18th October 2023

After a night in a campsite disturbed at 03:00 by, one presumes, ‘grey nomads’ desperate to get to their next site and claim prime position and then at the crack of dawn by the dawn chorus. Now dawn chorus here is LOUD. For some reason the birds all feel it necessary to shout. A lot of them. Just to make sure you’re awake too.

Oh, and the gentle patter of rain on the tent. The side effect of which was that it was a comfortably warm night.

After the customary hideous grind to the top of the hill and then even higher via some back streets, I started on the most spectacular descent imaginable.

By the way, totting up the ascent figures from Strava it would appear that I passed the height of Everest a couple of days ago! But I digress…

Pemberton is home to some absolutely huge trees. One of the biggest being the Gloucester tree which, when they aren’t doing repair work, is climbable. Via metal spikes driven into the tree like a spiral staircase. Apparently it used to be used as a fire lookout in years gone by. Look it up!

The trail winds down a valley behind the town which is full of these huge trees and is more than spectacular – as well as being a very fun descent.

That done it was back to business as usual down old railway beds through the forest and a few gravel road ascents just to keep with tradition.

Eventually the height of the trees in the forest got shorter and then gave way to farmland. Dairy farms. Which breed, guess what? Flies. Stop for a moment and you get mugged.

And now I’m in a, rather nicer than the last one, cabin on, well, not so much a campsite as a random selection of huts and tent pitches in the woods. Clean, en suite and what promises to be a comfy bed. Even a phone signal if you hold it in the right place. So this may be late as it won’t send if the signal is bad.

I strongly suspect that there won’t be a signal at all for the next couple of days as I’ll be in huts away from civilization. I’ll try to send an update if I pass an aerial!

Creatures of the day are some ducks and ducklings at the campsite.

17th October 2023

Mixed day! I don’t think the day off yesterday helped much, probably too hot to relax much.

Started off, crosses the main road and into extremely humid forest. My, uncalibrated, gauge said 70%. Even if that’s wrong it was still very hot and sweaty. But the scenery is changing. The trees are getting bigger. Somebody a while back said that different types of forest have different humidity levels, some are like having Aircon on. This was not one of those! However, fun windy tracks.

Eventually it opened out into my nemesis, gravel roads. But the trees got bigger and bigger.

About half way through was an open grassy valley with a huge lake at the bottom which was absolutely beautiful. Unfortunately, as seems to be the way with the M-B, the flies came out and mugged me. For a while I gave up and put my head net on.

However, once on the move again, the trail changed to old logging rail beds through the forest. Mostly uphill, obviously, but nothing too severe.

And then it gave way to the full on majestic, huge, trees that this area is known for. Except my reserves had hit rock bottom by then and it was a struggle. Even worse was hitting the outskirts of Pemberton where the trail was on roads with a nasty headwind.

Fortunately I have been here before and knew where the campsite is so I booked a pitch, set up my tent and had a short snooze.

I also know where the pub is so, after a bit of shopping I had a T bone with extra veg and a couple of beers.

I’m now back in the campsite where it is making a feeble attempt to drizzle.

Tomorrow? See what the legs say…..

16th October 2023

The legs are feeling a bit tired after the push to make up time before today’s predicted hot spell. Bit chilly in the morning as usual but don’t let that fool you….!

Laundry, everything is now grubby so the use of the site washing machine is too good an opportunity to miss.

And the bike, I found an extremely vital bolt had fallen out when I got in yesterday. Fortunately it was one of two on each side. And the other one was about one turn away from following it. So I tightened it up and then I vaguely remembered they’d included one with the spare gear hangar (it’s a sacrificial part which is supposed to break rather than destroy the gears). I was right, it fitted perfectly. Don’t know why they’d included it, they don’t usually, but I was very grateful!!!

Next big check is the brake pads, they have done a lot of work recently – yes, there a few downhill bits!

And also see if I can find out why the saddle is creaking. And, yes, I have checked and it’s not my knees…

The downside to Quininup is that the only place you can get food is the pub. Which means my cheap accommodation isn’t as cheap as it could be. On the other hand, it does mean I can avoid eating another dehydrated meal, most of which are pretty dull. And they sell beer!

Critter of the day – last night to be more accurate, look carefully, he didn’t really like the torchlight!

15th October 2023

Late out because I was tired after yesterday also took longer to break camp than usual because I had to put the tent away (note to self: remember to take it out to dry – still wet from the dew)

Dropped the facilities key off and bought some egg sandwiches to supplement my breakfast (always hungry these days as you can imagine) which went down very nicely though needed salt. Possibly me needing extra salt from the exertions?

Usual down hill, across and back again to start the day but then it improved and it was a mix of trails and, I suspect, old railway track beds. And mostly downhill or easy gradients. Nice countryside, the trees are definitely getting taller. The next stop is where the really big ones are to be found. Unfortunately the nice forests gave way to farmland and the trail was forced onto open, steep, gravel roads which you already know I hate! As the temp was heading into the high 20s I was glad to arrive in Quininup.

The pub, which is almost all there is to the town, directed me to the caravan park just behind it. So I’m now ensconced in a very… rustic, cabin. Very cheap too! There’s also a washing machine on site which I will be using tomorrow, everything is either dirty from use or smelly from being packed in a waterproof bag. Should dry quickly in the forecast 32 degrees……

I plan to have a snooze shortly and then stroll up to the pub. That’s if the kookaburras will shut up for long enough ……

And lastly, bizarre sight of the day (which comes without any comment)

15 October 2023

This is as far as the trail went last time. Everything after here is new.

I’m also past the halfway point.

I have decided to push on to Quininup and take Monday off as it’s forecast to be up to 33 which is too hot for this kind of cycling.

Next update may be in a couple of days, depends on phone signals……

Turns out there is a phone signal!

And there were dragons. Small ones. And not fire breathing. And I saw three of them in total!

14 October 2023

Another early start in a vain attempt to beat the heat. Tempting to stop for a fried breakfast but that wasn’t for another 1/2 hour…..

This is what the M – B should be! A little up and down in the forest and then a mile of downhill! After that downhill through almost primeval forest. Glorious!

Of course, as we know, the Munda Biddi takes as much as it gives. After a fabulous section carved out of the side of a river valley (where I startled a large roo) it started to undulate. Eventually ending up at One Tree Bridge. Why? In times gone by somebody felled a tree across the river and nailed a bridge to it!

Of course that bridge has long been replaced by a modern one but the old one has been kept as a tourist item. The cyclists, and walkers, have to use a very wobbly suspension bridge next to it…

And then the uphill began. Alongside the river but winding and climbing. Soooo hard.

However, eventually it popped out into an almost Alpine meadow! And one of the huts where I stopped for a brew and a snack. And was joined by a bunch of older gentlemen on e-bikes.

Then I headed off on what were, in part, old railway tracks presumably from the logging days. Some hard but mostly get your head down and keep peddling.

And eventually ended in Manjimup.

Which, if you have been paying attention, is where the trail ended last time!!!!!!

The plan was to find somewhere air-conditioned to stay but everything is booked for some mining thing so I gave up and found a camp site within easy distance of the local brewery outlet.

So here we are two beers and a large steak later and sticky toffee pudding and feeling much better.

Not sure what the plan for the next few days is. Monday is forecast HOT but I may do a shorter run to Quininup where it may not be too busy and sit out the heat (in the pub?)

No critters today – though warnings about snakes on the Southern section. So just a reprise of last time where Pig was eating M&Ms while we sat out the rain. Except I took them on the other camera….

13 October 2023

After a nice snug evening in my glamping dome I headed off at 7:45 to try to beat the heat. It was pretty chilly at that hour! But I did see a kingfisher (or the local equivalent) by the river. My glam pod had a balcony which overlooked it.

I was expecting a nasty morning of climbing up a never ending gravel road but it turned out to be not as bad as I remembered from last time. I think the tarmac had been extended since then. I have a memory of hours grinding up gravel roads in the heat. The tarmac was at a gradient that I could cope with so I slowly wound my way up through some really beautiful countryside for 1 3/4 hours.

After that it was back to business as usual through forest. Again my memory failed me. I recalled mostly downhill but it was actually some up and down and winding about but through some quite dense bush and trees. Very nice but quite tiring.

And instead of spending all day not seeing anybody I spent some time in a remote picnic area in the forest chatting with a group of ladies who were off for a few days of hiking the Bibbelmun track, the walking trail and precursor to the Munda Biddi. They were amused by the difference between walking and cycling and, as ever, asking how hard cycling was. Very much not for the faint hearted….

I have mentioned all the wonderful forest smells before – cigar boxes, eucalyptus, popcorn and a couple of less pleasant ones, but today I got the occasional waft of one of those spices you put in Chinese or Indian cooking. Very odd, quite made me want a curry!

Anyway, I got to Donnelly Mill towards the end of the cooler part of the day (about 25C today) and sat outside their cafe/ shop eating a very unhealthy burger with an egg and some bacon. And some token lettuce and tomato. Though given my calorie burn I don’t think it will have caused me any harm!

You have to keep an eye on your food here. It’s an old logging village which has been turned into a fairly basic holiday village. That means that there are loads of tame kangaroos, emus and smaller birds all over the place. And if you don’t keep an eye on your food a magpie will grab it!

And tonight is being spent in a bunk room in the old schoolhouse. Cheap but functional.

Hopefully tomorrow will also be an early start as I’d like to do the next two stages in one day as I did last time. That would put me in a town when the temperatures get too high for a couple of days. Ideally somewhere air-conditioned……

So critter of the day has been suspended for today as it would be too easy with all the tame ones about. But I am hoping I can snap a blue wren for you soon. So blue it’s hard to believe.

Instead, we have bizarre sight of the day. Miles up in the hills was a property with a lovely lake in a grassy meadow. And guess what? Two pedalos! You can imagine the conversation, ” you know what this lake is missing…..?” Where would you even start looking

12 October 2023

It was cold last night. Even my wonderful down sleeping bag was struggling. When I finally prised myself out of bed my thermometer was only showing 4C!!! Must remember to wear socks if it looks like we’re getting that again…

But it’s a mixed blessing. Cool weather is much better for cycling. Not that I did much of that by recent standards. 2 1/2 hours apparently. The route to Nannup was along an old railway line that they used to use for logging. There were parts where you could still see the old sleepers and even some very short sections of track.

It was a bit like cycling along a canal towpath except for a slightly steeper gradient (uphill, obviously). It required quite a lot of concentration because the cycle path was only a foot wide. I wonder what the loggers would have made of people using their old railway line for fun on bikes that probably cost more than a years salary….

The forest was quite pleasant, not too remarkable and no really good smells. On which note, somebody mentioned the smell yesterday: popcorn, which is what I’d been thinking too!

So having done the trail before lunchtime, I booked a glamping pod (geodesic dome) for the night, put the bike away and went in search of sustenance.

As luck would have it, the Nannup brewery is situated within very easy walking distance so I settled in for a beer and some lunch. And then some more when someone I had met on the trail a couple of days ago turned up. For info, their IPA is very nice!

Critter of the day: could have been a very large ‘roo that I startled on the trail but he recovered faster than I could get the camera out. So perhaps a long shot of the ones at the camp last night will have to suffice. (Zoom into the middle) Hard to see in this picture but we ended up with 15 of them and quite close to the hut by sunset!

11 October 2023

Contrary to popular opinion, my circuit of Donnybrook yesterday was not in search of bakeries! I was actually looking for where the main street had got to! I eventually located the tourist office and from there the motel I stayed in last time. My name was still on the system despite 12 years and a change of ownership!!

Never did make it to the pub last night. I went next door to the supermarket and came back with a microwave meal and a couple of beers. Couldn’t face the hike to the pub.

On the way out of town this morning a woman on a laden bike going in the opposite direction waved and yelled something so I waved back.

She turned up at tonight’s hut shortly after me!

The ride today was more like I think the Munda Biddi should be. You had to work for your dinner but nothing had been put in to make the route extra hard. Most of it was pleasant tracks through forest that was absolutely bursting with wildflowers – it’s that time of year. Nothing too steep either so I put some effort into trying not to burn too much energy where I could.

And now I’m sitting at a hut that might as well be on the village green! And, like last time, the kangaroos are starting to arrive. They seemed to spend the night grazing.

Critter of the day: the ‘roos are too easy so it’s a snake. Not sure what it is but probably best left alone….

10 October 2023

After the aforementioned bad nights sleep, I set out earlier than usual at about 8. After the obligatory hill climb to start the morning it was onto some actually some quite pleasant and not too taxing windy paths through the forest.

Out the other side there were some beautiful valleys and treescapes. Starting to move into farming land.

Then some fast downhill and, you guessed it, climb back up again. However, the route deviated off the road and through an area thick with wild flowers – it’s that time of year.

But, once that was over there was a slog along a road into a headwind for several miles which ended in a tedious diversion through some farm land for no obvious reason. I should have taken the shortcut!!!

I’m already finding it very hard to manage the fatigue and little excursions like this at the end of the day are too much on top of a bad nights sleep.

However, I’m now settled down in a motel room and feel much better for a very hot, powerful, shower. And a late lunch.

Next is a nip to the supermarket, conveniently next door, for some fruit etc. Then probably the pub for beer and food. And a good nights sleep.

Critter of the day: Kangaroo!!! Actually, as a bonus you get two as there’s one in the pouch!