New Norcia (29/4/14)

We were all heading back to Perth today so we were up early to make sure we had plenty of time to get home. Sandra and Geoff were going a direct route home but I wanted to see some of the towns on the way so I left before them at about 7.30am. My first stop was at Dongara and Port Denison as I hadn't had time on the way up. There wasn't much specifically to see but I had a ride along the road by the harbour and the beach, and saw a couple of memorials and stopped at the info centre to get a map. I then headed back to the Brand Highway and then followed signs to Mingenew along Midlands Road. This alternative route I had taken was going to take me along the original route from Perth before the Highway was built and I would pass through all the old towns along the way. The road was much more interesting and winding so it kept my interest up. I passed through Mingenew and stopped at a couple of towns along the way for fuel but generally spent the time enjoying the sun, which was now much cooler than it had been as it was now Autumn in the south, and the scenery along the way. All the towns in this part of WA are farming towns growing crops so each one has absolutely massive silos and giant tarpaulin covered bins that store the crops once they've been harvested. I stopped for lunch at Moora and ate my sandwiches in a small garden they've got in the middle of town. After lunch I rode out of town and soon picked up signs for the Great northern Highway which would take me to New Norcia. New Norcia is the only monastic town in Australia and has had a Benedectine Mission there since 1847. Since then the town has grown and now includes two boarding schools, the abbey church, an old mill, a wine press, a hotel, and the monastery itself. Most of the buildings are now used for other purposes but they still retain their historic architecture. The town is pretty much entirely monastic based so there are very few standard residents living there giving loads of space between buildings. As I rode into town it was like riding onto a movie set with grand Spanish style buildings lining the road. It was very different from any other town I'd visited and full of history. I stopped at the museum and had a look round there to read about the story of how New Norcia had been started, look at some old artefacts, and see some old paintings (including one of a very freaky child), before heading off round town to see some of the buildings. There weren't any tours being run while I was there so I couldn't get inside some of the buildings but they were still impressive just from the outside. It's a very peaceful town but this was probably helped by the fact there weren't any large groups of tourists walking around. Just the odd one or two people dotted here and there. The only thing breaking the peace were transportation trucks heading to and from the mines further up north, as the highway passes through the town. I couldn't leave town without trying a glass of Abbey Ale so after all my walking I rode up to the hotel where it is exclusively on tap. It was a very tasty beer which is very strong and my small glass was definitely enough without being over the limit. I sat outside in the late afternoon sun to enjoy it but knew it would soon start getting dark and I didn't want to be riding the country roads then because of kangaroos. So I was soon back on the road and left town about 5.15pm. My ride home continued along the winding country highway through the hilly landscape and I enjoyed an awesome sunset on the way. The only downside of the journey was the amount of flies that were now squashed on my visor. I eventually hit the outskirts of Perth after dark and pulled over to try and wash the flies off as I had smeared them with my glove and the headlights from oncoming vehicles made it difficult to see. With my visibility increased I followed the now busy roads back to where Sandra and Geoff live and eventually got home about 7pm a little cold as the temperature had dropped but glad I'd returned without incident. My aunt and uncle were starting to get worried as it was later than we'd said I would probably get home so they were relieved to see me. I'd sent them a text whilst enjoying my beer but they hadn't seen it. Just after I got through the door we sat down to dinner and after that I did a small degree of unpacking before relaxing for the evening with Sandra and Geoff and then went to bed at a very reasonable hour knackered from my journey. And what a journey it had been. Since I'd left Perth I'd covered about 6,000 km which to me doesn't sound like much but my arse would argue otherwise. For reference though it is approximately 1,350 km from Lands End to John O'groats. During my trip I'd had some bad times but I'd also had some unquestionably amazing times and seen some incredible things. Would I do it again? Yes. On a motorbike? Probably not. In a car with other people? Definitely. I'd recommend it to anyone. Just make sure you have a good vehicle. I'd been incredibly lucky nothing major had gone wrong with the bike as that would have changed the experience entirely. I had achieved what I'd come here to do but it has given me a thirst for getting out there on the bike and so I was confident this wouldn't be my last trip in WA. I just had to sit down and work out what it had cost me and whether I could afford another trip. But at the end of the day, it's only money.

Nature's Window (28/4/14)

I phoned the Kalbarri info centre again today and was told that the road was open but there weren't enough people to organise a 4WD trip with. So after some discussion Geoff decided we'd all go this afternoon in the car but if the road was too corrugated then the car would suffer and so we'd turn back and give it up as a bad idea. I had a lazy morning and after lunch we headed off to Kalbarri National Park. The man at the pay booth reckoned the road was pretty good so I paid the entry fee and we started to drive along the route. The first half of it was sealed but the second half was extremely sandy with some wet patches and was pretty corrugated. We persevered though despite the intense vibrations and eventually made it to the sealed car park at the end. The inland gorges here were huge and the view was great. Even the view from the urinals at the toilet was incredible and entirely unique. Just look at the photo and tell me you wouldn't want a view like that while peeing! Natures window was very intriguing though. It's amazing to think that it had gained its shape simply through erosion. There were quite a few people there so we spent a bit of time waiting to get our chance at a photo and our chance eventually came. It wasn't a queue as such just people being polite and waiting their go. After some photos we walked back to the car and started the journey back along the corrugated section. We decided not to go to the Z bend lookout as it would be more unsealed road to get there plus time was ticking away and we still wanted to visit the pink lake on the way home. So we headed for the entrance and after some more intense vibrations hit the sealed section once more. We soon left Kalbarri behind us and on the way back to Horrocks drove to Port Gregory and the pink lake. The lake has turned pink due to algae that inhabits the water here but you need to be above the lake to get a real idea of how pink it is. From the viewpoint we had you could get a pretty good idea though. After some photos we stopped at the local food store to buy some chips and a coffee and ate and drank these in the car on the way back. Back at Horrocks Geoff washed the car and I hunted round inside the car to find where a rattling noise was that had developed since Kalbarri. After taking off a plastic internal panel I found a metal bracket behind had loose bolts so tightened these up before replacing the plastic panel. I helped Geoff wash the wheelie bins, as the bin men had come, and returned them to their rightful houses. I then spent the early evening blogging for a while before watching another sunset. After our curry dinner I blogged some more, drank beer, watched TV, took a shower and then went to bed. I'm glad we managed to tick off Nature's Window. It was definitely worth seeing.

Horrocks (26/4 - 27/4/14)

26th April

After a lay in today we all ate breakfast and then I spent some of the morning on the phone to Kalbarri Info centre to try and arrange a tour to visit Nature's window. I hadn't been able to get there myself on the way up as it's on an unsealed road so I was hoping to ride back there whilst in Horrocks and get on a 4WD tour. The weather however had taken it's toll. People up in Exmouth had been flooded in due to the rain, that I fortunately rode ahead of most of yesterday, and Kalbarri had got a fair amount too. So the road into the National Park there was closed. I had timed my journey south just about spot on. I would have been drowned otherwise. During the day we didn't do much so before lunch I had a show and tell session, of the souvenirs I'd bought, with Sandra and Geoff, and then after lunch we watched my whale shark dive DVD and looked at my photos. I spent some of the afternoon blogging and then about 2.30pm Chris and Graham, some friends of Sandra and Geoff's from Geraldton, arrived to spend the night. It rained all day from about 10am to 6pm which gave us all a good reason to stay indoors and relax. In the evening we had oysters and a BBQ for dinner, walked down to the beach to see the sunset and then drank beer and watched TV  in the evening before going to bed.

27th April

I was up at 9am and phoned about the 4WD tour at Kalbarri again but, despite the weather today being sunny, the road was still closed. Luck isn't on my side. I had a very lazy morning and Chris and Graham left shortly before lunch. Just after lunch I went out to my bike to investigate why my speedo had stopped working on the way here on the day before yesterday (I forgot to put that in the blog for then, sorry). I had been riding along and when I looked down at one point the needle was at the bottom of the gauge but fortunately, because of the amount of hours I've ridden and the fact there's not been much else to look at, I'd noticed what 110km/h was with regards to rev's and gear selection so knew that in 5th gear at 5,000 rpm I was doing 110km/h and so I could make it without breaking the speed limit. The other slower speeds I'd had to guess. So today I unscrewed the speedo cable from the front wheel hub and found that the drive cable had sheared off just inside the hub housing. I wouldn't be able to fix this till I got back to Perth so there wasn't really much more I could do with it. In the afternoon Sandra, Geoff and I drove down to the mouth of the river to enjoy some of the scenery (actually only Geoff drove, otherwise the front seat would have been quite cramped). We also drove along the cliff top and down to the beach further along the coast too which was a nice way to spend the afternoon. There are some really secluded places along there. Late afternoon I spent some more time writing blogs and then just after the sun set Geoff, me and one of his friends called Pete went down to the beach to catch some mullet. Because mullet swim in shoals they are very easy to catch with a net. So Geoff walked the net out into the sea in a big arc while I held one end and Pete walked up the beach ready to grab the other end once Geoff had walked it back. By walking around in an arc Geoff had trapped loads of mullet between the net and the beach so when we pulled the net in it was full of fish. Geoff and Pete then went along the net pulling the fish out from it, breaking their necks and throwing them in the bucket that I was holding. There were about 35 in total, the biggest haul I've ever seen, and it couldn't have been easier to catch them. Back at Pete's house though the hard work started. Well for Geoff and Pete it was, for me it was pretty easy. Geoff washed and de-scaled each fish and then Pete filleted them. I just had to fill the buckets with water and change them every now and then to make sure each fish and fillet was nice and clean. Some of them were filled with roe which looked like a puréed mango when it came out so we needed to make sure none of that was on the fillets. I still came away smelling of fish despite not doing the hard work. It took them both ages which is unsurprising from the amount we caught. Once all the fish had been filleted we split the bounty and Geoff and I went back to our house. Unfortunately we already had something planned for dinner before deciding to catch the mullet so eating any would have to wait till the morning. After dinner I blogged some more and then after a beer went to bed.