slow roads to Collie

As we are going to bed Deb asks, Are there two sheets on this bed? (This was in the Walpole motel.) Bottom sheet and a doona, I reply. We go to sleep. Wake up an hour or two later ... and feel a ridge across the bed. Oh, a second sheet, tucked in so tight that we had trouble finding it. We adjust ourselves to fit between the sheets...

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Today: awake at the usual time. Deb always gets up first, I sleep till my cup of tea has cooled. Eat breakfast, pack, load the truck, chat with our host. He's Polish, he tells me. No trace of accent, possibly lived in Australia longer than I have. He's about to try doing some work on his own car, we leave him to it.

First stop --  still in Boyup Brook -- is to top up the tank. We've used about half the tank to cover 540km. We could get home on what's left -- but would rather fill up. At the garage we also buy a wrap & drinks for lunch.

The Mundal track leaves town "past Harvey Dickson's music centre". Turns out that this is a few km out of town, it's a place for music festivals. Lots of metal things -- car bodies, farm machinery -- stacked around as art. And a closed-off area which would be for the music... Amazing the places we have never heard of before.

The track then takes us through Dinninup, so we stop by to look at Keith's block. No major changes since our last visit. A nice spot, very peaceful with no-one here :-)

Today, the Mundal track has quite a bit of bitumen road, perhaps 10%, the rest is good gravel. We drive amongst forest -- trees a lot smaller than yesterday but still some big ones -- and farms. Almost half of the farms are now tree farms.

The track notes mention camping areas but there are no waypoints for them. I catch a glimpse of water off to one side, stop, reverse and drive in. It's a small but very pleasant cleared area by the river. The Blackwood? It's obviously a popular spot for camping or picnics but unsignposted. We stay for morning tea -- biscuits & water -- and enjoy the peace & quiet & view across the river.

In the middle of a paddock are a couple of christmas trees. The Nuytsia Florabunda type. In full bloom in the middle of a cleared paddock. It takes me a kilometre or so to decide that yes, I do want to stop and take a photo. Not much of a photo, the trees are quite a way across the paddock.

The track takes us to Glen Mervyn Lake, we stop for a picnic lunch. 

Our wrap is "chicken Caesar", we wonder what that means, it seems to be simple chicken & salad. Perhaps the mayonnaise is really Caesar salad dressing? Anyway, it's delicious.

Sitting in the shade, looking across the water. A couple of dozen campers & caravanners in the distance, three or four small motor boats dragging waterskiers. We are in the "day use" area, the only people there.

Those campers, we realise, form the largest crowd that we have seen since leaving Albany. Even Albany was quiet, for a "city". Is it the time of year, the off season? Or is tourism really that bad...

There's a cache at the lake... possibly. It's 400m from where we are parked and the last few cachers could not find it. We decide to give it a miss. And drive on.

The track takes us to the other side of the lake, then via various nice roads back to the bitumen. Forest, farms, tree farms. The farms are the all-over brown that is standard for WA farms. The native bush is as green as ever. The country has rolling hills with some flat, often swampy areas.

Back on the bitumen and it's almost straight to Collie. Pleasant country either side, a road that (I think) we have not driven on before. We arrive in Collie by 1:30.

There's a park in the middle of town. We buy drinks from a cafe that started life as a railway carriage. Sit in the shade by the grass, enjoying the peace. Collie is quite busy but our seat is just outside the edge of the action.

There's an art gallery which looks quite new. We wander over but it's closed for a change of exhibits. We're not too disappointed.

We fill in a hour or two with a drive out of town to find some geocaches. We also discover a small town: just a dozen houses, no shops. There's a blueberry farm and a Thai restaurant, way out of town. We later find out that the restaurant has now, in fact, moved into town.

Back to Collie and it's time to find our accommodation.

We're welcomed by the owner, a pleasant old man who has been enjoying an afternoon tipple. There are three dogs (I say hello) and a cat (Deb says hello). Our cottage is hidden in the lush garden, at the end of various winding tracks. I worry that we will go to the car then not be able to find the cottage again.

It's been a warm day, now cooling off to a very pleasant evening. We're sitting with the doors open, looking out over a paddock with trees beyond. Hoping that the peacock off to the side does not continue to squawk during the night.

A very pleasant spot :-)

We will relax for a while longer, then head back to town for dinner.

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I tell Deb that each day of this holiday has been even better thhan the day before. But I am still happy that we are not following the whole track. Tomorrow we hit the highway and head for home. Even though the track continues for (taking it easy) another two days.

We'll save those two days for another holiday...

====    Dr Nick Lethbridge  /  Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting / Problems? Solved.
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"Real people don't make very good politicians." … Ginger Meggs
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dying for you to read my blog: notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com.au :-)
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