213, by which time the wind had gone around to the SW, right against me, but it was still gentle. I reached Brookton at 11 am, 232. I had a long rest and drink here. I felt good and the bike was perfect, and the word ‘doddle’ occurred to me as I faced the last 20 km into Pingelly, which I reached at 253, 12:20.  ... Read more

Pingelly to Wickepin, day 4, Wednesday 13 October 1999. I left Pingelly for Wickepin at 8:13, 253, on a cool cloudy morning with a fresh NW wind. There were only a few spots of rain on the journey and I did not need to shelter.

After a climb up from Pingelly, the country was undulating and nice and green with lots of flowers. Herds of sheep galloped away from me. They seem more worried by a bike than by motor traffic. I rested at 272 and 292 and reached Wickepin at 11:18, 311.

The hotel was adequate but run-down – doors didn’t fit and were hard to open and shut, window fastenings and fly-screens were broken, renovations half-done and left some years ago.  ... Read more

Narrogin to Brookton, day 7, Tuesday 26 October 1993. The day started off calm, but a westerly steadily increased in strength. This was mainly a cross-breeze, opposing slightly most of the time with the occasional bit of help when the road ran a bit NNE. The day was clear. I left Narrogin at 7:59. I felt surprisingly good, as though the efforts of the previous 3 days were finally paying off in better fitness.

I did not stop until 27706, north of Cuballing. I had done just under 19km in the first hour. I rested at Popanyinning, 27721, had a choc milk and sat at the picnic spot for a while. I rested at Pingelly, sat down for a while, 27737.  ... Read more

Midland to Yealering, 8 day Wheatbelt Tour 1989. Cumulative distance: 512km.

The purpose of this ride was to reach Yealering and come back to Perth by a different route. The original plan of stops was Sawyers Valley – York – Brookton – Yealering, but I found that Sawyers Valley offered no accomodation, so I booked at El Caballo Blanco in Wooroloo instead. This raised the possibility of bypassing York and cutting through back roads to Beverley on Day 2. This would make days 3 and 4 easier.

Charles A. Pierce

Other Days on this Tour:

Daily Locations for this Tour:

Beverley to Pingelley, Day 3, Thursday 26 October 1989. Started down the Great Southern Highway at 7:55 into a moderate headwind. Pleasant country. Arrived at Brookton (17171), an attractive town, about 10. I had an early lunch and a sleep on the grass in front of the railway station.

I arrived in Pingelly about 11.55. The hotel was a bit run-down and the owners had gone to Perth, leaving people in charge who didn’t know what they were doing. There is a motel in Pingelly but this wasn’t listed on my accomodation guide, otherwise I would have used it.

The town wasn’t as well cared for as Beverley and the railway station was ruined and vandalised like the one at Mt Barker (qv 1987).  ... Read more

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.  ... Read more