Two Rocks to Guilderton 2010

Two Rocks to Guilderton, day 2, Tuesday 26 October 2010. I had an embarrassment on this morning – I woke up, looked at my watch and thought it said 7:40. I don’t know why. I got up and went to the breakfast area. There was nothing on the table and all was silent. I made a cup of coffee and started to hear sounds from the other side of the door where Pat and her husband lived. I checked my watch again and saw that it actually said nearly 7 am! I apologised profusely when Pat came in looking unhappy and started putting stuff out for breakfast. I got cereal and bacon and eggs and toast and they put out the full range of fruit and juices for just one guest. It was great value for money. I would recommend this place and wish that I had been a better guest.

The morning was warming up, though there was a light south-westerly near the coast. I left Two Rocks at about 10 am, 92, and rode back down Sovereign Drive to Lisford Avenue, the main road, being actually a continuation of Two Rocks Road and Breakwater Drive, linking them. I was a kilometre and a half from my starting point when I felt the familiar clunking of a flat back tyre. Surely not, I hoped, but when I stopped to check, sure enough, it was half down.

I had to stop on the sandy side of the road and, tormented by flies, turn the bike upside down, take off the back wheel, unpack my bag and change the tube, and try to clean the grease off my hands as best I could. It didn’t take too long and I got going again, hoping that I could get more use out of the new tube.

I reached Wanneroo Road at 102 and turned left. I had not approached it this way before and was unsure of the distance I had to travel. My maps were either not up-to-date, or the ones I had printed off the internet were only of towns to show me streets, not of the larger scale of the area. At 106 I passed a right turn that said ‘Gingin observatory’ and thought that was the main Gingin road (it is actually Military Road), so the road I was on should bend west soon and the Guilderton turn-off should be on the left, six kilometres or so ahead. But the road remained straight and the day got ever hotter as the kilometres rolled by.

Once on Wanneroo Road I was passing the 5-kilometre pegs for the distance to Lancelin. They told me that my odometer was reading about 1% high. This was of no consequence.

There were frequent stops for road works between Breakwater Drive and Military Road. Witches hats, lollipop men, long waits in the sun and the flies. I took a rest at 108, checked a map, kept going, then at 117 I passed a turn on the left that said ‘King Drive’. It was a sealed good road and there were buildings visible. I know that some new settlements have been built in this area since I was last here, so I thought it was one of these called Woodridge, but could it be the Guilderton Road, re-named?

At 122 I passed what seemed to be the true Gingin Brook Road. I was facing a nice downhill run so didn’t want to have to come back in case I was wrong, so I stopped and checked the map again. Yes, it must be the Gingin Brook Road. The road should bend west a little way ahead and after another 6 km I should come to Guilderton Road, at 128. This all turned out to be correct.

The road gangs had all been left behind long before I reached Gingin Brook Road.

The first part of Guilderton road was quite steep and the day had become very hot, and I was feeling it, so I got off the bike to plod up this steep bit of road. The second annoyance of the day now occurred – the hot sun had melted unmixed bitumen on the road edge and I got it stuck to my shoes, particularly the left one. Stones and sand in turn stuck to my shoes and they stuck to the bike pedals. It wasn’t easy to get off.

I continued on the up and down road into Guilderton, coming to a sign that pointed left ‘Guilderton Road’. I took that turn but in the event I should have kept going straight, it would have led straight to the roadhouse shop and my cottage. I checked my map, took the correct turns and got to the Guilderton roadhouse having done an extra kilometre. I was very hot and dehydrated so I bought a litre of choc milk and drank it slowly as I batted off the flies.

After that I rolled down to the intersection and turned left. It was about 600 metres, with a steep downhill run, from the roadhouse to the cottage. I carried my bike up to the verandah, punched in 1983 on the locked box and, to my relief, it opened easily and I got two keys out, one for the flyscreen and one for the door.

It was a large house with three bedrooms, one with bunks and two with double beds. I initially chose the front one with the double bed, until I found a note on the kitchen bench from Tina, hoping I would enjoy my stay and saying that the bedroom at the back next to the bathroom had been made up for me. I was to leave $20 for the sheets.

As soon as I could I lay down for a rest. Although I had only done 44km I was very hot and my heart was pounding. I had a couple of glasses of water and tried to sleep. My pulse rate was 90 when I lay down and was still that way an hour later after some fitful dozing.

I rode back up to the roadhouse and bought two rolls, tuna and salad and ham and salad, and a vanilla slice, and more choc milk. I took the opportunity while up there to ring the Lancelin Motel and make a booking for the next night, since I could not get a mobile phone signal down the hill in my cottage. After stowing the food away in the fridge in the cottage it was time to seek a swim. I checked the map and decided to use the bike to follow Gordon Street around to the river-mouth and main beach. I had stayed here before, in one of the cottages overlooking the river and beach.

I only had to ride about a kilometre and a half, then walk down a path to the beach on the sandbar. I locked the bike to the fence at a seat some way down the path. A notice urged people not to breach the sandbar between the river and the sea. The water level in the river was a little higher than sea level at the time of my swim. I can imagine it being great fun for boys with spades to breach the sandbar and watch the water rush through. I might have enjoyed that when I was young. But the notice made the point that the sandbar formed naturally, and even when it was over-run by high tides, storm surges or floods coming down the river after heavy rain, it would re-form, and this had been going on for a long time and life in the river was adapted to it. Breaching it artificially would interfere with the natural cycle, to the detriment of river life.

The beach just there is perfect but I always have to be careful at these unfamiliar beaches that are unprotected by groynes, reefs or islands. I kept an eye on the shore against being swept too far along or too far out. I was grateful to get my body temperature down. When I was good and cold I left the sea, retrieved the bike and started back, only to have to return to collect the small towel that I had left on the seat.

I got back to the cottage and found a table knife to dig the now hardened bitumen off my shoes. This was largely successful but then I had the job of cleaning the knife. I did this with a scouring pad but then couldn’t clean the scouring pad. I left it clean side up.

The gadget on the wall turned out to be a radio and CD player so I found ABC FM and enjoyed music while in the house.

I enjoyed a nice shower and washed my clothes and the sweaty canvas back-pack. I inspected the TV which had three remotes, one for the TV, one for the digital box and one for Foxtel. I manipulated these to find ABC news for the all-important forecast, and enough else to watch until bed-time. I had one of the salad rolls and some biscuits and choc milk. By bed-time I felt quite normal, my pulse was down and I slept well.

Reading at Guilderton, end of day: 140km. Day’s ride: 48km.
Cumulative distance: 78km. Average km/day: 39.

Charles A. Pierce

Other Days on this Tour:

1. Clarkson to Lancelin Tour 2010
2. Clarkson to Two Rocks 2010
3. Two Rocks to Guilderton 2010 (This post)
4. Guilderton to Lancelin 2010
5. Lancelin to Neergabby 2010
6. Neergabby to GinGin 2010
7. Gingin to Guildford 2010

Places Mentioned in this Post:

Related posts:

1. Guilderton to Lancelin 2010
2. Clarkson to Two Rocks 2010
3. Guilderton
4. Guilderton
5. Lancelin to Neergabby 2010

Tags: Guilderton, Two Rocks