Old News

18th August 2008, Kalamunda, WA

Weekend Part 2

The second half, of what turned out to be a fantastic weekend, predictably involved a nice long bike ride. Amy and Owen kept me company on all the best trails in the Perth Hills. In return I promised that I would give them a mention here. Loads more photos in the link.

Latest photos.

18th August 2008, Walyunga NP, WA

Weekend Part 1

Finally, now that I have got all that silly running and road cycling out of the way, I managed to get out and paddle some white water.

The levels at Walyunga on the Avon were just about perfect for my limited skills and experience and the weather perfect. A fun day was had doing 3 runs of the rapids with Tom and Marty only stopping for a BBQ lunch.

11th August 2008, Perth, WA

What A Pain

Probably one of my dafter ideas was to take part in the Painathlon, a 10 hour running and road cycling race. These are both activities that I have shown mixed emotions towards in the past. However something about this event really appealed to me. Whether it was the small friendly nature, the lack of road closures and complete choice of navigation for the cycle legs, the variety of the different run challenges or just the fact that it is completely nuts.

The day started at sunrise (0659) with 2.2km of running in deep sand on the beach and culminated at sunset (1746) or earlier if you were faster with 10 laps of Jacobs Ladder – a set of 300 steps climbing up to Kings Park. In between there were 8 other run challenges the longest of which is the 9.7km Bridges run, the toughest the gruelling Truth at Brigadoon; a 4.6km hill climb and return. The total running distance is 44.3km, a little over a marathon with some serious ups involved as well. The runs are all connected by 119km of cycling. This was the part that I was looking forward to but a troublesome derailleur and a killer easterly wind made the early cycles just as hard as the running.

My initial goals for the day were to finish 9 of the challenges and not to injure myself. Secretly I really wanted to finish the whole lot but was fully aware of the enormity of the task. Having survived the windy cycle out to Brigadoon and done considerably better on the Truth than I had expected I knew that a good finish was possible. Challenge 9, the 7km Canning-Mount Henry bridges run, was a real grind (well more of a shuffle really) but I stormed Jacobs Ladder to finish in smidge over 10 hours and well before sunset.

Read more here.

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03rd August 2008, Brigadoon, WA

Avon Descent Carnage

This weekend was the world famous 2 day, 130km Avon Descent kayak race. I know it's on my To Do list but it will have to stay there until next year. I did, however, cycle out to Bells rapids to watch the carnage in record high water levels.

The ride was pleasant enough on Cameron's super speedy road bike accompanied by Nick, Erica, Amy and Owen. The weather was beautiful and we found a good vantage spot to scoff our burgers. I was slightly shocked by the action though. Pretty much every sit on top and most of the kayak paddlers took a swim and there seemed to be barely enough marshalls to help everyone to safety. The real fun began when the power boats started flying through whilst there were still plenty of kayaks still flapping around in the white water. It made for exciting, if a little scary, viewing.

I was informed by Brad that I am in a team with him next year so maybe it will get ticked off eventually. Finally well done to the ODCers who took part this year.

27th July 2008, Manjedal, WA

Happy Birthday Shello

Back at Manjedal one week after the Teva to celebrate Michelle's birthday. Me being me I decided to cycle there on the Munda Biddi. This went reall well until I was 90% of the way there. I then turned to head due west to cut across to Manjedal on Chandlers Rd. Despite being on both of my maps and the GPS this track kept disappearing into the bush. After two false starts I looped round on the roads via Jarrahdale where I stopped for the first Jarrah burger of the weekend.

After an evening of fine food and campfires we rode through the trails and Langford Park for a wet and wild ride, followed by another Jarrah burger.

The map below shows my progress on Saturday. Click on the pins for more exciting news about the ride.

27th July 2008, Manjedal, WA

Teva

Back again at Manjedal Scout centre for the Teva Adventure Race. This year the whole thing was a bit slicker and the challenges better. A good fun day with lots of invaluable navigation practise. We only made one real blunder when we spent 40 minutes looking for the penultimate check point in completely the wrong place. Fortunately it this turned out to only lose us one place. We finished a creditable 6th.

07th July 2008, Dwellingup, WA

Trail Building

Run by PMBC, there was a trail building day at Turner Hill yesterday, which myself, Amy and Owen helped out at. It was a really interesting day learning how to, and helping build 2 km of brand new singletrack and several obstacles including a monster berm, two gap jumps and a big roll over.

With our rakes and shovels packed away we broke out the bikes for a test run. There has been a lot of work at Turner Hill recently and the track is vastly improved with a rather scary number of opportunities to get lots of air. Our new trail was a disappointment being soft and slow and in desperate need of riding in. Time and traffic will improve this.

Sunday’s trail building was the second part of a weekend of riding in the Dwellingup area. The previous day we rode the fast, easy Marrinup track then span through to Turner Hill on the Munda Biddi for a play there before doing it all in reverse. The Munda Biddi was a real disappointment. After the fire last year sections of singletrack were diverted along the touring route and on fire roads. There is no sign of these diversions being un-done. I fear this is happening in several places where the existing trail is affected by fire of disease.

01st July 2008, Avon Valley NP, WA

Thermal Balls

Mid winter, so it's time for the ODC to let their collective hair down and have a party. The Thermal Ball is a held far away from civilisation, and complaining neighbours, deep in the Avon Valley National Park. Hideous stripy thermal underwear is strongly encouraged to be worn on the outside with an increasingly competitive fashion parade.

My evening got off to a slightly stressful start after Phil, in the car in front of me, swerved to miss a kangeroo and parked his car in a tree. Thankfully he was ok, but by the time we got his car towed away the party was in full swing. I was immediately pressed into action, being the only sober person there, to halp make Brad's bra as this required the use of power tools. My efforts were not in vain as we were later crowned king and queen of the ball.

17th June 2008, Jarrahdale, WA

Mud Glorious Mud

In contrasting conditions from last year, and the day before for that matter, it heaved it down for most of this year's 6 Hour race at Jarrahdale. Some of the new sections of the course became quite bogged and the race was hard on the legs, gears and brake pads in particular. Having said that, this is what proper mountain biking is all about.

This year I teamed up with Amy and came 3rd in the mixed due category. We were both delighted with this result and even won $50 for our troubles.

04th June 2008, Boranup, WA

Whale Ahoy

Monday was the last public holiday for a while after a great run through from Christmas. To take advantage I trundled off down south for the long weekend. The rough plan was to kayak out to St Alouarn Island, 9km off of the coast of Augusta and camp there for the night. However there had been an impressive number of electrical storms in the area and we didn’t fancy putting up our metal tent poles on the highest ground for miles around. Instead we made it a day paddle, the highlight of which was seeing a humpback whale not far out of the river mouth of Augusta.

On Sunday we paddled around Hamlin Island which involved threading through some massive surf before fighting some very unpleasant rebound around Cosy Corner. These were comfortable the biggest and most unpleasant conditions that I have paddled in, but satisfying to have survived.

Monday may have involved mountain biking and surfing, to make a change.

27th May 2008, Fremantle, WA

Doorstep Trails

I have just started a new job in Freo. This has three main benefits; there is a strong chance that I may now be doing something that I am actually interested, I have a worthwhile commute and I am right next door to some fun trails in Manning Park.

Here is my 15km commute on Google Earth. After following the cycle path alongside the railway line I hug the coast, allowing me to check out the surf, before crossing the Swan River into Freo.

The trails in Manning Park are good. Once round is about a 10km offroad loop..

22nd May 2008, Augusta, WA

Cape to Cape Hike

The Cape to Cape track runs for 135km along cliff tops, across beaches and through Boranup Forest from the lighthouse at Cape Naturaliste to the corresponding lighthouse at Cape Leeuwin. Ben and myself took 4 days to hike this scenic trail.

Using much of Ben's hiking and camping gear that he has used on the Appalachian Trail and the Pacific Crest Trail we traveled pretty light. Our camps varied wildly from a great little spot under the Peppermint trees at Moses Rock to Prevelly Caravan Park and then finally some imaginative pitching on Boranup Beach.

This is a rugged coastline. Most of the people we saw were surfers and it would be great, although a serious challenge, to return one day and repeat the trip by sea kayak.

Read more here.

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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.

Read more here.

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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.

Read more here.

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.

Latest photos.

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.

30th January 2008, Hamelin Bay, WA

Hamelin Bay Sea Kayak Trip

Whilst the rest of Australia celebrated their national day by standing around the BBQ eating badly cooked sausages and skulling weak beer, we trundled down to Hamelin Bay for a three day sea kayak trip.

Strong afternoon breezes and a large group of wildly varying standards meant that we did much of our paddling in the mornings. After lunch we found a nice beach to set up camp. Those that wanted to explored nearby islands, cliffs and rocks by kayak or foot. Other activities included fishing (badly), sand castle building (brilliantly), making human pyramids (dangerously) and cuttle fish carving (terribly except Maria).

Not only were we fortunate enough to be lead by Les Allen, a vastly qualified and experienced expedition kayaker, but we were also accompanied by Sandy Robson. Sandy has spent the last 12 months paddling solo around much of the Australian coastline. We were honored and slightly bemused that she spent the last three days of this epic journey with clowns such as us.

Read more.

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23rd January 2008, Above Perth, WA

Talk To Me Goose

David "Goose" Brown has been promising me a flight in the aerobatics plane, the Christen Eagle, which he part owns for forever. This evening he made good his pledge as he needed to test fly it after some maintenance work before his display on Australia Day. Any apprehensions I had about being a test passenger were multiplied when I saw how tiny this biplane is.

Dave's professionalism reassured me and after getting clearance from the tower we headed out to the coast and up to Scarborough to get a good look at the city, my house and all my favorite surf spots. It looked like you could touch Rottnest as the sun started to set behind it.

With the sight seeing done and photographs taken Dave proceeded to show me why he is state aerobatics champion. During the several barrel rolls, loops and other even more disorienting maneuvers we touched +4g and -1.5g, which is considerably more than you'd experience at Alton Towers and plenty thank you very much. My dinner did stay down, but it was touch and go for a while.

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04th January 2008, Perth, WA

Way Down South

After a sizzling Christmas – Perth was reportedly the hottest place on the planet at 44.3° C on Boxing Day – a group of us packed up the cars with all the toys and camping gear and headed down South for New Year.

Initially based in the beautiful Boronup Forest just South of Margaret River we split our time evenly between mountain biking, sea kayaking and eating. Two rides that really stood out were the cool singletrack trails around MR (again) and a spin from Boronup down to Contos beach for a swim in the crashing surf, returning via the café at Jewell Cave and some good singletrack in the woods. The best paddle was undoubtedly from Meelup Beach, past Castle Rock. We landed on a tiny beach and did some snorkeling. Everyone else saw a huge ray. I saw some stripy fish. On the return the wind and swell had really kicked up. It was great fun surfing down the back of these waves at great speeds.

After a couple of days our little band, which had swelled to 6 (Simon, Zoe, Joel, Kathryn, Kamma and myself), left tranquil Boronup and drove across to Walpole to meet up with a larger group of friends. No sooner had we got the tents up than we headed on down to Banksia Beach to toast the sunset. This allowed Kathryn test out the offroad capabilities of her new 4WD ute. There was just time before New Year to squeeze in a two day paddle on the Nornalup Inlet, more about that later. Back at Crystal Springs we welcomed 2008 in under the stars and Peppermint trees.

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24th December 2007, Perth, WA

Christmas Eve Paddle

I suspect this going to be rather a good Christmas holiday. It certainly started well enough with Simon's wonderful sunset paddle from South Perth.

The moon rise, tainted orange from the smoke in the air from the earlier fire, was spectacular. At the Lucky Shag (it's a kind of sea bird and a pub) we toasted Christmas with a beer.

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22nd December 2007, Perth, WA

It's Christmas

The cycling Santa is Nigel who organised this festive ride and following BBQ back at his gaff. I was cruely robbed in the bike decorating competition, let down by the poor quality of my baubles.

As you can probably make out in the pic, we are unlikely to get a white Christmas in Perth this year.

20th December 2007, Perth, WA

Final Mawson Trail Fundraising Total

Either I’m really bad at adding up or you’re all much more generous than you first made out. The total amount of money donated to the Team Graeme fund was an amazing £835 (nearly AUD$2000). Thank you for your generosity to this worthwhile cause.

Team Graeme is a group of friends and relatives of Graeme Turner who died in October 2006 as a result of a brain tumour. Team Graeme is raising money for research into brain tumours with the aim of finding the cause of and a cure for this horrible disease. For news of forthcoming events as well as stories about events already held go to the Team Graeme Homepage

11th December 2007, Perth, WA

Kayaking the Peel Inlet

In preparation for more strenuous adventures further a field, a group of us from the Outdoor Club headed down to Mandurah for a two day paddle on the Peel Inlet.

As you can see from the photo our gravest danger was a lack of water, particularly at low tide. We survived this and some strong head winds to find a sweet wild camp spot on Grey Point where freshly caught Blue Mana crabs, port and Tim-tams were enjoyed.

Read more here.

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10th December 2007, Perth, WA

Nice Shed

After far too many years of living in second storey, one bedroom flats with multiple bikes I have finally rented a house that is more befitting my status and hobbies.

The garage is more of a barn really; complete with sliding doors and useful rafters. One third has been dedicated my bike workshop. The larger side is rapidly filling up with kayaks.

I also now own two BBQs. It would be un-Australian not to.

Latest photos.

26th November 2007, Perth, WA

Great Perth Bike Odyssey

The Great Perth Bike Ride is a mass participation timed bike ride around the Swan River. For us this was our longest and toughest outing on the Trandem.

We did complete a lap of the river but some time after everyone else had packed up and gone home. The bike worked well. It was fun to ride, managed all the huge hills in Perth and brought a smile to face of most. However a shoddy rear tyre let us down in spectacular fashion just short of Fremantle. We never managed to repair it convincingly and due to the Victorian opening hours of Perth bike shops a replacement was not found.

Read more of our trials and tribulations here.

19th November 2007, Perth, WA

Six Hours of Southern Singletrack

Following a very cool snorkel at Busselton jetty, Dan, myself and team camera woman Anne-Marie headed on down to Pemberton for the Avanti 6 Hour Classic. Short laps, tight singletrack, darkness for half the race and a small friendly field made for a fun event. It was a good job that it was a small field as I was in far from my best form. Persistence and determination saw me crawl in 4th.

Everyone who competed stayed at the Round-tu-it campsite who host the course. This contributed to the friendly atmosphere. Most stayed chatting around the BBQ long after the race had finished and the rain started. Complementary breakfast the next day was also a nice touch.

Read more here.

11th November 2007, Perth, WA

Riding Along On the Crest of a Wave

When it's 36 degrees outside what better than a play in the sea, and what's better than kayaking surfing? I can see this happening a lot this summer.

11th November 2007, Adelaide, SA

Kangaroo Island

With the Mawson Trail out of the way I had a few days to relax in Adelaide. By far the highlight of this was taking a two day wildlife trip on Kangaroo Island. Here I got up close to seals, roos (of course), possums, wallabies, penguins, koalas, lizards and all manor of bird life.

Latest photos.

05th November 2007, Adelaide, SA

Mawson Trail Bagged

Helped by some unseasonally cool weather and hindered by some persistent headwinds I made it Blinman and the end of the Mawson Trail on Saturday.

This journey took me from the centre of Adelaide, over the steep Adelaide Hills, into the wine regions of the Barrossa and Clare Valleys, through endless flat windy wheat fields and finally to the rugged, remote Flinders Ranges.

The highlight was definitely the Flinders. Some proper mountain biking trails and great scenery on the edge of the huge Australian Outback. All along the way I met friendly people who wanted to chat and find out what I was doing. Most thought I was mad but wished me well. More details and photos to come when I get back to Perth.

26th October 2007, Adelaide, SA

Mawson Trail

Over the next two weeks I will be trying to cycle the 900km offroad Mawson Trail in South Australia. The ride is in memory of my friend Graeme who died last year.

As ever I am woefully underprepared. My main concerns are the heat, the hills and how on earth I will get back to Adelaide when I have finished the trail. I am sure solutions to these problems will present themselves.

If possible I'll add a few entries to this blog along the way. Otherwise check out the main Mawson Trail page.

14th October 2007, Perth, WA

Stirling Range

As preparation for a more serious ridge hike myself and Ben headed down to the Stirling Range for a wee recce. We confirmed that yes it is feckin steep, the paths are poor once off Bluff Knoll, there are wild flowers but not as many as advertised and it is worth the drive.

On Saturday we scooted up Bluff Knoll by the tourist route and then continued along the ridge towards Moongoongoonderup Hill. We soon lost the path and were scrambling down dangerously steep cliffs. Once back on track we bashed through a section of dense prickly bush before striding along the ridge amongst wildflowers. When we'd had enough of this we turned round and went back.

Today we climbed the third highest mountain in the area, Toolbrununp Peak. This was a short steep scramble which rewarded us with fine 360 degree views including the main Stirling Ridge itself. We'll definately be back to hike the whole ridge at some point.

Latest photos.

12th October 2007, Perth, WA

Happy Birthday to Me

Very unoriginally I went for a mountain bike ride. Afterwards we had a BBQ. Not one of these outdoor gas grills so popular over here. This was a real fire with wood and everything.

Thanks to everyone who came along, it was a fun evening.

03rd October 2007, Margaret River, WA

Weekend at Marg’s

To celebrate the Queen’s Birthday, bizarrely a public holiday in WA in October, I headed down to Margaret River with 40 of my closest friends from UWA Outdoor Club for a long weekend of extreme mountain biking, kayaking and Tim Tam eating.

We were fleeced $40 a head for a brief guided tour of the local bike tracks. In the end it proved to be money well spent as we rode the sweet trails 2 more times and also found an amusing offroad route through to the campsite which involved a rather dodgy summer only river crossing.

We paddled on the Maragret River, Blackwood River and the sea at Geogrpahe Bay. Tim Tams were used as straws to suck up boxed port. It was better than it sounds especially eating to the saturated choccy biscuits afterwards.

23rd September 2007, Perth, WA

Gratuitous Fixie Photo

Clicky to make biggy

16th September 2007, Perth, WA

Litchfield Photos

Finally got some photos developed from my trip to Litchfield National Park near Darwin in July. Follow the linky below to see a couple more.

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10th September 2007, Perth, WA

Lost in Transition

Another Sunday so it must be another adventure race. If I could afford the entry fees I could do one of these a week until Christmas.

Nanga this week which was a lot of fun. This time there was a kayak leg. Now neither me nor John have entered a kayak race before and it kind of showed, not in John's paddling ability but more in our choice of craft. It was kind of slow.

Fortunately I pulled out a strong mountain bike leg (4th overall) and John also stormed a top 10 run to drag us back up to mid-table mediocrity. Well it would've been top 10 if we hadn't lost a lot of time in the final transition. I returned from the cycle to discover that John was on the lavvy having eaten a dodgy sausage off the BBQ. Still we won a book in the raffle and the race T-shirts are ace so a good day overall.

Read more.

08th September 2007, Perth, WA

Freo Paddle

I was in exulted company of WA's chief painting conservator for this great day paddle to Fremantle for lunch and back. It was a bit windy on the way out but once we'd overcome the fast retreating tide and digestion we had a great blast back to Matilda Bay.

Report and cool Google map.

01st September 2007, Perth, WA

WA White Water

First taste of white water WA style-y. Lots of fun it was as well. Might have to get myself one of these cool little play boats especially with the possibilities of kayak surfing in the summer. Mmm more toys. Best of all you can fit two, maybe three, in the back of HMAS Falcon. With my newly purchase roof bars, there’s room for another two on the roof.

19th August 2007, Perth, WA

Teva Adventure Race

Something a bit different today with a team adventure race. Myself and John, old hands at running around lost in the rain, were joined by Sam to complete team Adventure Possums.

First up we did a 20km mountain bike ride with one long stop to complete a movie quiz and a short rogaine and toughest of all, read Mens Health Magazine. Then there was a cargo net to scramble under, a soapy slide and a basketball to throw through a hoop. The more serious 10km run followed which also included a flying fox (high wire zip line thingy) and some rather damp smelly caving. With all this complete we were back on the bikes for another 20km or so, with stops for orienteering on foot and also a section where 1 person ran and the others cycled.

As you can imagine all this took a while and I'm not sure I quite figured out the point of it all. Good fun none the less.

15th August 2007, Perth, WA

Six Hours of Singletrack

Sounds good doesn’t it? It was actually quite tough as I chose the Riders Choice 6 Hour at Jarrahdale as my first go at riding solo. Some minor problems with pit stops and refueling strategies aside, it went really well and I was more than happy with the 9 laps that I completed.

All in all it was a great day out. As ever the WA weather obliged, the event was well organised, the course fast and interesting and, above all, the atmosphere was very friendly despite some very competitive racing going on. I loved riding solo – I had no time to stiffen up – but I did feel that I missed out on the social side, when you are standing about waiting for your turn, bantering with mates and other teams.

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08th August 2007, Perth, WA

Bike Pooling

Due to overcrowding on Perth's cycle paths we experimented with bike pooling on the commute to work this morning. Very liberating it was as well. We need some higher hooks in the bike locker though.

09th July 2007, Perth, WA

Top End Photos

Back safely from my adventures on the Gibb River Road (or not) and in the Territories. Follow the links below to see more photos of the trip. Lichfield pics to follow.

Broome to Darwin

Kakadu National Park

06th July 2007, Darwin, NT

Kakadu National Park

Any slight disappointments I might have had about the Gibb River trip were soon forgotten when I reached Kakadu. This 3 day tour was probably the best thing I've done in Australia. A nice group of fit people, a very knowledgeable and motivated guide, great scenery and lots of Aboriginal culture made from a memorable trip. The days were action packed with lots of hiking and climbing, swimming in gorgeous waterfalls and marvelling at the rock art work, some of which was tens of thousands of years old. At night we cooked around the camp fire before sleeping in swags under the star filled sky.

02nd July 2007, Darwin, NT

Happy Territory Day

Our arrival in Darwin last night coincided with Northern Territory Day. This weekend is the only time and place in Australia that fireworks are on sale to the public. Everyone buys loads and then heads down to the beach at sunset to set them off. There aren't many rules and regs up here in NT (they only introduced speed limits last year) and it is a bit of frontier. As a result the fireworks were a free for all, with rockets and bangers flying horizontally through the crowds. The air soon filled with smoke, cordite and the smell of burning flesh. We observed from the safety of high ground, helping casualties where we could.

29th June 2007, El Questro, WA

El Questro and Beyond

We did make it into the far Eastern end of the Gibb to El Questro - a series of gorges and a large expensive resort. I dropped my camera in the hot Zebede Springs before we went for an excellent scarmble up El Questro Gorge and a swim in the waterfall at the end.

The remainding couple of days of our trip were spend driving through to Darwin, stopping at some great wild camps and swim spots. The Archer Fish and swimming at Lake Argyle were the highlights.

28th June 2007, Purnululu National Park, WA

Bungle Bungles

We have given up on the Gibb. However the upside to this is that we got to spend a day in the excellent Bungle Bungles. After an early helicopter flight over these strange striped domes we hiked into a couple of gorges - Cathedral Gorge in particular was stunning.

25th June 2007, Fitzroy Crossing, WA

Geikie Gorge

Unseasonal rain in the east of the Kimberley Range has meant that most of the dirt roads we are meant to be travelling on are closed. After a couple of days at remote Cape Leveque we tried to enter the Gibb River Road but it is still shut. Staying at Fitzroy Crossing we did manage a boat cruise on Giekie Gorge. Very nice it was as well.

22nd June 2007, Broome, WA

Crocs and Sunsets

A day relaxing in Broome (quite long enough) before starting my Gibb River Trip. Broome is a bit like the Wick of WA, but with a few more tourists and a lot more sunshine. After visiting the interesting croc farm, where I learnt more than I wanted to know about salties, I enjoyed the sunset on Cable Beach. Trip proper starts tomorrow.

16th June 2007, Perth, WA

Bike Porn

Big goody bag of bits has just arrived from the online credit raiders that are CRC who are now delivering free to Oz if you spend enough. I do. Along with some very expensive and shiny mountain bike parts is a Brookes B17 saddle, pictured above with my ace Carradice saddle bag. This is my first Brookes and I feel that I can now call myself a proper cyclist. Or I will be able to in about 1000 miles time when I've broken it in.

In other news I seem to be the new University of Western Australia Outdoors Club moutain biking officer. I'mm not quite sure how this happened.

10th June 2007, Perth, WA

Proper Biking

Sat: 53.7km

Sun: 63.4km

Good weekend on the mountain bike. Recent riding has been based around a couple of laps of some tiny, predictable XC race course. In fact this weekend I very nearly entered the state champs race at Mundaring. Bloody glad I didn't, apart from the fact that I would've probably come last, my class consisted of three 5.5km laps. Approximately 1 hour of riding on the same course.

Instead on Saturday I headed out from Darlington with a group training for the forthcoming adventure race. We rode some trails I knew and some I didn't. Today I did a long, fast ride on my own. In total I rode 117.1km over the weekend over about 10 hours total cycling time. I rode a variety trails from tight, singletrack to tough fire road climbs and full on downhill descents. I rarely repeated myself. I think I made the right choice.

02nd June 2007, Perth, WA

Dig Out the Thermals

Today was the second day of winter, although you wouldn't have guessed it by the weather; a rather pleasant 23 degrees C and sunny.

Piccy is of Leederville tennis club, where I am a member. One of the smaller clubs in Perth, we have 12 beautiful grass courts, used almost all year round, and a further 6 floodlit hard courts. Saturday afternoon is social play. At 3pm we stop for tea and cakes. At the close of play beer, wine, cheese, biscuits and nibbles are served in the club house. Very civilised.

29th May 2007, Perth, WA

How Australian am I?

Up (well) before dawn today for a paddle on the river. As we set off from the boat house we were treated to a red sunrise over the city. At the Narrows Bridge we spent a while watching 2 dolphins feeding before turning for home. After such a great start to the day it seems a shame to come into work to ruin it.

20th May 2007, Perth, WA

Woe, woe and thrice woe (plus one close shave)

Eventful ride at Jarrahdale. I broke a pedal, a spoke and skinned my knee. Cammy stripped the thread on the bolt that holds his rear gear shifter together. Fortunately Bunnings was open early on Sunday and we managed to bodge a rather effective repair.

As I mangled my spare left hand pedal on Friday on my fixie I am down to zero working pedals. Various complaints, warranty replacements and orders from the UK have been put in place but with WA not being known for its efficiency I am not holding my breath.

As a footnote to the weekend's woe/Bunnings to the rescue it happened again today. As I pedalled into work my new (crap) crank came loose. Luckily this was just outside Bunnings which opens a 7 in the week. $7.99 secured me China's finest socket set and I tightened the crank up saving my evening ride. However half way round the river tonight it came loose again. I think it is properly burgered this time. It seems to be made of the heaviest type of brie known to mankind. Ah well, I am getting good use out of my new bargain bike tool kit that I bought at the weekend. To fit the new spoke to my lobster not only did I have to remove the cassette, as per usual, but the disc rotor had to come off as well. Ho hum.

14th May 2007, Perth, WA

5 Poms, 2 bikes and lots of cake

With Tim and John both finally back onshore at the same time we took the Threesome for it's first decent outing. Escorted by Rachel and Michelle on a tandem, we made quite an Armada.

We succesfully made it down to the beach at Cottesloe, only losing 1 ghost ring along the way. After a bracing swim in the sea (it was nice once we were in) we feasted on a large fry. On the short journey back to Nedlands we had to stop at the Claremont Hotel to re-fuel with cake.

More photos.

03rd May 2007, Perth, WA

We Are the Night Riders

First proper, offroad night ride in Oz with a couple of laps of the race course at Jarrahdale. Tip top it was as well. A full moon and some firm trails after the recent precipitation. No scary spiders and snakes encountered but a few worried roos.

19th April 2007, Perth, WA

Perth at Night

The city viewed from King's Park at night.

Just been for a blast around the park trying out my new lights. Looking forward to using them in anger in the bush.

12th April 2007, Perth, WA

Sea Kayaking Shark Bay

I took advantage of the long weekend over Easter to trundle the 900 odd kms north of Perth to Shark Bay and join a 3 day sea kayaking trip.

The marine wildlife was really quite stunning; dolphins, rays, sharks, turtles and dugongs swam underneath our kayaks as we paddled along on clear green seas. At night we camped under the stars on desrted beaches. This was about as good as it gets.

Full report here

Latest photos.

31st March 2007, Perth, WA

Anyone for a Threesome?

Oh yes, my newest and bestest bike is complete. Tim, John and myself have built a trandem from scrap we found at the tip. For a heap of junk badly welded together it actually rides ok and we are looking forward to getting out and about on it.

Click for full build details or view the making of video below.

26th March 2007, Perth, WA

Australian National Life Saving Championships

The Aussies were held this weekend in Scarborough, just to the north of Perth. This is one of the biggest sporting events in the year and it doesn't get more fair dinkum' Australian than life saving.

We tried to work out what was going on in the many disciplines but were generally just scared by the huge, bronzed, muscled athletes in their budgie smugglers.

21st March 2007, Perth, WA

Roasting Marshmallows at Camp Dell

I have done the near impossible and made some friends who are Australian and aren't in the employment of Subsea7. In fact they don't even work in the oil and gas industry. This is harder than it sounds. Jolly nice people Meg and Neil are, even if they tend towards the iron man, bonkers end of going for a cycle.

Last weekend, along with a couple of their chums, we went camping at the Dell near Kalamunda. A thunderstorm of biblical proportions added amusement to our Saturday afternoon ride. We were soon ringing our nicks out round a great campfire. Several dead cows and marshmallows followed.

Another good ride on Sunday morning. Contrary to popular belief, there are some sweet trails in WA.

09th March 2007, Perth, WA

Bikeweek Breakfast

This morning I enjoyed a healthy breakfast in the Supreme Court Gardens, just round the corner form my office, as part of Bikeweek 2007.

More 2500 cyclists took advantage of the free grub and various promotional stands. Personally I was pleased to discover that the second section of the Munda Biddi Trail should be opening in the (southern hemisphere) spring. I also liked the display of vintage bicycles.

It was very pleasant to sit around outside chatting with new and old friends alike before scurrying off to start the working day.

05th March 2007, Perth, WA

Karri On Pedaling

A holiday weekend, and I spent it down south at the Great Karri Ride. This is a 105 km mountain bike race set amongst some majestic forests.

This was my first tentative step into semi-competitive mountain biking in Australia and I had lots to be scared of; the uber fit locals, huge distance involved, heat and massive March flies.

It all worked out fine and I had a great time completing only my third offroad century (and first in a race) making lots of friends along the way. Read more here.

26th February 2007, Perth, WA

Photo Special

Few pictures of the beach, the bush and the bike from the last couple of weeks.

Latest photos.

24th February 2007, Perth, WA

Perth Critical Mass, where are you?

For the second month I failed to find the Critical Mass ride in Perth. Various websites that haven't been updated since 1995 list it at one of two locations, neither of which had anyone there at the alloted time on Friday. Pants.

18th February 2007, Perth, WA

Finally the Rough Stuff

After 2 months off the mountain bike the mercury finally dropped below 30 (just) so I took the chance to go for a proper ride.

Like all good rides I overslept, forgot my sun screen, ran out of food and water, got a bit lost and cycled a lot further than I intended (hence the lack of sustenance). Good to see that I haven't lost my touch.

The trails, and pea gravel in particular, weren't as loose as I had an anticipated. It was good to get out of the city into the Perth Hills for the first time in a while. This is a great area with lots of interesting bush, some actual hills (rare for WA) and some lovely little towns. I had my (belated) lunch in Kalamunda today, which is as nice as any.

14th February 2007, Perth, WA

Moonlight Cinema

It may not sound much, but one of the attractions that brought me down to Perth is the open air cinema. During the summer months a selection of contemporary and classic films are screened at sunset in the city's own bit of bush; King's Park. Take your picnic along, hire a bean bag, remember the bug spray and enjoy cinema under the stars.

My initial visit was to see the 80s, fighter pilot, cheese-fest, Top Gun. However last night I balanced my movie karma by watching Copolla's ever masterful The Godfather. I had forgotten what a perfectly complete film this is.

11th February 2007, Perth, WA

Windsurfing on the Swan River

Still too hot and dry for mountain biking. This is slightly worrying as the Karri Cup is only 3 weeks away and I really need to put some miles in my legs.

Not to waste the great weather, I have been mainly windsurfing this weekend. Badly.

01st February 2007, Perth, WA

fbuk 07 Fashion Range Launched

The feedback that I get about this website indictates that people aren't interested in my mamouth, continent wide cycling tours, nor my travails on many an epic mountain bike ride. No, the thing that they like the most are the T shirts.

There are nine (count them) new logos for 07. Clicky to be amazed.

27th January 2007, Perth, WA

I've Created a Monster - It's the Anti-coast

A long held amibition has been fulfilled and I have now built and am riding a fixed gear bike.

Bought for AUS$10 (4 quid) from the tip I started by removing all the working parts and replaced them with a track cog and a BMX chain. A little trimming with an angle grinder et voila!

Read more here.

14th January 2007, Perth, WA

Pinnacles Desert

Despite being back in gainful employment I stayed in touch with my backpacker roots with an overnight bus trip to the Pinnacles Desert to see the sunset, sleeping under the stars on a 'swag' and then sand boarding at Lancelin on the way back to town. All good fun.

Have been playing with my new computer. Click (or maybe right click and Save Target As or something) to see a video of me sand boarding. Ok so I'm sitting on it.

More good pictures in the link below.

Latest photos.

12th January 2007, Perth, WA

Living The Dream

Just cycled down to Cottesloe Beach to feast on fish and chips and watch the sunset over the Indian Ocean. This is a nice ride as there is usually a tailwind on the way home, which is helpful with a full belly.

05th January 2007, Perth, WA

Happy New Year

Christmas and New Year in Perth were a lot of fun. Needless to say beaches, BBQs and pools were involved. I even squeezed a wee road trip down to Margeret River in with Tim, Rachel and Busta in their ace camper van.

On a slightly depressing note, I have found a job and started 3 days ago. It does mean that I will be in Perth for at least the next 6 months.

More ramblings and NZ stuff when I have more time.

15th December 2006, Perth, WA

Hello Sunshine

That's right, I have made the short hop back accros the ditch. It's farewell to snow, mangled vowels, endless screenings of LOTR, affordable bananas and all those fab mountains.

One last observation: Christchurch airport has a bike assembly area complete with a rudimentary workstand. I may well be back.

Right, I've got a ticket for the WACA so I'm off to the cricket.

11th December 2006, Kaikora, NZ

By Kaikora!

Ho hum, more mixed weather meant that my trip to Kaikora was a parcial success. Rain (and wind and hale) stopped play for whale watching and sea kayaking. Things brightened up for my 2 day ride on the Kaikora Coastal Track though.

This great little ride involved an overnight stay on Ngorama farm. In the evening I went out on quad bikes with the farmer and his dogs to round up some very worried sheep who were off to market the next day.

The devoted FBUK readers out there will notice that I have now completed everything on the to do list. Do not fear as I am working on another one for 2007. I never did learn Esperanto anyway.

Latest photos.

07th December 2006, Christchurch, NZ

Not Quite the Ashes

With tickets for the Ashes a little hard to come by, and England's performances so far somewhat depressing, I took the chance to see some Test cricket in Australiasia by spending a day at the 1st Test between New Zealand v Sri Lanka here in Christchurch.

Predictably the Sri Lankan batsmen struggled on a Jade Stadium green top, before the Black Caps did a little better, although they didn't seem to know how to score off Murali.

The large rugby stadium was just about empty. I think that there were was a bigger crowd last time I went to see Worcestershire.

04th December 2006, Christchurch, NZ

Perilous Peaks to Plucky Pengiuns

One of the reasons that NZ is such a popular holiday destination, and why I am having such a good time, is the diversity it offers. And I don't just mean the weather.

Saturday was a fine example. In the morning I hiked to Hooker Lake to get a good look at Aotearoa's highest mountain, Mt Cook (pictured). Then, after a drive through the semi-arid Northern Otago wilderness, which bares a striking resemblance to parts of Spain, I reach Oamaru on the Eastern coast.

Here I spent a magical evening watching over 250 Blue penguins come ashore after a day's feeding. An un-forgetable experience.

Latest photos.

30th November 2006, Alexandra, NZ

Snow Joke Indeed

As a quick footnote to my last post, on the bus no the way back to Alexandra today I saw how much snow has fallen. Even at relatively low altitudes it looks good for skiing. This is where I should be camping tonight. This has justified my decision to wimp out of doing the Dunstan Trail a bit.

In other disappointing news is I'm not going to get to go heli-biking. The guy in Twizel has a website, loads of flyers everywhere, an elusive entry in the Lonely Planet and the freephone number 0800 HELIBIKE yet isn't running trips at the moment. If I had known this I would've gone at Queenstown even if it was inordinately expensive there.

29th November 2006, Dunedin, NZ

Snow Joke

The best laid plans of mice and men are often screwed up by the New Zealand weather. Having completed the Otago Central Rail Trail I am meant to be returning to Alexandra over the mountains on the ancient Dunstan Trail. However forecast gales and snow has meant that I have had to shelve that idea. Instead of camping tonight at an old jail, deep in the hills I am in Dunedin YHA.

All is not lost. I managed to do a bit of re-arranging on the hoof and have took the historic Taieri Gorge Railway to Dunedin. This trip was interesting although being a train journey there were the obligatory Glaswegians drinking Tennents (actually it was Speights - the local hooch) and screaming toddlers in my carriage.

Now I have 24 hours to see Dunedin, a city I would not have otherwise got to, before my bus back to the car at Alexandra. I have not yet decided if this is a good thing or not.

26th November 2006, Queenstown, NZ

Sweet As Bro

Have spent the last week in the southern alps - proper hills these. Some great wilderness biking above the tree line, so views to die for. I even did a spot of hiking the scenery is so good. I could easily spent the whole 2 months of my trip in this part of south island and it definately requires further exploration.

Queenstown itself is the adrenlin capital of the world ie a hellish pit of backpackers bungy jumping, rafting etc. Not to worry, this means that the hills are empty.

Latest photos.

19th November 2006, Reefton, NZ

Wild Wild West

Just a quick update - mainly because I've got free internet access. I have started the journey down the rugged west coast of south island, made more impressive by rather a lot of weather.

The pancake rocks at Punakaika were quite cool and now I'm biking around Reefton; a quiet little town off the tourist highway at the foot of the southern alps. Sadly tomorrow I leave this peace and quiet for the Franz-Joseph and Foz glaciers which offer stunning views, hords of Germans and expensive accommodation.

This connection may be free but it's too slow to upload any photos.

16th November 2006, Motueka, NZ

Abel Tasman-tastic

For my latest adventure I teamed up with Lena, a German girl I met on the QTC, and hired a double sea kayak for 2 days to explore the Abel Tasman national park.

A day of exploring crazy rock formations, beautiful beaches and admiring the many sea birds ended with a dangerous paddle around the Manic Mile - an exposed headland with threatening rocks. It was a little un-nerving to sea our huge double sea kayak slam off of some of the waves but we made it to the tranquil Te Pukatea Bay with no real alarms.

After a night at as good a camp spot as any, we set off early, wary of the forecast storms in the afternoon. In the end all we saw was a bit of drizzle and a lot of seals before taking the water taxi back to Kaiteriteri. Sea kayaking rocks and I may well have found a new, expensive hobby.

Latest photos.

12th November 2006, Picton, NZ

Probablty the Best Cycle Ride in the World

After some fairly apocalyptic weather in Wellington I hopped on the ferry across to South Island. I was treated to a calm crossing with stunning views of Wellington Sound and the Malborough Straits.

The ferry docked at Picton, start point for the Queen Charlotte Track; the ride that I had been looking forward to so much. It didn't disappoint. Over 70km of continuous singletrack with views to die for. The excellent water taxi dropped me at the start, with some bonus dolphin spotting on the way, and then ferried my luggage to Portage Bay where I stayed overnight. Next day the luggage was again collected and was waiting for me in Picton when I returned. You can't ask for much more than that.

Latest photos.

12th November 2006, Picton, NZ

New Zealand Discovers Brilliant Film Critic

Maybe not then. Good film though. Kenny that is.

06th November 2006, National Park, NZ

Mountain Biking Heaven

In the last week I have ridden for 2 days at the world class trails near Rotorua, done a very technical nature trail, conquored the Craters of the Moon at Taupo and today completed the 42nd Traverse.

The 42 is one of the best rides in NZ, partly because local tour companies can drop you off at the start and pick you up 46km and some 500m lower at the finish. However I was cycling on my own they deemed me too risky and would not take me. I managed to blag a lift to near the start with a bus going up to the Tangariro Crossing, but this fell through when the tramp was cancelled due to bad weather.

To defy the tame locals I bike the 18km to the start, then the 42 and then the exclusively uphill 22km back to National Park in weather deemed too bad to tramp in. All good fun.

Latest photos.

31st October 2006, Waitamo, NZ

Starting to Get Interesting

I think that I'm starting to get into my stride over here. I'm more savvy with what's good and have managed to speak to a few people about where the good biking is.

At the weekend I took the 4.5 hour ferry from busy Auckland to the tranquil Great Barrier Island with no electricity, few paved roads and only 500 inhabitants. I did a great bike tour of the island past white sandy beaches, up volcanoes, along old logging tracks and ended the long day with a relaxing dip in a hot spring. On the ferry crossing over there we were treated to a great sunset over the Auckland skyline. However, by Sunday normal service had resumed and it was a wet, rough journey back.

After the best scrambled eggs ever at Dizengoffs in Ponsonby, I started making my way south. This morning I did a black water rafting trip in the Waitamo caves. This involves floating through glow worm filled caves in an old inner tube and throwing ourselves off of underground waterfalls in the pitch black. A good fun mix of stunning scenery and adrenelin, with a healthy dose of freezing cold water thrown in.

Latest photos.

27th October 2006, Auckland, NZ

Some Piccies

Finally managed to get some pictures uploaded.

Latest photos.

26th October 2006, Ponsonby, NZ

Cape Reigna and the Bay of Islands

Plans to go blokarting (sand yachting) in Ahipara were thwarted by a lack of wind. Instead I drove up to Cape Reigna - the John O'Groats of NZ. 20km of very dodgy gravel road took me to the lighthouse there amongst massive sand dunes. There was a real end of the world feel about the place.

I then crossed over the the East coast and Paihia in the Bay of Islands. This is a real tourist honey pot and it is not hard to see why. I spent 3 very relaxing days in the bay taking in the local history (it is one of the earliest Europpean settlements), spotting dolphins and cycling around the local hills.

21st October 2006, Ahipara, NZ

And On To En Zed

After a month in increasingly sunny WA, I made the longish hop across the Tasman Sea to New Zealand. After spending a couple of days pretending to be interested in museums in Auckland, I picked up my hire car and hit the road. For the next 2 months I will be driving a 92 Toyota Corolla sedan. I was initially worried that my bike wouldnt fit into the trunk, but it does (sans wheels and saddle) and is out of the way of prying eyes. There is a massive problem with theft from cars in NZ.

First pitstop was Helensville, an unremarkable town with a nice hostel and a great art deco cinema. Best of all it is just down the road from Woodhill Mountain Bike Park where I spent 2 days on the fast sandy trails trying to hurt myself on all sorts of jumps and north shore.

Today I have driven up to the very north of the country, through the ancient Waipoua Kauri Forest. The museum was interesting and the trees enourmous. The largest have a diameters of around 5m. No pictures yet as Im on a lousy dial up connection with a dodgy keyboard (hence no punctuation).

12th October 2006, Dunsborough, WA

Tall Trees and High Seas Part 2

Leaving the coast at Walpole I spent two hot, hilly, windy days cycling through the tall karri forest. The roads were quiet and towns few and far between. By Tuesday night I still hadn't reached civilisation (the mill town of Pemberton doesn't count) so I bush camped at Alexandra Bridge by the Blackwood River. This would've been an idylic spot but for the other campers who had generators and blared REM tracks out all evening. Surely bringing electricity, lights, a TV and your unimaginative CD collection away camping with you rather defeats the point?

In the night the weather turned and it started bucketing it down. The tent held up but by 10am I had finished my book and was thoroughly bored so I made my soggy way to Margeret River. I checked into the grotty backpackers and spent the afternoon mooching about the overpriced tourist town avoiding the gangs of Amnesty International recruiters, who it turned our were responsible for the rubbish tip that was my dorm.

This morning I made my way to Dunsborough trying unsuccesfully to dodge the heavy showers. I stopped off on the way at Ngilgi Caves. The deepest of these is 37m below the ground and the impressive rock formations are well presented. Just waiting for the bus back to Perth now.

08th October 2006, Walpole, WA

Tall Trees and High Seas Part 1

I'm away on John's road bike again, this time in the far South-west of WA. I took the 6 hour bus from Perth to Albany on Friday. The journey just flew by with the screening of Big Momma's House 2, which ended with the terrifying threat of a further sequel. Surely 2 Big Momma films is 2 too many? Albany was nice. I did a couple of walks up the surrounding hills commanding great views of the town, bay and the Stirling Range.

After exploring the dramatic coast on Saturday I pedalled on to the small town of Denmark. The weather is a bit cool so I have been staying in hostels. I ended up going on a big bender with a German and a Chinese man I met in the hostel, quite an achievement in a 2 pub, 1 horse town.

Felt like crap today until I found meat pie around about mid day. Then I cycled up a big hill to do a tree top walk. This was interesting, well presented and expensive. The experience was also slightly marred by bus loads of backpackers and a joker playing the bag pipes.

04th October 2006, Perth, WA

Munda Magic

Just got back from the excellent Munda Biddi Trail with John. Over 4 days we cycled 338km through the bush staying in campsites. This is a brilliant trail, well signposted, great facilities and tougher then we expected which made for a good challenge. The further south we travelled the more the hills eased, and we covered over 200km in the last 2 days, including 109 on Monday alone.

Read more here.

Latest photos.

28th September 2006, Perth, WA

Avon Valley Tour

I spent the weekend watching John perform heroically at the Anaconda Adventure Race in Dunsborough (3 hours South of Perth). I had tried desperately to get a late entry in the mountain bike leg but to no avail. This was probably for the best in the end as the course was very sandy and the competitors were struggling to make the 3.5 hour cut off for only a 32 km ride/push.

This week I stole John's road bike (pictured) and did a delightful 3 day tour of the Chittering and Avon valleys about 80km to the East of Perth. In the main the roads were quiet and the bush flowers were blooming. I camped in the attractive towns of Toodyay and York and generally met some nice folk and had a good time. Best of all I got to try out all the songs that I perfected in Europe in the summer on the Australian wildlife.

Full ride report.

Latest photos.

17th September 2006, Perth, WA

G'Day from WA

I landed in Australia sometime after midnight on Friday. John and Michelle had come to meet me from the airport. John had thoughtfully made a sign (pictured) in case I didn't recognise him in his new native haircut.

Michelle's plan for me to recover from my jet lag was to play tennis all afternoon on Saturday. It seemed very hot and sweaty to me but the locals didn't seem bothered. A thoroughly sensible club where we stopped for afternoon tea and biscuits.

Did a tip top bike ride this morning in the Perth Hills that followed the slightly cheeky, but highly technical and excellent Eagle Trail and finally passed through the longest (and darkest) railway tunnel in WA. A few photos in the link below.

Latest photos.

12th September 2006, Kinnersley, England

Where Women Glow and Men Plunder

Yes indeedy, I'm headed for a land down under. The fools have granted me a 12 month visa and I didn't even have to steal anything. This means that I'll have to find some work at some point, hopefully in Perth.

I will be taking my mountain bike and have lots of trips planned, not least an extended hop over to New Zealand.

Some ace programming hopefully means that I will be able to blog this page regularly to keep you up to date with my adventures. Now give me a vegemite sandwich.

Pedalabikeaway Away

Did a great little friendly sponsored bike ride in the Forest of Dean today. Accompanying me was Rich "Tomo" Thomson of Hanley Castle and Upton Cricket Club fame.

I have been meaning to explore the trails in the "Forest" for a while, but it is serious 6 fingered banjo player country so it was great to be able to do it in the safety of numbers. Came away with a map of the route as well so when it's not quite so near to the full moon I can go back and do it again.

Ride report.

Posted: 10/09/06

Wet Wales

Seeing as I'm off to sunnier climes in the not too distant future, I thought that I ought to sample the finer points of British moutain biking, mud and rain before I left. Where better to do this than Wales.

A traumatic train journey took me to Machynlleth where I spent a while sampling the local trails before heading off on a two day tour through Mid Wales to Abergavenny.

The trip was not without mis-haps, not least the many punctures I received from the recently strimmed hedgerows. I also bust a spoke but managed to get it fixed in the bike shop in Machynlleth. While they were at it they also cleaned my bike and told me the many other things that are wearing/worn out. Most of these I knew about but was in denial.

A selection of photos.

Mach 3 report and Machynlleth to Abergavenny report.

Posted: 07/09/06

The Long Way Home

On the 23rd June I took the ferry from Aberdeen to Shetland and then onto Bergen in Norway with the vague goal of exploring a bit of Europe and eventually getting to my family home in Worcestershire, England. Apart from some planned walking with old college friend, Simon, in Norway and a preference for ferries over planes I had few other preconceptions.

In the end I was away for just over 5 weeks visiting such foreign and strange parts as Shetland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Holland and East Anglia.

I have now organised all my journals and photographs which you can view by going to the Long Way Home index.

Posted: 17/08/06

Turned Out Nice Again

For the second year running myself, David and Lynda enjoyed superb weather for our coast to coast efforts.

One coast to coast wasn't enough this time so we went there and back. Starting in Inverness we cycled down the Great Glen to Fort William. We then made our way back to the East coast via the Cairngorms and the Speyside Way.

The only real calamity was when the bolt that clamps my saddle to the seat post sheared. Luckily we were only 5km from civilisation, although 5km standing up was far enough.

Although maybe not as challenging as last year's Kyle-Aberdeen route, the main goals of less roads, less pushing and more sunshine were easily achieved.

Read more here.

Photo gallery here.

Blood, Sweat and Broken Gears

A real epic; a Munro climbed, a 640m descent, some filthy weather, a grazed knee, a broken chain and the sweetest natural singletrack in the area.

Paul said that he wanted to get some miles under his belt (before 10 Under the Ben) and that's what he got. As well as being soaked, frozen and clattered in mud.

As well as the long long descents, one of the highlights of the day was chatting with an entertaining old cove who first cycled up Mount Keen in 1952. We were impressed.

Click here to read more or here to see some photos.

Posted: 22/05/06

Great Drumtochty Challenge Conquered

A weekend of firsts; mine and David's first mountain bike orienteering event coincided with our first victory in a cycling race.

I would like to claim that our success was down to inspired tactics and route finding but as our main strategy was to look for good singletrack this may not have been the case. Good fitness, some fine decision making by David near the end and, of course, excellent teamwork saw us to a comfortable win in the senior male team class. We even got to ride the formidable Kerloch Hill and some sweet technical sections as well.

Highlights of the day included a superb display of retro Bell cycle helmets, learning two new words (whins and larchon), more singletrack than expected and winning. I did mention that we won didn't I?

Click here to read more or here to see some photos.

Posted: 08/05/06