Perth to Dwellingup

It felt good to be finally heading South. Leaving town was another navigational challenge. Lots of great bike paths alongside the freeways but stringing them all together, checking and rechecking, made for a stop, start kind of run. Finally arrived at Armadale and from there it was a fairly straight forward run with some long straight sections on back roads.

Serpentine is a fairly plain but endearing country town which does have the Serpentine Falls National Park to explore. The caravan park was a sort of soulless place although it was such a beautiful afternoon that it was hard to complain about passing the time with a few stubbies and a long chat with Anne on the lawn. The cabins there were very expensive for what they were, nearly twice what I was paying in Perth, and the two night minimum, up front payment and $50 deposit was, I thought, quite over the top. It was one of those places that felt like they'd actually prefer not to have to bother with customers.

The storms hit the next day and the decision to stay the two nights was vindicated. I ventured up to the National Park for a walk in the afternoon. Sheltered under a tree when a huge squall came blasting up the valley. I'm not sure that under the tree is the safest place, but there was not many other options.

Tuesday was clearing, but still on and off showers so I had quite a damp ride up to Dwellingup. I rejoined Munda Biddi for some of the way and while there was less pea gravel and craggy rocks, navigation was quite challenging and I did have some concerns about getting lost.

Accomodation at Dwellingup was in a Bushwalkers Room at the local camping ground and was much more in line with my budgeted accomodation costs than Serpentine! A nice forest town.