July 19, 2024
Cycle day 62 - Cunderdin to Merredin
Cycle day 62 - Cunderdin to Merredin = 107km. 4786km cycle toured so far on this trip.
Merredin Tourist Park - unpowered site = $30
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We got rain on Wednesday night and very strong winds but we remained dry and warm - unlike one of our neighbours who have one of those pop top canvas camper trailers - they had a leak in one of the corners ... I am seriously going off camper trailers and roof top tents now - while at Woodmans point in Fremantle we watched a person having to dismantle and dry her roof top tent after a series down load of rain! This happens each tour we go on ... we start with saying we need to decide what form of travelling we will do once we retire from tenting and cycle touring and we come up with ideas and by the time we get home we are adamant that a good tent is the way to go!
So we stayed put yesterday at Cunderdin as they had a great camp kitchen to hang out in. We did walk into town when we thought the rain had finished and next to the IGA is this Ettamogah pub which I have no idea about what it is or what it is famous for and Neil couldn't quite tell me but assured me it was famous!
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So we woke this morning after apparently a stormy night with strong winds and heavy rains - of which I slept through it all! probably because it was a 5 degree night which means it is perfect for the sleeping bag and I am not likely to wake up sweating because I am too hot. We got up at 5.30am and were off at 7.30am as we were hoping we could make the 105km to Merredin.
This is also our first day on this Great Eastern Highway - and oooooohhhhh we should have come on this earlier! nah if we did we would have been just a tad too close to the outer region of Perth and the traffic would have been heavier. But as it is we hardly had anywhere near the traffic we though we might get. Plenty of trucks, business vehicles and farm vehicles but they were far apart and it was easy to over take us. But unlike the northern highway or Brand highway this one had a shoulder that was consistent and wide!
So we were happy to be riding on this shoulder and it was easy riding today, predominantly flat and if there was a hill it was just a gradual rise. We did have a slight tailwind to help us along. The temperature was cold when you stopped but warm when you are cycling. I think todays high is only 15 degrees! It was predominantly sunny with clouds later in the day.
We did get a wide load come through ... oooohhhhh look at that shoulder again!
Lunch was at 60km on the edge of a small town - there was a small town about every 20km along this part of the highway. We got some eggs at Dowerin and we boiled them as they carry well outside a fridge so we had some for lunch -at cafes they have smashed avocado on toast ... we have one better - smashed egg, cheese and chilli mustard on white bread!
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For the entire length of this highway they have a water pipe line following - sometimes it is on our right side and then left and also the train line runs along this highway and again that could be either side and sometimes they are running alongside each other. We did see a passenger train so it must run between Perth and Kalgoolie but is only 2 carriages long and when we looked it was empty! Don't forget to admire the shoulder in the 2 photos below!
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5 months ago
We got to the outskirts of Merredin just after 2pm and they have silo art here - unfortunately the mural is not in a great position relative to the sun/light to take a photo
The campground is at the west end of town (half way to Southern Cross!) and it is a nice spot, we have a fake grass spot in the unpowered section and not far from us is the kitchen which is small but ok for us to sit in and watch footy tonight. Neil just looked up Southern Cross for tomorrow (yup another 100+km day) to see if the caravan park has a kitchen and tv - and fortunately for him it does so he can watch the Geelong vs Bulldogs game.
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Another 5.30am wake up as we have another long day -hoping the westerly winds stay with us!
Today's ride: 107 km (66 miles)
Total: 4,786 km (2,972 miles)
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The background to the Ettamogah story is cartoonist Ken Maynard who created the pub in a cartoon in 1959 for The Australasian Post. The weekly series of cartoons ran in the national magazine for almost 50 years.9 May 2019
When I was young I would buy the Post Magazine and it had the Ettamogah Pub cartoon in each week luv the blog xxx
5 months ago