Monday
Flew to Perth from Tulla . Left car at Aunty Iris. Got chauffer car to Airport at mates rates !
Flew Qantas but Al almost starved . I got bonus bottle of wine.
Arrived Perth 2130 hrs . Airport was busy !
Arrived Perth 2130 hrs . Airport was busy !
Young indian taxi driver got us to Goodearth Hotel in Adelaide Tce after a stunt.
Tuesday
Al up early found a cheap but good cafe for Eggs on toast whilst I saw Doc to get script for raging sore throat.
Met very distant cuz Doug who provided bikes and we all rode to Guilford up along the Swan river about 20k. Wonderful ride. Great lunch at Guildford Al left his bidon behind.Great bike paths all the way.
Stayed night at GoodEarth put bikes in locked locker but somebody took em for a ride!!
Wednesday
Al had double breakie and visited town whilst waiting for me to stir (about 8 a.m).
Loaded up with backpacks and rode to Scarborough all via beautiful bikeways (crushed red ashalt). Great ride apart from hiccup near Subiaco when we missed the path.
After some delay eventually got to our room at the Rendevous something which was basic but clean. Showers upstairs but we were alone so no worries.
Later in the day rode north along the beautiful beaches to Hillary's Boat Harbour.
Lots of tourist packing the place out.
Lots of tourist packing the place out.
About 70km all up for the day ..not bad for bitzer bikes.
Al went of to Supamarket and found our diner for evening meal, "Luigu's Pizza" which served up the spiciest and hottest seafood marinara pasta you have ever tasted. After the meal I accidentally discovered the "DOME" which haunted us forever after this first visit where we had a sticky date for desert.
ThursdayAl was up very early anxious to try the DOME for breakie which we did..and very nice too.
Doug arrived about 9 with his bike to join us for the 40km ride to Fremantle.
Just sensational riding on a fast path with the indian ocean at its best.
Had a nice lunch at the cafe at Cottesloe beach . This is paradise no doubt.
We could see the loading cranes at Freo in the edistant but it was another hour or so in the saddle as we weaved along the bikepath to this Historic town.
Doug had a late lunch with us in the mall and the took off home. I left Al to sort out accommodation whilst I catnapped under a very big tree.
Hotels are all booked best we can do is Caravan park 8km south.
Got a little confused getting there and ran into the ol Freo goal (back exit). What a place... now the cells are turned into corporate offices.
Luckily big Al got us a nice A-framed bungalow at the park but there was nowhere to eat so we cycled back to Freo and we are glad we did ..the bucket of seafood each and some W.A wine as the sun set in the west was just "special". Rode back in the near dark. Al volunteered for the couch and I took the queenie near the toilet.
Friday
Early morning start with a gentle ride back to Freo town and a delightful breakie watching the town wake up around us. No better way to start the day !
On the agenda was a visit to the marine museum which was a well spent couple of hours. Then off to the famous colourful Freo markets ..WOW !
Great cakes and coffee there.
With an hour to kill before getting on the train Al lashed out and brought a USB modem for his netbook but thats a whole other story!!
As we had to be in Swanleigh ex girls boarding school (up the Swan 25km) we elected to take the train but had to pick up our stuff in Perth at at the GoodEarth . Which we did and with backpacks fullyloaded and carry baggage with had to walk with bikes to East Perth railway station and in the heat of the day is wasnt funny..
And funny the train went with out us on board. Oh well wait another 35min in the heat for the next one.
We got out at Midland station and we quickly realised this was the other side of salubrious Perth.
After a few minutes wait cuz Doug arrived to relieve of our luggage gave us directions to Swanleigh. We biked it. About an hour later we checked into Swanleigh Collage a very old but prestigious ex Anglican girls boarding school. Al and I got the 2 bed ensuite model albeit with cold shower.
Munyard distant relies where arriving from all over the country but we were the only ones from Victoria. We settled in and hitched a lift by car with the WADEs... and had a very expensive pub meal. The publican must have had word the cashed-up Munyards were hitting town and jacked up the prices accordingly. After a long day we were happy to hit the hay in beds that must have been cherished by famous ex senior students.
Saturday
The day of the family reunion.
But first up Al realised we were only about 10 km from Guilford and that's where he left his SKODA bidon (water bottle). So as he offered to buy breakie we were off on bikes to Guilford.
A fairly straight forward ride. As we passed the rather flashy Bandyup womens prison I could smell breakie on the stove for all those poor gals locked behind bars...made me pleased to be happy and free on the bike.
Bummer the Guilford Cafe was closed, so we settled for a rather sleazy cafe run by nieces of Rose Handcock. The eggs were luminious yellow and rather suss but the highlight was when an old fella (loney) came flying along the footpath on his old pushie. As he attempted a morning salute to Alan he slammed into the veranda pole and hit the deck with a heavy thump. Al (knowing what its like to hit the tarmac) was promptly on the scene to administer the last rites. Luckily he wasn't badly hurt and kissed Alan to death for saving his life.
By this time the Cafe was opening and Alan was rewarded by retrieving his Skoda bidon.
After eating plenty and tonnes of coffee we were ready to face the reunion after riding back to Swanleigh. Alan full of enthusiasm and a bidon filled was off at a rate I couldn't keep up with.
I did notice he crossed the main highway and just keep going north when we should have followed the highway. Not to worry... thought AL knew an alternate route but 7 km up the road I was beginning to have some concern as we were on-route to Broome !! I noticed he was starting to slow so I sprinted and caught him. Total bewilderment on his face when told he had overshot the highway by 7 km ...ha ha ! No damage done and we decided we would try this same route next morning as it had some interesting Vineyards and eating places.
Reunion
Interesting day with some good presentations. Met my namesake (Ken) who at 88 yrs was the eldest person in attendance. There are now over 6000 Munyards on the present day data base ..not bad for 2 families arriving mid 1850's .
The lowlight was that I had to play one of the ugly sisters in some weird pantomine thingo.
Anyway a good day was had by all and there was plenty of local wine stock to keep things buzzing.
Sunday
Woke early to a bit of a headache and a gloomy looking morning.
But I had checked to maps and we could have a nice 40 km loop ride starting from the misadventure route of yesterday. And so we went hoping for the rain to clear and having a great breakie up the road.
How wrong we were when just 20 min up the road the rain started and then just got heavier . We were forced to take cover in a mandarin orchard. We sucked on a few to gain some nutrition !
Back on the road we eventually hit the main North going Highway and found a roadhouse for breakfast. We were wet and uncomfortable but breakfast was good and we soon brightened up.
Lots of long long trucker loads going north indicated the mining boom was well and truly on!
We had a pretty fast 20k ride back to Swanleigh where we loaded up said our goodbyes to our distant Munyard relatives and again took off to Perth along the 4 lane Reid highway with very good bikes lanes. What spoilt it was a very strong headwind caused by the Doctor arriving very early. I was in charge of navigation and I was hoping I hadn't stuffed up. We were pretty much exhausted when we found a Maccas on the outskirts. We did spend some time here and rebooked back into the GoodEarth arriving late in the afternoon, ready for a good feed and sleep.
Monday
We decided on a day just sightseeing Perth.
But first Al had to sort out his usb modem with Vodaphone. This took hours and eventually they refunded his money. I watched the drama from a coffee place across the road.
We jumped on a lift and went to the top of a very tall building with a revolving restaurant. As we weren't exactly dressed for the occasion we were given 1 rev and ta ta ! Very spectacular were the views.
Art gallery was closed on Mondays but we took to the Museum which was pretty good. Al also got locked up in the old holding cell....I arranged to get him out before he had a fatal panic attack. In the aftenoon we rode up to Kings Park and spent some hours riding around and drinking coffee ..all very civilised. A "Dome" dinner finished off a very nice day.
Tuesday
Al found by reading up on Kings park we had missed climbing the DNA (helix) tower in the Park. He convinced me it would be well worthwhile returning to the park and climbing this tower which nobody seemed to know about. We could get there by free bus ..so off we went and found it in a rather obscure part of the 400 hectare park and gardens. Visited by more than 6 million and commissioned in 1872 the park is a mecca for visitors and locals alike. It was very windy for our climb to the top and we didn't hang around ..was happy to be back at ground level looking for that beaut coffee diner.
Wednesday
Our last day in Perth flying out at 1600hrs.
A river cruise down to Fremantle was the go. The name Swan river is a bit of a misnomer as it really is a very large and beautiful harbour, surrounded by some very opulent and expensive homes. The commentary was non stop and we did learn a lot about the west. The weather was just fab to be on the water. We arrivved at Freo just before lunch and walked into town , had some lunch near the markets and headed back for return trip which went really quick. On arriving back in Perth, Doug arrived and collected the bikes, we moved out of the Goodearth and caught a suburban bus to get us to the airport. It was a long long journey around and round finally getting to the airport after about 90 mins.
Jetstar check in told us the flight was delayed and we just hung around near our loading gate as stipulated on our boarding pass. Imagine our surprise when we heard a very faint call for the Manyard family to a different gate "your plane is loaded and ready to roll" . Indeed it was... Jetstar printed our booking passes with wrong Gate number. We copped some abuse and I gave some back we were almost banned from boarding!
Four hours (midnight local) later we touched down at Tulla found a cabby that didnt know how to get to St Albans. Aunty Iris was up to serve us tea and plenty of cakes.
It suddenly hit us our adventure to the West was over and now to keep Al awake for the long drive back to Torquay.
Sunday
Woke early to a bit of a headache and a gloomy looking morning.
But I had checked to maps and we could have a nice 40 km loop ride starting from the misadventure route of yesterday. And so we went hoping for the rain to clear and having a great breakie up the road.
How wrong we were when just 20 min up the road the rain started and then just got heavier . We were forced to take cover in a mandarin orchard. We sucked on a few to gain some nutrition !
Back on the road we eventually hit the main North going Highway and found a roadhouse for breakfast. We were wet and uncomfortable but breakfast was good and we soon brightened up.
Lots of long long trucker loads going north indicated the mining boom was well and truly on!
We had a pretty fast 20k ride back to Swanleigh where we loaded up said our goodbyes to our distant Munyard relatives and again took off to Perth along the 4 lane Reid highway with very good bikes lanes. What spoilt it was a very strong headwind caused by the Doctor arriving very early. I was in charge of navigation and I was hoping I hadn't stuffed up. We were pretty much exhausted when we found a Maccas on the outskirts. We did spend some time here and rebooked back into the GoodEarth arriving late in the afternoon, ready for a good feed and sleep.
Monday
We decided on a day just sightseeing Perth.
But first Al had to sort out his usb modem with Vodaphone. This took hours and eventually they refunded his money. I watched the drama from a coffee place across the road.
We jumped on a lift and went to the top of a very tall building with a revolving restaurant. As we weren't exactly dressed for the occasion we were given 1 rev and ta ta ! Very spectacular were the views.
Art gallery was closed on Mondays but we took to the Museum which was pretty good. Al also got locked up in the old holding cell....I arranged to get him out before he had a fatal panic attack. In the aftenoon we rode up to Kings Park and spent some hours riding around and drinking coffee ..all very civilised. A "Dome" dinner finished off a very nice day.
Tuesday
Al found by reading up on Kings park we had missed climbing the DNA (helix) tower in the Park. He convinced me it would be well worthwhile returning to the park and climbing this tower which nobody seemed to know about. We could get there by free bus ..so off we went and found it in a rather obscure part of the 400 hectare park and gardens. Visited by more than 6 million and commissioned in 1872 the park is a mecca for visitors and locals alike. It was very windy for our climb to the top and we didn't hang around ..was happy to be back at ground level looking for that beaut coffee diner.
Wednesday
Our last day in Perth flying out at 1600hrs.
A river cruise down to Fremantle was the go. The name Swan river is a bit of a misnomer as it really is a very large and beautiful harbour, surrounded by some very opulent and expensive homes. The commentary was non stop and we did learn a lot about the west. The weather was just fab to be on the water. We arrivved at Freo just before lunch and walked into town , had some lunch near the markets and headed back for return trip which went really quick. On arriving back in Perth, Doug arrived and collected the bikes, we moved out of the Goodearth and caught a suburban bus to get us to the airport. It was a long long journey around and round finally getting to the airport after about 90 mins.
Jetstar check in told us the flight was delayed and we just hung around near our loading gate as stipulated on our boarding pass. Imagine our surprise when we heard a very faint call for the Manyard family to a different gate "your plane is loaded and ready to roll" . Indeed it was... Jetstar printed our booking passes with wrong Gate number. We copped some abuse and I gave some back we were almost banned from boarding!
Four hours (midnight local) later we touched down at Tulla found a cabby that didnt know how to get to St Albans. Aunty Iris was up to serve us tea and plenty of cakes.
It suddenly hit us our adventure to the West was over and now to keep Al awake for the long drive back to Torquay.
Watch the slideshow...
