July 5, 2024
Cycle Day 57 - Bushcamp to Fremantle
Cycle day 57 - Bushcamp to Woodmans Point/Coogee Beach = 35km. 4409km cycled toured so far on this trip.
Crikey it was cold again last night. We went to sleep at around 8pm and it was 3.5 degrees outside the tent. During the night when Neil got up he checked the thermometer and it was 1 then 0 degrees. I think I froze all night! I must admit I did make a half hearted comment to Neil that it is just as cold here as what it is in Bendigo and do you want to go home! I was just checking in case he wanted to go back and get more warm clothes! I think the sleeping bag waiting for us in Freo is the key to making it through this next leg.
Funny though when we got out of bed it was 5 degrees but when we finished brekky and packing up it was down to 1 again! The fingers and toes were frozen when we started.
Bushcamping alot I don't take time to reflect on what I actually look like now but as I was drying the mirror on the bike I looked and nearly scared the shit out of myself as to what was looking back at me!
Crikey I nearly had a heart attack - lucky there are such things as beanies to hide my hair.
Initially we thought that by getting up early and on the road by 8am we would beat the traffic - well that was wrong. There was heaps going northwards - being a Friday and 2nd half of the hols the next round of school holiday goers are heading of early in search of warmer weather. The ones going south with us are probably all heading to work. So we joined the southbound lot and we had an ok shoulder for the first 2km then it widen to about 1m wide for a while and at times it was really massive!
The only time it narrowed again was when it was going through the outskirts of the National Park and then traffic was heavier but ok. And Dad you are going to love this - guess what we found on the roadside? A hooded long sleeve down jacket! It needed bit of a wash but was in pretty good condition. I think we will reassess after it is washed and dried to see if it is worth keeping but I think it will be ok and will take up very little room and it might be a keeper!
By 9am the traffic was light and we found the turnoff to Butler and joined civilisation. The road crosses the freeway and continues to Butler and the train station is not far. We get 2 smartrider passes - Neil did try to get the senior one but that is only for WA seniors as they basically get free or half price travel. But the smart rider passes are $10 each and must be purchased with $10 minimum on it. It is not bad as in the end when we tagged of at Fremantle it cost us $4.68 to get from the furtherest station north (Butler at the moment - although as of July 15 3 extra stations north are added to Yanchep!) to end of the line at Fremantle.
The bikes are ok on the train during off peak - after 9am. So we got on the last carriage at the very back so we don't block the doors and unhitched the trailers, got on and the reattached the trailers so we could just wheel them off at Perth. There were no ramps at Butler or Perth Central so we had to go down in the lift but that was ok and no dramas there.
This train line goes down the middle of the Freeway (no2) and has walkovers from each side to the middle of the freeway to access the train - it is quite a good system. We can also see that they are completing the bike path that will run parallel to the freeway - a bit like the photo above going to Butler. Hoping that the bike path will go the complete way into Perth as from Butler that is 42km but as it stands now there is alot of incomplete sections where you need to be a local to know the bike path system to fill in the gaps.
At Perth Central (underground) it is a little busier but the platforms are easily accessed and again in the lifts to get everything up and down. We load ourselves again on the last carriage at the back and again we are on our way to Freo. I cannot believe just how easy it has gone for us.
Once at Fremantle the train track is at street level. Now I have never been or seen photos of Fremantle and didn't really know what to expect but it is full of older buildings that look great and with the odd newer building in amongst them but it is not grotesque looking at all. It is a busy place (probably due to the school holidays) and I am sitting with the bikes in the sun on the seat watching everyone go by (they are all rugged up in warm clothing and I am in my shorts and merino! Happy Neil comes back with 3 packages of warm clothing, sleeping bags, cleated shoes and dehydrated food (for the Nullarbor). True to form we will stop anywhere to have our cuppa and right there in the busy street on our park bench we crack open the Thermos and have our cuppa and cake before heading of to our camp site down at Woodmans Point.
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Like with any bike path they are poorly signposted and it helps to be a local - we start out on one that is on the road and then suddenly it disappears but Neil manages to find it again. So this one goes about half way down to Coogee Beach and for the first part to follows the freight train line which one comes as we are riding along.
Once the path finishes we are on the main road (no12) and it has a bike line that does narrow down at places but no real dramas compared to what we have had to put up with between here and Darwin! We get to our campspot at about 2pm and the park is ok and exactly what we expected for a city caravan park. There are alot of permanents but that is fine. I forgot to take a photo of the campsite but it is tiny and only enough room for our tent but we do have a carparking spot! The bonus is that it is under a Ti tree which is fantastic to keep the tent dry during the clear nights - we are having wet weather in a few days where the night temps are above 10 degrees and strong north westerly winds (like what we had at Geraldton) so we are hoping the tent will be able to cope with that wind and the spot doesn't pool water.
Probably should explain the photo above and this might also in part be related to our cold nights. Now our summer sleeping bags are from ALDI and have down in them but they have used these tiny little feathers that keep coming out and for the past 2 months they have come out and stuck in our clothing and since we are wearing wool jumpers and cotton tights they really stick into these garmets so I said that we will depluck all our clothes and not get the summer bags out and we will send them home. So began the lengthy process of deplucking - Neils clothing was particularly bad - probably because he had all the warm gear!
We assessed what was in the postal bags and poor Neil all he can say was "Oh I only had a sleeping bag and a woollen jumper" oh woo is me is all I can say! I had my cycle shirt and polyprop, a spare t shirt (which is good as my other one is dead), woollen socks, my Kathmandu fleece, neckerchief, fleece beanie (which I gave to Neil as my pink one is ok and his one he has been carrying is not great for sleeping in only good for under the helmet) and what I really need apart from the sleeping bag and that is my fleece lined full length tights. Oh after the shower to put them on was just delicious!
However it was getting late and we needed to get some food for the next few days so we Googled the nearest supermarket and up over the hill about 3km away was a Coles supermarket and an ALDI - guess which one we shopped at!
And there was no winter gear in there Dad but just all snow type stuff and useless warm gear - no beanies, neckerchiefs or gloves. The caravan park has a kitchen with ovens so we got meat pies, garlic bread and lasanga for the next few nights. It was nice to have oven heated pies and garlic bread.
We spoke to Judy and Mike and they will meet us probably Monday when they come over to Freo as they are with Mikes family at the moment. Neil, and I don't know why we are doing this and I am going to blame YOU Dad, we are going op shopping! Admittedly I still need a 2nd full length pair of tights as the 3/4 ones just won't cut it and KMart is miles away! I also need another pair of cycle knicks - one of mine are just too big now and have really deteriorated from salt sweat and sun breakdown - this is what normally happens on a tour this long.
It is damn cold here in Freo with a very strong north easterly wind which is the cause of the cold weather. Then the winds swings to a north westerly which will bring the rain/showers but warmer temps. There are no south westerlies at all - possibly when we get down to the Nullarbor.
We are here in Freo until Thursday and then we go across to Rottnest Island pending the weather is not crap!
Today's ride: 35 km (22 miles)
Total: 4,409 km (2,738 miles)
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