11th May 2008, Perth, WA

This Has Been a Good Day

The end of summer has brougth some rain to firm up the mountain bike trails and much better conditions for surfing. Today I did a fairly epic bike ride before heading down the beach for a Sunday evening surf.

The whole weekend was good actually, containing yet more surfing and biking and even a spot of camping.

27th April 2008, Shark Bay, WA

Sea Kayaking Shark Bay

Last year I did a short guided sea kayaking trip in Shark Bay. At Herald Bluff e saw a couple of paddlers passing us the other way who were paddling from Denham around Cape Peron, into the headwinds, to Monkey Mia. I wondered at the time if I could ever undertake such a trip.

One year on and I am just back from just such an adventure. A group of us from UWA Outdoors Club completed the 100 odd km paddle in mainly light winds. If anything the Denham side of the penninsula was more stunning than the Money Mia side. Somehow the reds of the cliffs and green sea seemed stronger. Again we saw plenty of dolphins, sea eagles, giant turtles, rays and reef sharks and we had one distant glimpse of a Dugong.

For me the highlights were the remote camps on completely empty beaches and general lack of people. We filled the long drive back to Perth with plans for many more trips.

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15th April 2008, Bali, Indonesia

Bali Biking

After I heard that there was singletrack to be found in Bali, only 3 and a half hours flight from Perth, it was only a matter of time before I filled that final page in my passport.

The trails were a good mix of singletrack, steep climbs and descents, rough jeep tracks and broken tarmac. There is no such thing as wilderness riding in Bali; you are always on someone's doorstep. As we raced along the narrow footpaths that connected tiny rural villages I lost count of the number of chickens, dogs and women carring impossibly heavy loads on their heads that I nearly hit.

As well as being pretty good riding it was also a great way to see the quieter, more scenic, rural Bali. By far the highlight was the final ride around the the rim of the crater of the active volcano Mount Batur.

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06th April 2008, Perth, WA

Rocko to Perth Paddle

Last real training run, for me at least, before the big paddle up at Shark Bay. Two tough but very satisfying days paddling from Rockingham to Perth started in un-Australian torrential rain. Once past the oil refineries at Kwinana the sun came out.

We lucked out with camping on the grass at Woodman Point yacht club before a nice day's paddling through Fremantle harbour and up the Swan river to our boat house at Matilda Bay.

22nd March 2008, Busso, WA

Snorkeling at Busso

Emily was in town this week so I got to play tour guide all week. Probably the best bit was snorkeling at Busselton jetty. Obviously it's always good to have time off work but it was a lot of fun showing someone around and made me really appreciate that it's quite good here.

09th March 2008, Mundaring Weir, WA

Camp As You Like

My fourth consecutive weekend under canvas, which is very easy to do when it's a steady 34 in the shade. This weekend I was up at Mundaring Weir with my Pommy friends. After a nice cycle we collected a mountain of pizzas from the award winning Little Ceasars and headed off to the Kookaburra open air cinema. The film we saw was Angel, which was so bad we didn't know whethre to laugh or cry.

This morning we did another gentle ride. Tim and Rache tried out the offroad capabilities of their excellent tandem.

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04th March 2008, Northcliffe, WA

What a Karri On

My how time flies and what a difference a year makes. Last year I hired a car and drove down on my own to take part in the Great Karri Ride. This year I headed down with Owen, Amy and Nigel and met up with hoards of ODCers and Perth Mountain Bike Club guys that I know.

This year the route had been re-jigged a bit and was all the better for the changes. The course was interesting and challenging throughout its 120km length. All day everyone was mega friendly and the organisation spot on. The tiny town of Northcliffe really made us feel welcome.

25th February 2008, Secret Harbour, WA

Surf's Up Dudes

Ever the party animal, Brad hosted a surfing party at his new pad in Secret Harbour. Only a couple of minutes from a pristine beach, it was great to see up to 10 play boats in the waves. Even by Australian standards the beach was beautiful; almost white sands, green water topped off with azure skies.

A hard evening of re-hydrating followed. Maybe the highlight of the weekend was the monstrous BBQ breakfast on Sunday morning. Brad's local butcher stocks all sorts of hard to find contraband including some rather fine black pudding, something that I have been craving a lot. They also make white pudding and haggis, which also need to be sampled.

18th February 2008, Wellington Dam NP, WA

Summer White Water

White water kayaking even in winter in WA can be a bit hit and miss. However the Collie River below Wellington Dam flows the fastest during the hot summer. This is when the most water is released for irrigation further down the valley.

I didn't actually get to paddle myself - I stubbed my toe swimming the day before and couldn't fit the swollen appendage in my boat - but I got a good chance to explore the mountain biking in the area. A chance meeting with the legendry local trail builder Wal enlightened me as to where the Gold is. As of next week there should be a map board and sign posting for the sweet singletrack around Pile Road. The trail head is also conveniently over the road from a brewery. On saturday we rode the Sika trail up to Wellington Dam and then back along the river to our camp at Honeymoon Pool.

I think we have struck upon a mountain biking, kayaking, hiking gem only two hours drive from Perth. The only downside is its close proximity to Collie, which is bogan central.

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