After arriving at Perth airport (PER) around lunch time and stocking fuel for our camp stove, we rode against a fairly dry and hot Easterly out to Mundaring. Riding at the hottest time of a hot day (34°C at PER) on an open road was certainly exhausting, so we decided to camp there, get refreshed and start the next day early in the morning. We would also have to carry less water that way.
An interesting feature is that the term “caravan park” is
taken literally around here: the one in the middle of town is simply a
free area with very solid ground and no facilities, and the one at the
town fringe has facilities, but they only want people with caravans. The
recommendation was to “go into the bush”—we instead
opted to stay in the sculpture park where the Munda Biddy officially
starts, right behind the pub (where we could get a beautiful wheat beer,
but no food on Xmas Eve). So we ended up cooking our fist dinner there.
So, we started on the trail proper on Christmas Day, a leisurely 8am start, on a very easy, smooth downhill track. This ignored our own advise to get going around sunrise (which was at around 6:10), and we were to suffer for it later in the day. Generally, this day was a lot about gaining (or re-acquiring) experience:
Exhausted from the heat (35°C at PER) and the unaccustomed exercise, we were really glad when later in the afternoon we were greeted by the purpose-built Carinyah shelter, where we called it a day. After the long day, we thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful and peaceful setting of the campsite—and all of this all to ourselves. In fact, as it turned out, we never encountered any other Munda-Biddi riders at all on the whole trip, not at any of the campsites, at any of the towns or anywhere along the way. Even where the trail occasionally ran on regular (unsealed) roads, we hardly saw anyone. We never expected to be left alone to such a degree, but the registration books at the camp sites showed that this is no accident, there seem to be in average less than ten parties a month on the trail.
Having learnt the lessons from the day before, we got to a fairly early
start and indeed enjoyed the riding immensely in those early hours:
bushes.
fresh cool air, beautiful morning light (inviting to taking photographs)
and plenty of shadow from the surrounding trees. Each morning we would
see plenty of kangaroos, sometimes four or six at a time. We also saw
emus twice, once a single one, later four at a time.
We reached Wungong Campsite, our nominal goal for the day, well before mid-day, and decided it was way too early to stop. After refreshing with beautiful (and still somewhat cool) water from the tanks there, we continued. Right there we came across the first of several temporary realignments. Judging by the map, it was about the same length and similar elevation profile as the original track, which seemed to hold for most of them. We never considered not following the recommended route, but appreciated that the realignment didn't seem to alter the trail experience significantly.
We reached Jarrahdale at around 1:30, by which time we felt really hot, although nowhere near as exhausted as on the previous day, even though the ride was much longer and the day hotter (37°C at PER). Fortunately we didn't have much expectations for the town, which was only good, as everything was closed on Boxing Day, including the store and the pub. Thus, instead of a cool beer we had do with the local tap water (which is not to sneer upon when your are cycling and thirsty :-) and enjoyed a restful siesta under some shady grevilleas.
At around 5pm we filled up with plenty of water and pushed off
half way up a longish uphill section of the ensuing trail. There, a
bushcamp under the stars (with no tent needed) was again one of the
special treats we felt we deserved after more than 70km of riding.
From here on we were back in our early morning routine and generally managed to be on the bike by 6:30 or even earlier. That morning in particular, we were glad we had a good head start, having climbed half of the hill the night before, and thus able to do the other while we were fresh and the air was still quite cool.
Still, we felt the uphills of the last few days (amplified by excess weight) in our legs, and were also a bit weary of what was still to come. Hence we “cheated” in one place, taking the flatter “touring route” between Gobby Rd and Rowley Rd. In hindsight, this was probably not necessary, as we were by now handling the trail quite well. What was probably the most challenging day felt much easier than the first day (which in hindsight was one of the easier ones).
Even though the going wasn't so hard, the day was again hot (40°C
PER, 37°C Dwellingup)
so we were looking forward to a swim at the picnic area at the bottom of
North Dandalup Reservoir (shockingly empty at an estimated 25% capacity),
which we reached at around 10:30. However, it had a no-swimming sign for
health reasons (supposedly nasty bugs when the water gets warm). Would
have been nice if they warned us about that at the top, which would
have saved us getting down and back up for nothing.
We went on to the Dandalup Campsite, but continued after a short stop on to Whittakers Mill. There we had a bit of a bad surprise. The camp ground (closed except for Munda Biddi riders) has no water, except a hole with extremely dodgy water for fire-fighting. Being fairly low, we filled our bottles anyway, using plenty of purification pills. Fortunately we didn't have to use it, as we found good water at Little Dandalup Creek, where we had lunch.
Once it had cooled down, we continued through lovely scenery and a
diverse track. A highlight was the ALCOA conveyor belts transporting ore
from the mines in the area towards the sea. While being an eyesore in
the landscape (and an “earsore“ that could be heard kilometres
away), the cut in the forest allowed for a view out over the plains.
That night, we cooked our camp dinner at a magnificent spot, Oakly Dam. Apart from
plentiful fresh, cool water, the view down the valley was simply glorious!
The day started with a fairly challenging uphill section that got us warmed
up in no time, but soon turned into yet another peaceful morning ride
through beautiful bush, chasing up the odd kangaroo. One feature was a
fairly long, steep and very broken-up piece of fire trail which
fortunately was downhill for us. A sign told us to dismount, but it was
definitely ridable, and would have been a real slog to walk with the
bikes. Pushing them up there would have been no fun at all!
After that, the terrain became much easier, and we reached Marrinup
Camping area at around 8:00. Fortunately we had not planned to stay
here: While the camping area is huge and was certainly not crowded in
any real sense, there were one or two dozen parties camping, the busiest
place we encountered besides Nanga. There also didn't seem to be water,
although there might have been a running stream, we didn't investigate.
It was still quiet, the first people starting to get up for a stroll or
walking their dogs, no-one seemed to have made it to breakfast yet.
We continued on to a special treat: Morning Tea “with the lot”! After a very leisurely ride we reached Dwellingup at about 8:45. Unlike Mundaring or Jarrahdale, the town was alive, as it was a regular work day. The small supermarket was very well stocked with the sort of food and other supplies we buy for such a trip, so we didn't have to make the usual small-town compromises to our shopping list. And the café across the road served a nice cyclist-size country breakfast with real coffee. Highly recommended as a re-fuelling stop!
The rest of the day was a breeze. The stretch between just outside Dwellingup and Murray River Bridge is rated “challenging” in the trail map, but is really not difficult or hard, and we reached Nanga before mid-day. This place, like Marrinup, is huge and certainly a nice place for car camping, but not what we were after. There were maybe a hundred people there (which didn't make it feel crowded in any way). There is a creek with apparently good water, but we were still well stocked, having not used much since Dwellingup.
So we continued after a short lunch break. The track from there is all roads,
and pretty flat and mostly in good shape, very easy riding. We passed a car or two
on the first few km, but then the track turns off into a road that is closed
because of a partially-collapsed bridge, which is safely passable by walkers or
cyclist, but definitely not cars. At around 1pm we reached Bidjar Ngoulin, yet
another beautiful example of purpose-built Munda-Biddi camp sites.
The day's heat had been moderate (31°C at Dwellingup) and we still felt
reasonably fresh and could have easily gone on for a few more hours
(after the mandatory mid-day break), but decided that it was ok to
call it an early day at this nice spot.
Like at all the other Munda-Biddi camp sites, the two large water tanks were almost
full, and the water beautiful and refreshing. Again, there was not a soul in sight.
We slept again out in the open without a tent, and this time would probably not
have needed sleeping bags, as the night was mild (16°C at Dwellingup).
Another early start (6:20), and more riding in glorious early-morning
conditions on a variety of tracks, some roads, some narrow tracks. Lots of
kangaroos again, including one that almost ran into Gernot, crossing
less than 3m in front of his bike. Some 20km of the trail were
actually on the Bibbulmun
Track, the walking equivalent of the Munda Biddi, which covers
roughly the same area as the Munda Biddi will (once the latter is completed).
The riding was again on the easy side, but definitely highly enjoyable!
At Lake Brockman we detoured (slightly) to the tourist park for yet another
opportunity for a hearty second breakfast. Slightly downmarket from Dwellingup,
but still very nice. We did skip the opportunity for a dip in the lake, as it
was an overcast and coolish day (26°C Dwellingup, 28°C Collie) and we
didn't feel like a swim that early in the day. For the same reason we had
a relatively short lunch break of around 90 minutes some time later.
There were two temporary realignments that day. The first seemed, again, quite equivalent to the original route in length and profile. The second was a fair bit longer, but we actually missed that one, the only time we lost the track other than on Day One. At some stage we realised that we've been going in one direction far too long, and a GPS check revealed that we had indeed missed a turn a couple of km ago. No sweat, we were near a junction to a road that should take us back to the track in essentially a straight line. However, just before reaching the track we passed signs warning of tree-felling operations and requiring hard hats and safety boots :-( Fortunately, there was clearly no work being done during the Christmas break, so we continued on the original Munda Biddi Trail. This, however, now required careful navigation with map and GPS, as all trail markers had been removed, and a number of new roads cut into the bush. We can only repeat that temporary realignments aren't optional, and the signposted track should definitely be used!
Soon after rejoining the official track we were treated to a
beautiful goanna of about 80cm length (not counting the tongue ;-).
Our last night on the trail we again enjoyed one of those beautiful
Munda-Biddy campsites, Yarri. Here we learned from the registration book
that another party going North had camped here the night before, so
should have passed us. We wondered why we didn't see them. They either
must have been very early, passing us while we took the Lake Brockman
detour, or very late, passing us while we had missed the
re-alignment, or lost the trail themselves at some point (or
intentionally didn't take the earlier realignment). In any case, we
ended up not seeing any other Munda-Biddy riders.
With somewhat saddened hearts, we had a last early start. After a somewhat
challenging uphill stretch, it was an easy to very easy day. There were still
really beautiful stretches, but also really boring ones, like Mornington Road.
Anyone who does Collie-Yarri-Collie as a day trip or overnight return will
underestimate the beauty of the Munda Biddi, although it still beats most
other tracks we have ridden. And the organisers clearly did their best
in finding more interesting alternatives to regular roads.
After a grand total of 360km of mountain bike tracks and having
experienced no major dramas but lots of spectacular bush, we arrived
very happily in Collie at about 10:15, well before it got hot.
Having finished several days ahead of schedule (which would have us celebrate New Year at Yarri) we had to make plans for the rest of our stay in WA until our planned return flight on the 3rd. We decided against Margaret River and in favour of Perth. That meant that, unless we wanted to wait another day, swift action was required. With the help of a very nice lady at the Collie Visitor Centre, we booked accommodation in Perth and train tickets from Bunbury.
By the time this was all settled and we had an (extremely quick) bite, it was just over three hours from the 14:45 train departure. While three hours for 60km of good, sealed road sounds easy, it was again quite warm (31°C at Collie) and, contrary to the Munda Biddi, the roads had virtually no shade. Furthermore, the first half was quite hilly, with a net climb from Collie of about 100m, followed by about 30km totally exposed to very strong headwinds. We battled on full throttle with only two very short breaks (less than 10 minutes in total) and arrived totally exhausted at Bunbury station with about 20 minutes to spare, enough to get some ice cream before boarding the train. Fortunately the friendly railway staff were very forgiving of two grotty looking and smelly cyclists, who hadn't washed in days!
The cold beer had to wait until Perth, and the real return to civilisation
was the gourmet lunch at the pier in Perth the next day. We then joined the
(relatively low-key) New Years celebrations in Perth's Northbridge district,
took the ferry for a day with bicycles to
Rottnest Island,
another slow day in Perth (the only day we actually had some rain),
before heading back to the airport.
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