Williams to Boddington 2007

Williams to Boddington day 7, Wednesday 24 October 2007. The day was warm and sunny with north to north-easterly winds, a headwind for 40 km of my planned day’s journey. I left the motel at 9:26 and turned onto the Albany Highway and made my way over the bridge and past the hotel and the craft shop and the Woolshed and out of town.

Boddington - the Hotham River

There is some climbing to do until about 10 km north of Williams, then a view of country ahead and a downhill run for a while. I felt optimistic and energetic despite the conditions. They weren’t so bad and I had the left turn at Crossman and 12 km of wind-assisted riding to Boddington to look forward to.

I rested at 583 and 601. The day was getting quite hot – I believe the maximum in Perth that day was 31deg – and I was sweaty and thirsty and the flies were bad when I stopped. At 601 I was at the top of a rise with a downhill run ahead of me and Teedermully Hill visible ahead on the right.

I had a few more hills to climb before I reached Crossman at 605. I turned left onto the Boddington Road (a sign said 13 km which turned out to be correct) and this should have been the easy part of the day’s ride, but suddenly I felt I was sick of it. I had the wind behind me but the road was hilly and I started walking up the hills. I seemed to have run out of juice for the day.

I passed through Ranford, which is really only a suburb of Boddington, at 616 and arrived in Boddington at 618, 12:41 pm. I checked into the Boddington motel, Unit 1, $80. There was a microwave oven and there was toast and cereal and sugar and coffee in the cupboard, so I didn’t need to buy stuff for breakfast. I did go shopping and bought more drinks for the road and a frozen pizza to put in the microwave for dinner.

In the unit there was a big old-fashioned dressing table with a huge mirror, it was more like a sideboard, as well as the more standard furnishings. I had my rest and a shower and washed some clothes and the sweaty back-pack. There was, as before, a rotary hoist around the back, which enabled me to get everything dry before sunset.

I tried to book a unit at the Dwellingup hotel but they were all booked out and could only offer me a room in the old hotel. I should have kept to my earlier rule of booking two days ahead.

I went for a walk down to the bridge on the main road, then down into the park for the walk along the river. A new war memorial has gone up since I was here last. I walked all the way to the weir, which I don’t think I have ever done before. The building of the weir was proposed and promoted by a man whose two sons were drowned in the river in 1957. The weir was finally completed in 1979. It explains why the river is so broad and tranquil and why there are quite mature dead trees in it on the eastern side of the bridge. The river was just a creek but has been dammed with a weir so it forms a peaceful lake and in a good season, the water will overflow the weir and run away into the creek. This fizzles out into a damp green muddy area, which I ventured into.

I came to a rotunda and picnic area where a man was rushing back and forth to his van with boxes of drink and food and picnic furniture, setting up a pleasant evening by the river. I walked further along and saw some wildflowers and a horse who posed obligingly for a picture.

I couldn’t find the skateboard and BMX park where I had watched some boys playing in 2003. I thought it was near the riding school.

As evening drew on I strolled back to the motel, fetched in my washing and settled in for the evening. The pizza really needed to be baked, not just heated up, but it filled the spot. Before bedtime I went over to the pub which was still open, to buy cigarettes. A sad-looking man slumped at the bar. There were a couple of girls playing pool but they were hopeless so I didn’t linger to see the outcome of the game. When I went to bed I had a really bad night – I just couldn’t get to sleep. I had constant muscle spasms. I tried taking more pills and going out for a walk along the very quiet and dark road. Eventually I dropped off at about 4 am.

Reading at Boddington: 618. Day’s ride 53 km. Aggregate: 335. Kpd 48. Kph to Corrigin: 17.

Williams to Boddington 2007

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