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| Birthday boy - Morawa campsite |
What do you do the day you partner turns 60? You load the
bikes with camping gear and go for a ride. Devil (F650GS) and Dwarf (R1200GS) were
soon carving up the Brookton Highway and heading for the bakery at Toodyay. We
stopped to check on the health of Perth's water supply at Mundaring Weir and
then we were on the road again enjoying the cool morning air and the
wildflowers. Full of smiles after devouring an award winning pastie, from
Toodyay we rode northwards through the remote wheatbelt towns of Bolgart,
Calingiri, Yerecoin, finding towns and names we had never even heard of.
Although the wildflower season in this neck of the woods is officially over, pockets
of wildflowers still lined the way and at times it seemed that all the colours
of the rainbow were in bloom. Perenjori welcomed us later in the day, the pub
offering T-Bone, chips and salad for $15 but with the sun still well up in the
sky we road onwards and set up camp in the council caravan park in Morawa. We
cooked our own steak for Steve's 60th birthday tea and shared it with a couple
a dozen bush flies but that's the outback for you if you want to cook and clean
up before dark. No outback town is complete without the outback barking dog,
who will keep you awake long into the night, but Steve said his 60th was
"memorable, and a bloody good ride."
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| Somewhere between Mullewa and Binnu |
By 7:30am we were back on the road again. We were greeted
with a "proceed with caution" warning when we turned onto the Mullewa-Wubin
Rd. This mostly single lane, road train route, could present its challenges but
we rode on alone and this road felt way more outback that riding east from Broken
Hill. A very helpful attendant at the Mullewa Roadhouse explained the road to
Kalbarri via the outback way and she said "follow the sign to Yuna, about
18km out of town, then Kalbarri should be signposted." Right on 18km we
easily found the signpost to Yuna and then we were riding free again with not a
care in the world. By midday we rode into Kalbarri township, and it felt good
to be back in one of my favourite coastal towns.
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| A Western Dragon |
We checked into the caravan park in the centre of town, and
spent a couple of days tuned into Kalbarri time. One afternoon we had the
pleasure of the company of a pair of Western Dragons while we sat peacefully on
the banks of the Murchison River. They seemed oblivious to our presence, and
were enjoying their late afternoon feed provided by a local ant colony. A
couple of times we returned to the same place but they were nowhere to be seen.
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| Natures Window - Kalbarri National Park |
This trip was all about the ride and after a couple of days in
Kalbarri we were back on the road again, heading towards home. We took it easy
in the early morning light and stopped for morning tea at Port Gregory. At the
rest area we met lone adventure cyclist, Verena Trickst. Verena had been on the
road for nineteen months, travelling overland through Asia. Cycling The Gibb River
Road lured Verena to Australia and it was fascinating to listen to her stories.
Verena said she "preferred to wild camp" at the end of each day. When
we rode away from Port Gregory, I spent quite some time checking out the
roadside verges and I didn't see anywhere suitable to pitch a tent; all I saw
was long grass and fences.
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| HMAS Sydney II Memorial |
We stopped for lunch in Geraldton and took some timeout to
appreciate the peace and serenity of The HMAS Sydney II memorial. This memorial
site is magical, you could imagine sitting there for hours in peaceful
meditation.
Dongara provided us with the last campsite before home. We
dined in the camp kitchen and drank good red wine.
Steve's 60th birthday ride
had been a great success ~ until next time......
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| Red Devil (BMW F650GS) & Red Dwarf (BMW R1200GS) at Port Gregory |
