Day 64: Kalbarri - Northampton - Katherine to Perth 2022

September 20, 2022

Day 64: Kalbarri - Northampton

I got up at 5:30 to find it was mostly still, and still overcast in Kalbarri. I also found that the red bluff cafe we’d been at yesterday opens at 5am so I packed up and rode down there as the sun was rising. I had a vegan breakfast wrap which included a hash brown, pesto, avocado, tomato and mushroom. It would only have been improved by some cheese, and maybe bacon. I also bought a cinnamon scroll for the road.

I stopped to take a final photo of the river then enjoyed a bike path for about 10k

The bike path meant I could take my time climbing up to the top of the cliffs on the way out of town. There was no shoulder here either and there was a bit more traffic than the way in. After about 20k, the national park ended and there was a lovely descent into sheep and grazing paddocks between the dunes. There was also a few wind turbines and powerlines so maybe Kalbarri is the northern edge of the south west electricity system.

There’s a garnet mine and a couple of gypsum mines, I think, so quite a few trucks were joining the road after about 40/50k. There was also a small stretch of roadworks although the traffic light was quite helpful in concentrating traffic so I could get off the road for a wave of vehicles then enjoy some peace.

After a while I was riding alongside the pink lake which had a minor pink tinge in parts but generally looked pretty blue to me. I kept thinking maybe it would get pinker as I went south but I got right to the end of it and it was still blue. They harvest the algae or bacteria that make the beta caratene and the pink colour so I thought maybe they’d taken out too much. I rode up the 5k to the pink lake lookout in case it only looks pink from the west. I don’t know if that’s it or if the sun came out or what but it did look pinker from the lookout.

Luckily I had my cinnamon scroll too to combat the disappointment of a blue lake

This sign was also entertaining at the lookout

Then I rode back out to the turn off and on a few more kilometres to the Lyndon convict depot. When they were trying to open up mining and pastoral leases here they bought convicts up to use as labour and the depot was where they were brought to for hiring. But it never really worked out cause it cost too more to run a depot than it would’ve done to pay for labour.

So the depot was abandoned and is now a tourist attraction

I rode up the hill behind the depot and stopped to look at the sea for the last time until Perth I think

There were a few hills and rolling countryside. It’s definitely different from the flat riding I’ve been doing down the rest of the west coast!

Just before 2pm, I climbed up onto a bit of a plateau and could see the road was going to drop into a valley, when there was a lookout sign. I followed it to the edge of a small escarpment with great views.

It was also a convenient lunch spot to sit on the edge of the rocks

The flies were pretty bad but the southerly wind kept them off my face as I was eating. I like to think going to school in Pittsworth taught me tolerance to flies but the ride back north to the road tested that. Once I started down the road into the valley they all took refuge on my back and panniers.

It was only 15k into Northampton but it took me over an hour cause the unfamiliar hills were getting to me and the road climbed into and out of several valleys. There was also a final climb to Northampton itself. I don’t understand but the flies dropped off as I came into town even though I wasn’t going fast.

The caravan park is conveniently just opposites the Kalbarri turn off, although that does mean there could be some traffic noise tonight. The caravan park is really nice and filled up after I got in about 4. I went for a walk up and down the Main Street to look at the old buildings as Northampton was designated a town in 1864. It’s not named after Northampton, England, but is the most English looking town I’ve seen this trip, particularly under an overcast sky.

There are decorated sheep and dogs all around town to liven up the streetscape

The Catholic convent is not still running but I’m not sure what they use this building for

Old machinery and everlastings in the museum yard

Today's ride: 115 km (71 miles)
Total: 4,305 km (2,673 miles)

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