... Necessary Evil ...
... of the Forrest Highway, the main freeway south. It's a necessary evil because if you want to head down into the southwest this is the most logical and direct way. Thankfully the road builders have made provision for cyclists and there is a good wide shoulder with a reasonable surface. Still, after riding almost 45 kilometres with cars, trucks and buses roaring past at 110 kilometres per hour it was good to escape for lunch down at Binningup Beach about 25 kilometres north of Bunbury. Di took this photo showing folks enjoying the strand, and a standup paddle surfer enjoying the waves (how good are your eyes? You might just be able to make out the paddle he's holding) ...
After lunch it was 3 kilometres back out to the freeway, but thankfully we only had another 5 kilometres of traffic roar before exiting on to a peaceful and scenic byway in the form of Cathedral Avenue. We followed this charming route for about 20 kilometres as it led us past a lagoon and then the seaside. This shot of Di's shows how quiet the road is ...
No doubt you can imagine the good vibrations we were experiencing after our senses had been bombarded on the freeway for so long. This panorama shows Di savouring a peaceful moment ...
We're not quite sure what the idea was with this faux settler's shack but thought that it was quirky enough to be worth a place on the blog ...
Cathedral Avenue was bucolic cycling bliss at its best. We only wished it lasted longer. There was quite a lot of livestock in the paddocks along the way, including this little flock of variegated sheep ...
On the outskirts of Bunbury we all met up so that Sheila could lead us along a nice little bike path to our our place of repose for the next couple of nights (tomorrow is a rest day and a chance to visit the Dolphin Discovery Centre just over the road). It being winter, I'm not sure anyone will actually have a swim with the dolphins but, if anyone will, it will probably be Jim ...
Jim is a beast. As he's a Kiwi, and such a solid unit, I've come to think of him as a sort of mobile Kauri Pine stump; full of power, and knowledge of things past. If the Kauri stump analogy is a bit too hard to get your head around, perhaps you can see him as one of those stalwart and stoic axemen that felled the mighty Kauri forests in days of yore. It appears that Jim never wears long pants. And socks seem to make his feet too hot, so he doesn't wear them either.
I haven't had much of a chance to chat with Jimbo yet but have found out that, after completing a physiotherapy degree and working in New Zealand for a couple of years, he travelled to Canada and enrolled in kinesiology at Simon Fraser University at the age of 24. This was way back in 1968, which means he would now be 71 or 72. Like Sheila, another inspiration for the next decade or so. Also like Sheila, Jim has previously done trips with Collis and Kathy, including from Perth to Melbourne. That trip went via Kalgoorlie rather than down into the southwest, so Jim was keen to colour in the missing corner of Australia on his map. I'll need to get a better photo of his bike before the trip ends. It's a beauty, marrying the classical style of polished aluminium lugs and headtube with the modern material of carbon (or carbone) in the tubes, produced by no other than the legendary French bicycle company Vitus.
As I mentioned, when we arrived on the outskirts of Bunbury, Sheila guided us to our caravan park. Collis doing a good set director impersonation, made sure that Sheila was in correct position and ready to go ...
... as well as demonstrating to Kathy - much to her amusement - the complex issues of ensuring everyone pulls into the right place to begin the final procession ...
Di's hip seems to be coping really well, which means we probably won't need to resort to this tandem beach cruiser in the reception area of our caravan park for the rest of the trip ...
Jim is a beast. As he's a Kiwi, and such a solid unit, I've come to think of him as a sort of mobile Kauri Pine stump; full of power, and knowledge of things past. If the Kauri stump analogy is a bit too hard to get your head around, perhaps you can see him as one of those stalwart and stoic axemen that felled the mighty Kauri forests in days of yore. It appears that Jim never wears long pants. And socks seem to make his feet too hot, so he doesn't wear them either.
I haven't had much of a chance to chat with Jimbo yet but have found out that, after completing a physiotherapy degree and working in New Zealand for a couple of years, he travelled to Canada and enrolled in kinesiology at Simon Fraser University at the age of 24. This was way back in 1968, which means he would now be 71 or 72. Like Sheila, another inspiration for the next decade or so. Also like Sheila, Jim has previously done trips with Collis and Kathy, including from Perth to Melbourne. That trip went via Kalgoorlie rather than down into the southwest, so Jim was keen to colour in the missing corner of Australia on his map. I'll need to get a better photo of his bike before the trip ends. It's a beauty, marrying the classical style of polished aluminium lugs and headtube with the modern material of carbon (or carbone) in the tubes, produced by no other than the legendary French bicycle company Vitus.
As I mentioned, when we arrived on the outskirts of Bunbury, Sheila guided us to our caravan park. Collis doing a good set director impersonation, made sure that Sheila was in correct position and ready to go ...
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| And Peter is hungry, but he's not actually eating his arm warmers |
... as well as demonstrating to Kathy - much to her amusement - the complex issues of ensuring everyone pulls into the right place to begin the final procession ...
Di's hip seems to be coping really well, which means we probably won't need to resort to this tandem beach cruiser in the reception area of our caravan park for the rest of the trip ...
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