Day 0 – Adelaide to Mundaring Weir

After months of planning and (slightly nervous) anticipation, our Munda Biddi adventure has finally begun.  Both Tim (Tennis) and I live in Adelaide and we had to fly to Perth with all of our luggage and bikes. We’ve called this blog Day 0 as most of it was actually spent getting to the start of the trail.

We arrived at the Adelaide airport around 5:15am and checked the bikes and trailers in. I’m not sure why, but I was expecting this to be a more difficult process than it ended up being.  I guess being AFL Grand Final eve most people were heading east, not west.

Once we arrived in Perth it was time to put the machines together. We found a nice vacant spot next to the oversized baggage pick-up area and decided to set up shop.

We discovered our first hurdle once we opened up the boxes…two flat tires on Tennis’ bike before we’d even clipped in.  This doesn’t sound too serious, but with tubeless tyres, pancake flats are kinda tricky to deal with, they need the rapid inflation of compressed air to make them take the bead.  We used our only two CO2 canisters and luckily got them back up to pressure.

After an hour or two putting everything back together, we set off for Mundaring in the Perth hills.  We were lucky enough to meet a couple called Bruce and Gwenda who gave us some directions for ‘the scenic route’ which largely avoided main roads….they even drew us a map.  They also told us about an old fella named Ron for whom they’d drawn a similar map the day before.

Bruce’s map took us up the heritage rail trail from Midland to Mundaring, which is a pretty steady 16km climb on the pea gravel that this area is known for.  The terrain, surface and hot and muggy conditions made for a tougher day than we’d expected…we haven’t even reached the Munda Biddi yet!

We stocked up on groceries and a few beers in Mundaring which is the official starting point (northern terminus) of the Munda Biddi Trail.  The trail starts at Sculpture Park on the southern side of town.

Eager to get a few kms under our belt, we left Mundaring around 4:00pm and and set off for Mundaring Weir…only about 7km down the trail.  The first part of the trail is very fun…flowy single track that weaves either side of the main road.  The pea gravel I mentioned earlier made cornering a little interesting, imagine riding over thousands of ball bearings, Tennis even came unstuck for his first stack of the trip.

 

We soon found our rhythm and made it to the Mundaring Weir pub as the sun was going down, quite a long day.

The pub at Mundaring Weir is a great place, at first we thought we’d stumbled across a strange motorcycle Narnia, with rows of Harley Davidsons and road bikes lined up out front…not what you expect to see at a quaint little pub tucked away in the middle of the Forrest.  Although we were the only ones there who weren’t wearing leather, we had a great night sharing a few beers and a meal with a bloke called Millsy and his wife Sharon.

They were lovely people who were riding to Bussleton the following morning.  Apparently that ride will take them 3 hours by Harley….it’s gonna take us a week by 29er!

We camped in the pub car park and were asleep by 8:30pm, it was a very long day.

Day 1 – Mudaring Weir to Carinyah Hut

We woke up after our first of many nights in the tent to a crisp morning. We had a coffee and some noodles before packing up the gear to set off.  Having studied the map the night before we knew we were in for a full day of climbing.

The first part of the day drops down to the Helena River and follows the pipeline track. The pipes along this section run from the Mudaring Weir to Kalgoorlie, as Millsy was very excited to tell us about the night before.

As we started climbing out of the river bed the tubeless tyres decided to have another crack at halting the trip. Tennis took the rookie line up a rock garden and popped the tyre straight off the rim. Luckily we’d stopped in at a bike shop in Midland and topped up the CO2 canister supply and after cleaning the rim out we were back up to pressure and on the trail.

The flat tyre was a real turning point in the morning’s ride as the trail turned from pleasant, flowy single track to steep uphill gravel track.  We’d read about this pea gravel, but had no idea how challenging it would be to ride on.  There are sections where the pea gravel becomes so loose and thick (apparently due to the motorcyclists who use the trail illegally) that it’s impossible to ride.  It was also an incredibly hot and muggy morning which made for real slow going…we only covered 7km in the first hour and 45 mins!

We had to get off a couple times to push the bikes up the particularly tough bits.

Thankfully, about half way up the hill a turnoff appeared for the touring route to bypass the really tough stuff. We decided to take it; these trailers really hold you back on the steep climbs. The trail kept climbing but it was a bit smoother and constant.

We must have missed a sign about half way along the touring route and ended up doing an extra few kms than we needed…I guess we were a bit too absorbed in the scenery which is lovely at this time of year, the wild flowers add a lick of colour to already stunning bushland.

After a quick check of the map we realised we could met back up with the trail by taking a short stint on the asphalt.  This was probably a good thing as the legs needed a bit of a reprieve from the climbing.  Unfortunately the asphalt soon turned into another dense forest trail with heavy pea gravel and sand.  This stuff is seriously like riding uphill on thick driveway gravel.

We met back up with the trail near a town called Pickering Brook. We’d done a bit of research on the place before the trip as we thought we’d be cruising through here at Grand Final time.  From what I can gather, Pickering Brook is a small town built around many large Apple orchards, it actually reminded me a lot of Lenswood in SA.

We’d heard about a place called Core Cider House which seemed to be a good option for the footy.  Unfortunately the place was a bit too ritzy to have TVs…instead they had a violin loop musician entertaining the 100 odd guests in the terraced cider garden….yes, we stood out like dog’s balls in cycling gear.

 It was actually a really nice place and I’d love to head back there. We had a few ciders and some lunch, then set off for the campsite which was only another 10km along the trail.

That 10km took us another hour and a half, as conditions quickly returned to steep, loose pea gravel.  The short sections of descent were fun but still a lot of work due to the relentless, tortuous pea gravel.

We rolled into the Carinyah campsite around 4:00pm and met Shaun, a kiwi bloke doing the same thing as us.  Shortly after that, a couple from Sydney called Di and Matt rolled in, they’re also tackling the whole trail….a good group of people who I expect we’ll spend a lot of time with over the next few weeks.

As night fell, another group of riders rode into camp, this time five workmates from Perth out for a weekend spin. They mentioned they passed Ron, the 75 year old fella we heard about at the airport yesterday, who was also destined for camp.

Ron rocked up about 7:00 having pushed the last few kms in the dark – pretty tough old bloke. We cooked him some dinner as he looked knackered.

Having anticipated a quiet night, it was a pleasant surprise to hang with such a nice group of people, Todd and Andrew from Perth even remembered to pack goon, which they were happy to share.

The facilities at the campsite were great, plenty of room for everyone to roll a mat out on, long drop, two rainwater tanks…not bad for free!  Got to sleep around 9:00pm.

Day 2 – Carinyah Hut to Wungong Hut

We had a bit of a restless night as there were at least three heavy snorers in the cabin of ten people.  Tennis also managed to slice up his sleeping mat and as a result, spent the night sleeping rough on plywood.  Nonetheless, we woke up around 6:30am in pretty good spirits, refreshed from the brutal first day of pea gravel, climbing and goon.

We said goodbye to the Perth crew and Matt & Di, and cooked a few noodles with Ron for breakfast.  He’s a real interesting chap…a retired Civil & Geotechnical Engineer who seems to have lived all over the world, and speaks about five languages.  He only picked up cycling at the age of 65 and now he’s tackling the whole Munda Biddi.

We got away around 9:30am and knocked the first 10km off in under an hour, it was mainly downhill and the trail was nice.  I managed to get my earphones caught in my back wheel and am now down to one bud.

Given its proximity to the main road, this section sadly seems to be used as a dump by some of the local idiots. It’s a real shame to see such beautiful bushland tarnished by white goods, mattresses and burnt out cars.

The nice hard-packed, downhill trail we rode on the first 10km turned out to be a bit of a tease…as the trail quickly returned to deep, loose pea gravel. As if that wasn’t bad enough, there were also sections of beach sand thrown in to further test your patience and balance.

These ‘bunkers’ were only about 100m long, but if you didn’t pick a good line, you were walking.  It’s through these hard spots that the thoughts of “why am I doing this” start creeping in. But then you look around and remember where you are, and that you don’t have to go to work tomorrow, and your spirits start to lift.

We climbed out of the valley and onto firmer ground. On the way way up, we bumped into six blokes from Perth out for a 100km day ride in the hills.  They convinced us we were riding with too high tyre pressure, so we lowered them. This turned out to be a big mistake. A few kms down the track, whilst on a steep rutted out descent, Tennis and I both managed major blow outs.   By now the “why am I doing this” thoughts are front and centre.

We really thought these tubeless tyres were gonna be inpenetratable, but it seems like they really don’t like sideways bumps whilst carrying luggage.

We got the tyres back up to pressure but are now down to only one CO2 canister, a little unnerving given we’re six days ride from the nearest bike shop.

A little dejected by the last few kms, we stopped for lunch in a local pea gravel borrow pit, then pressed on to Wungong Camp, where Shaun, Matt & Di had already arrived.  This camp was similar to the last in layout, but was nestled on the side of a hill in a Jarrah forest….a really beautiful place.

We whipped up an afternoon snack which we called ‘Rider’s Stew’ (cup o’ soup with cous cous) and met this drifter who seemed to pop out from behind trees to lend some sage advice.  He’s been riding round these hills for the last eight years, no permanent address.  A real interesting chap – I wish I had a photo.

We spent the afternoon nattering away with our new gang, waiting for Ron to roll on which he did, just before dusk.  Here’s a shot of Tennis watching a 75 year old man push his fully laden bike up a steep hill…

We had a nice evening around the camp, climbing fallen logs and cooking pasta.

A much easier ride tomorrow into Jarrahdale.

Day 3 – Wungong Hut to Jarrahdale

We had a little rain overnight which made for a pretty nice (but cold) sleep.  We cooked a little leftover pasta and had a coffee and set off around 8:00am.

We got a few photos with the crew; here’s Matt and Di with their bikes, and Tennis and I with Ron.

The rain had seemed to bed in the pea gravel, and the first few kms were really fun weaving trails in quite narrow single track.

There’s a semi-permanent diversion on this section of trail that’s been in place for the last 18 months or so due to logging operations in the area – this takes you away from the single track and along a fire trail towards the Balmoral POW camp, which unfortunately is little more than a few ruins these days.

From Balmoral, the trail follows the old timber railway line into Jarrahdale, around 12km or so.  As you’ve probably gathered from the town name, this is Jarrah country.  It’s quite interesting to see the landscape change in the short distance we’ve gone so far.


There’s still remnants of the old rail sleepers, Jarrah no doubt.

The gentle gradients and packed down surface made this one of the best sections yet.

With rain threatening, we pressed on into Jarrahdale and caught up with Di, Matt and Shaun, who were grabbing a coffee at the general store.

As we were waiting for Ron, that drifter we met at Wungong dropped past for another chat. He must have been running a few errands in town as he seemed to appear, and disappear out of nowhere – we weren’t really sure of his name so we’ve been calling him Pop-up.

Pop-up gave us some good tips for tomorrow’s ride, and for later along the trail too.  He told us about another trail south of Collie which is apparently better than the Munda Biddi. It has its own log hut that no one really knows about; I promised him I wouldn’t tell anyone where it was, but he did tell us to “turn right at the tree that has an axe in it”.  I’m thinking the distant sound of banjo music might also give its location away.  Something tells me we haven’t see the last of Pop-up!

We asked around town and got a room at the old nurses quarters, not bad for $12.50 a night.  The shower alone made the price of entry worthwhile.

We spent the afternoon and evening at the Jarrahdale pub, a civilised way to spend a wet and windy afternoon.  I always thought I was a quick drinker, but Tennis and I both struggled to keep up with Matt – we’re gonna have keep an eye on this one!

We grabbed a few bottles of local wine for the following night, and hit the sack around 10:00pm.  It’ll be an interesting ride tomorrow on a six pint hangover.

Day 4 – Jarrahdale to Dandalup Hut

Those beers last night left me with a bit of a cottonmouth this morning, but it was nice waking up in a bed after a few chilli nights camping.

We left the nurses quarters around 7:30am and stocked up on supplies at the general store, which is also where Matt & Di and Ron had stayed the night before.  Having looked a little exhausted the night before, Ron had convinced one of the locals to drop him at the next campsite by car, which was a wise move as we knew the trail included a fair bit of climbing today.

The trail leaves from the southern side of town and quickly returns to pea gravel.  Those riders we met back near Wungong had told us the pea gravel extends about 15km south of Jarrahdale; we’ll be quite happy to see the end of it.

I should point out now (as I don’t think I have already) that the Munda Biddi is very well signposted.  There’s a marker post at nearly all junctions (of which there must be thousands) and the odd reminder plaque on a tree.

The trail descends quickly out of Jarrahdale on loose and rutted out trails into the Serpentine Valley and then climbs back up to a ridge on the opposite side.

The first part of the climb is on an unsealed road which isn’t too bad, but the grade steepens towards the top of the road, then branches off onto trail.  The loose and rocky surface made it impossible to ride with a touring load.  We met Matt & Di on the climb who were also pushing; the grade topped out at 23%, though I only snapped a photo of the Garmin at 21%.  This was a real testing climb.

The trail levels out at the top of the scarp and undulates for a few kms.  The wild flowers in this area are very colourful; WA has over 12,000 species of wild flower and from what I gather, this is the best time of year to see them.

The trail ducks and weaves through tight single track for the next 7km or so, really nice trail, but very slow going compared to open roads.  10km/hr is a decent pace.  They also require a little more concentration to avoid wiping out, particularly due to the constantly changing surface.

About 18km into the days ride, my front dérailleur stopped shifting down into the lower chainring.  At first I thought a stick has pulled my cable and loosened it, but tightening that didn’t seem to do anything.  On closer inspection I found a piece of pea gravel wedged in behind the spring….this stuff gets you in more ways than one.

We rode on for another few kms until we came across this river which ran alongside the trail.

We checked the maps only to realise that we weren’t supposed to be riding alongside any rivers today. We kept riding for another few kms until we popped out at the Serpentine Dam car park, about 7km off course, and in the bottom of the valley again…I guess we weren’t paying enough attention to those signs.

We asked a few people for directions back, and ended up climbing back out of the valley by the asphalt access road.  It wasn’t all bad I guess, at least we got to see the Sepertine Dam.

We made it back to the trail after an hour or so, and made some lunch in a shady spot. The afternoon session included more climbing, my legs were really feeling it by mid afternoon.  We meandered past the North Dandalup Dam, which was much bigger than the Serpentine.

The trail left the asphalt for the final 2km of the day, which zig-zags up the scarp….yep, more climbing.  The trail and bushland was stunning, and the 500m descent into the Dandalup hut was amazing.

These huts are provided for free to all riders who pass through. They’re all very similar in construction, but the Dandalup is perched on the side of a hill, with spectacular views extending all the way to the ocean.  They could really charge for these.

A considerably harder day than we were expecting due to the detour.  Over 6 hours 15 min to cover 42km, with over 1000m of vertical gain, ouch.

We whipped up a delicious sausage curry for dinner and knocked off those four bottles of red we bought last night in Jarrahdale with Matt & Di.  It was a great night at camp; we got real lucky with our new MTB gang.  We realised we hade five age decades represented, from Tennis in his 20s to Ron in his 70s.  The Munda Biddi attracts them all!

After such a strenuous day, the wine went right to my head, especially as we finished our supply before sunset!

Ron closed out proceedings with a harmonica session….brilliant.

Day 5 – Dandalup Hut to Dwellingup

It was a pretty cold night in the hut, when we woke up the Garmin read 7 degrees. Still, I slept pretty well due to the heavy day of climbing and four bottles of red the day before. Tennis is still sleeping rough, he keeps trying to fix his mat with various tapes but has had no success.   Soon enough he’ll have enough tape on there to cushion his hips and he should be sweet.

After five days of riding the legs are starting to feel a little tight. Big stretching sessions morning and night – I also managed to find a smooth bit of Jarrah for some ITB log rolling.

It’s a shame to leave this hut, it’s so nice, but apparently they keep getting better as you head south. After some coffee and noodles we set off for Dwellingup, a quaint little country town with provisions and a pub.

The climb out of camp wasn’t as fun as the descent into it, particularly as Tennis managed to get another flat tyre less than 500m from camp. I think one of his wheels took a few bumps on the plane and the dented rim might be contributing to these issues. We might try and get that seen to in Collie.

The repair is pretty quick with CO2 and we were on our way within about 10 min.

The single track trail undulates through dense Jarrah forest for the next 10km or so. The surface is markedly easier to ride on than some of the northern sections, but there are still areas of pea gravel and sand which present little challenges along the way; you can’t zone out like you can when you’re on a road.

The trail has many other little challenges too, deep ruts and fallen logs also keep you on your toes.

After a short stint on asphalt, the trail turns up Scarp Road. Lots of roads around here seem to be called Scarp Road and the trail uses many of them to link sections of single track. They’re generally quite steep as they follow the ridge of the Darling Scarp.

There’s another permanent diversion in this area for the Alcoa aluminium mine. The detour takes you under some high voltage power lines and over an ore conveyor….interesting, but I’m sure not as nice as the original trail.

It only lasts a few kms and you shortly return to awesome single track. The wild Creambush flowers overhang from both sides of the trail.

We then (generally) followed an unsealed road past Marrinup falls and into Dwellingup. The last few kms into town were brilliant, tight trail through very dense forest – very fun to ride.

Another heavy day of climbing of around 750m, our legs are definitely feeling the cumulative effect of several 5+ hour days in a row.

We grabbed a late lunch at the pub and caught up with Shaun, who’d left camp early and been looking around town for a couple of hours.

Ron showed up a few hours later; he’d had to thumb a ride into town with a local farmer due to an irreparable flat tyre. He’s made of pretty tough stuff, Ron. Not a lot of 75 year olds would even attempt this, let alone put up with all the challenges the Munda Biddi has thrown at him so far.

There’s not a lot in Dwellingup – a general store, Post Office/Camping supply store, a few cafes and a pub. The local bike/kayak hire centre does stock a few essentials for the bike if you need to stock up on spares. Unfortunately they didn’t have CO2 canisters which is what we’re short of given Tennis’ rear wheel issues.

I’ve been a bit disappointed at the lack of good bakeries in these small WA towns, we haven’t come across one yet. Perhaps we’re just spoilt in SA.
We grabbed a dorm room at the caravan park, then reconvened with the group for dinner at the pub. $15 porterhouse steaks on Wednesdays, really hit the spot.

  

Big day tomorrow, our longest yet at over 60km. I know these don’t sound like long days….you could probably churn out 60km before breakfast on a roadie, but on hilly single track with loose gravel surface, towing a traile and averaging less than 10km/hr, 60km feels like a lot more!

Day 6 – Dwellingup to Lake Brockman

We woke up pretty early to try and beat the heat, 30 degrees forecast for our ride today. We managed to leave camp around 7:30am, but stopped off at one of the cafes in town for a cooked breakfast which set our departure back an hour or so.

The trail leaves town to the west and follows some unsealed roads towards the Murray River. We experienced something we haven’t had on the trail so far….traffic.

Soon enough, the trail ducks back into the forest and starts to climb….again. Tennis managed yet another flat tyre, this time on an uphill section.

We spent the next two hours climbing, and descending on both dirt roads and forest track, by which time the temperature was also climbing. This trail is relentless, as soon as you cool down on a descent, the route kicks back up with another steep climb, many of which you need to push your bike up due to the trailer pulling you back.

The trail passes Nanga Brook, a nice little campsite around a small cascading falls, then follows the North Junction Form 4WD track through Lane Poole Reserve.

The surface was magnificent, hard packed clayey sand…we sat on 15km/hr for a few kms, it felt like we were flying.

The large ruts and steep rocky faces would be tricky in a 4WD, but were easy enough to negotiate on a mountain bike. The several brook crossings were pretty cool too.

The Bidjar Ngoulin Hut is about 30km from Dwellingup and many choose to camp here. We decided to plod on to Lake Brockman Campsite, another 30km.  We stopped a few kms down the trail to check out the King Jarrah; the maps suggested this was only a few hundred metres off the trail….it didn’t really show that it was also 100m up. It was nice to see this massive Jarrah which they reckon is over 500 years old, but the hike really drained our legs – I was a little shaky when I got back on the bike.

The trail then has another diversion from its permanent alignment due to Alcoa’s mining operations. Sadly, this is a pretty garbage section of trail; it seems to have been recently constructed (I expect by one of Alcoa’s work experience kids to satisfy a condition of their mining lease) – the surface and scenery didn’t really impress me but perhaps it was all the additional unnecessary climbing that was the real source of my frustration!

We had lunch in a tunnel beneath a mining haul road which was a fair bit cooler than the ambient temperature outside, which was now over 30 degrees.

The afternoon session involved yet more climbing/pushing, pretty demoralising after a long day in the heat. The last few kms were flat and we rolled into the Lake Brockman Caravan park around 4:30pm after seven hours in the saddle.
A real tough day with another 920m of climbing to bring the total for the trip to over 4000m. To put that into perspective, the whole of the Mawson Trail was only 5000m….and we’re only six days in.

We caught up with Shaun, Matt and Di, cooked some pasta and had an early night. Exhausted.

Day 7 – Lake Brockman to Yarri Hut

We had a good night’s sleep after a tough previous day – it was also the first night we’ve had to use our tents in the last week. The ground around Lake Brockman is rock hard. I had some trouble getting my pegs to hold and had to get a little ghetto with my tie down.

We got away from the campsite at around 7:30am and tried to grab some breakfast at the park cafe. Unfortunately this didn’t open until 9:00am and we had to eat our lunch for breakfast.

The trail leaves Lake Brockman on a few unsealed haul roads and then heads off into the bush. We’re now a few hundred kms from Perth and the extensive network of single track and forest trail is quite amazing. The surface is much better than up north, although there are still localised areas of deep sand or pea gravel that can be quite frustrating.

  

The landscape is also changing, there’s still plenty of Jarrah trees around, but now we’re also seeing a few more Blackbutt trees as well.

There were a few steep climbs and a few longer grinders, but generally today was gently undulating. I think the climbs felt harder than they actually were because of the heat (another 30 degree day) and the previous week’s cycling.

There’s a number of small creeks in this area, and a number of small trail bridges to cross them. It is extraordinarily nice countryside and you have to keep reminding yourself to look around and absorb it all when you’re halfway up a hellish climb and wondering why you signed up for this in the first place!

The final stretch was mostly downhill and we covered the last 8km into camp in about half an hour. The final 2km downhill roll into Yarri Hut follows another old railway formation – I don’t think I actually had to pedal.

We arrived at the hut around lunch time which left the afternoon to potter around and do some washing. This is another free hut constructed and maintained by the Munda Biddi Trail Foundation and volunteers. The hut is nestled into the side of a hill and overlooks some pretty nice bushland. They’re a fantastic part of the trail which make touring and camping a lot more straightforward.

  

We were pretty tired from a full on first week, so we made some dinner and got to bed around 7:30pm. Apparently this area is known to have many wild pigs and they often venture past the hut. I’ve made sure I tuck the Ka-bar under the pillow tonight!

Day 8 – Yarri Hut to Collie

After a cold night in the hut, we got up early and left camp by 7:30am.  We’re getting a lot quicker and packing in a hurry, although Tennis is still much quicker than me as my morning routine generally involves a kind of ritualistic strapping of my knees.

The rail trail we rode in on last night continued for a few kms, then kicked up into a steep climb for a few more.  Our legs were quite stiff and not entirely warmed up, I stopped a few times along the way.

From the top of that scarp, the trail gently descends for another 8km or so on hard packed forest track.  This was a really nice section of track; the air was still cool although there was a hint of smoke around.   The sun just coming up and the tall trees cast some pretty rad shadows over the trail.

The trail passes a few farms which reminds you you’re not all that far from civilisation. The stench from a few of the cattle farms rivalled that of the long drop back at camp.

As we got closer to Collie, the smoke got thicker, apparently due to some controlled burning in the area.  I think a few of the back burns might have got a bit out of control, as a couple of CFS trucks whizzed past us at incredible speed

We met up with Matt and Di on one of the asphalt link sections, and ended up riding with them for the rest of the day.  The trail is temporarily diverted because of the controlled burning – this takes you out of the forest, along a power line track, and down an asphalt road for about 5km towards Collie.

  

It was so nice to ride on asphalt for a while although it does remind you how much extra rolling resistance you have off-road.

The diversion ended and the trail ducked back into the forest where we followed an old rail formation into town; a great section of downhill flowy track if you’re heading south, not so fun if you’re heading north.

The trail into Collie is actually a spur to the Munda Biddi, you have to ride out the way you came in for about 12km.  This creates some pretty confusing signage, and we actually got lost by one of the floodplain crossings.

We ended up riding out on the Bibbulmun Trail (WA’s equivalent to the Heysen Trail) which took us back to the main road which we followed until it met back up with the Munda Biddi.

It would have been nice to avoid the spur completely, but we needed supplies and it fit the schedule nicely.  Collie is a big town with major supermarkets, six pubs, camping and hardware stores.  It also has the last big bike shop for travellers heading south (there may be a smaller shop in Pemberton).  We took the opportunity to stock up on CO2, I also had my brake pads replaced as they were nearly down to bare metal.

We arrived on a Saturday around lunch time – most of the shops in Collie shut early afternoon on a Saturday and are shut on Sunday.  Make sure you factor that in if you’re riding through here and need provisions.

We ran our errands and spent the afternoon in the Crown Pub (best in Collie).  There’s not much else to do in Collie – it’s a bit of a shit hole.

 

The pub dog, Oscar roams around like he owns the joint and licks everything he wants. He took quite the liking to Tennis’ leg.

Shaun, Matt and Di joined us for dinner and we ended up drinking into the evening.  Our plan was to roll down to the camp ground, but Mark the Publican and George the Barman looked after us with a room at a great rate.  Mark even helped us roll our bikes into the beer garden.  Good people.

Day 9 – Collie to Nglang Boodja Hut

We’d managed to snag a room at the Crown Hotel in Collie for a pretty good price last night; it was good to have a morning shower and not have to unpack the whole trailer.
Collie’s a strange place – we grabbed some breakfast in town and noticed nearly everyone was getting around in bare feet, many also had weird haircuts. I don’t think I’ll rush back to Collie.

To get out of town on the Munda Biddi you have to backtrack towards the North-west (the trail into Collie is a spur). Much of this route is diverted at the moment due to prescribed burning, so we left town on Coalfields road, and met up with the trail about 15km west of Collie.

It was nice to knock some kms off quickly, but it was a major road with lots of traffic. The shoulder was also covered in broken glass. Thankfully we avoided a flat tyre and we covered the 15km in about an hour.

Having negotiated the glass covered road, almost as soon as we left the highway, Tennis popped his bead AGAIN. We’d stocked up on canisters in Collie so fixing it wasn’t a problem, but he’s averaging one every two days and as most flats are also associated with a fall, he’s getting pretty bruised hips.

From there, the trail heads back into the forest. After a short climb you follow the ridge of the Wellington Dam range and ride that for a few kms. The trail here must not get as much use as the northern sections which are closer to Perth. Although the surface was nice, it was covered in small logs, sticks, leaves and was also a little overgrown. Some of the overgrown sections are pretty fun to ride, kinda like riding through a green tunnel…but ducking and weaving gets a little tiring after a while, particularly when you get a mouthful of pollen or a face full of cobweb.

It descends towards the Collie River on a very hectic, switchback descent….pretty fun, but would have been better not towing a trailer.

I’m not usually one to go crazy over flowers, but the wild flowers in this area are amazing. If you’re thinking of riding the Munda Biddi, spring time is a great time to do it!

The trail then heads back into mountain goat country for another few kms but we took the touring route along the river road which was much flatter.

We stopped off at Honeymoon Pool and had some lunch, Shaun was also there chilling out under a tree.

This is a pretty cool place; a widening in the Collie River where they’ve built a deck and swimming platform. We had a swim, although the water was pretty cold so we didn’t stay in for long. With only a few km to camp and in no real rush, we hung around at the pool for a few hours until yet more of the shoeless Collie youth with awful self-administered haircuts rocked up and ruined the vibe.

  
The Nglang Boodja hut is only 4km along the trail, but it’s up a very steep climb out of the river valley. So steep in fact that the two lanes of the sealed section of road are split. If you’re riding south, take the low road…although you’ll be riding against the flow of traffic it’ll only be for a few hundred metres and you’ll avoid an unnecessary 80m climb and subsequent switchback descent.

The remaining 3km is still a challenging climb, but with gentler grades and no traffic to worry about. Tennis managed to lose his back wheel; it dropped right out of its cradle, most likely because the axle (specific to our trailers) had loosened itself on all the bumpy trail. He’s quite lucky he didn’t get his dérailleur caught in a spoke, or he may have been hitchhiking back to Collie for a drivetrain overhaul. He’s also lucky it didn’t send him over the edge of the valley.

We rolled into the hut mid afternoon; another great spot in the side of a hill, a stones throw from a flowing stream. There’s lots of birds and frogs around this hut and the animal noises are real nice.

  
We stocked up on chorizo in Collie and cooked a pretty mean Trangia paella – the only thing missing was the seafood (which doesn’t travel very well in a bike trailer).