Riding across Australia to Margaret River on my solo motorcycle camping adventure S2 Episode 13

Morning. It's quite brisk this morning. It's not too bad and in fact from now on I'm just heading north so it should warm up. Eventually I won't have to have the puffer on so that'll be good. Last night was good although my air mattress has been having some issues. I've probably patched four or five times now. So surprisingly though sleeping on wood chips with no air mattress. Fine. Comfortable. Who knew? All right today we're heading towards Margaret River for the uninitiated. It's one of the better surf spots. Well there's epic surf spots along the west coast of Australia but it's one of the most well known I would say. Also known for wineries if you're into a bit of white. I'm just gonna be looking for dirt tracks hopefully. So I'm packing up the tent here and I catch myself I look up I'm like oh my sun's come out. Small things. Though I like the west coast for a reason. Okay get this tent packed up and get on that road. It's become like a ritual the packing of the tent. Like brushing your teeth. I could probably do it blindfolded. As always I checked I'd done up all the straps properly. It was time to head off and explore the southwest corner of Western Australia in the sunshine. First I stopped in at Walpole which still had an old style service station run by the locals and had a diner attached. So I got the fuel and grabbed something to eat while I was there. Feeling like I wanted to explore off the main road I took the next dirt turn off I could find. This track looked like it hadn't been used for quite a while. So I've got an issue that now that I'm going slower breathing and it's all condensation coming up on the visor I can't see where I'm going. It's because I've had to seal it because of the bolts coming out. Maybe just farm roads somewhere. I don't know. Just so the air can ventilate through the helmet. But I couldn't help myself and decided to look a bit further. The gully had about a foot lip on the other side. There's a decent chance I could get over it first go but I might just go back the way I came. There's probably just the same chance I wouldn't make it and have to pull the bike out by myself. With this track really going nowhere I decided to keep the powder dry for later in the day. From what I could tell from the basic map I had it looked like this turn off was a more direct route to the coast through the forestry land which was perfect. I know these roads aren't technical single track but I still love riding them. What was under the bridge caught my eye so I pulled over. How red's the stream? Sections are really red and then there's orangey. It's wild. So if it's not tea tree it's the only thing I've ever seen this red. Anybody got any idea? I guess it is. I don't know. Someone's gotta have an idea of southwestern Australia. What would make it this red? Tall timber through here. I made my way back to the bike. This is obviously the wood from the old bridge. Obviously new ones there out of concrete. I think my mate Dave the timber guy would love one of these. That's huge. Don't think I can strap it to the back of the bike though. What's that saying? That's not a nail. That's a nail. I continued along the dirt roads not really knowing where I was going but trying to keep the sun either in front of me or to my right as that would take me west and in the direction I wanted to go. Made it to another one of these crossroads and as there's no reception out here I think I might start heading right because I know the main highway is along the right side. I'll get there eventually. There is one sign here says it's a national park but it doesn't actually say which one it is. And it did say logging trucks so I gather there's some state forest here they're probably being logged. But no I haven't seen a car, person, anything. Just some kookaburras. I made it back onto the tarmac. I continued along these roads which seemed to slice their way through these forests. The kind of roads which would be perfect for a cruisy Sunday ride. I'd started this ride on the Pacific Ocean. I'd ridden along the Great Southern Ocean but now I was about to reach the Indian Ocean. Well I just crossed the continent. Now that I've made it all the way across and touched the Indian Ocean I'm going to head north to Margaret River. I was going to stay at a mate's place there but he's had some change of plans. But he's got another mate who said yeah just come and crash. So I'll be able to actually dump some gear off the bike tomorrow and have a really good look around. I rode out feeling good that I'd made it this far and keen on the next part heading north. I rode along Caves Road which runs just behind the ocean all the way up this section of coastline until I finally made it into the township of Margaret River. I pulled into the local IGA where they had roast beef dinners. A hot meal was really good. I then rode a short distance to my mate's mate's place. The next morning I rode out from the town of Margaret River to where the river mouth and surf break were which is just under 10 kilometers away. The great thing about this area is a swirl is consistent and you can normally get a wave most days of the year. I continued down to the river mouth. During the summer months the river mouth is closed off from the Indian Ocean by this large sandbank stretching across the bay. But the river usually breaks through to the ocean after a good winter's rain. So this is Margaret River, the actual river. The surf break is called Margaret River but this is the river mouth. Not the biggest swirl today. There are some waves but it is offshore winds so that's always good. And it is just a really peaceful mellow place. This whole coast is pretty much like that. I've been fortunate enough to surf around here and there's a bit more power in the waves here than say the east coast. Very similar to what happens in Indonesia. Again just a bit more power so all off the Indian Ocean. Then you step it up and again and go to Hawaii and then those waves just want to beat you up every time you go out. So for the rest of the day I'm just going to cruise around and see what I can find. I headed south to check out something else the region is also well known for. So around Margaret River there are actually a lot of caves. I'm going to go check one out now. It's in the National Park Liyuwin. That's how it's pronounced. Liyuwin. And it seems a little touristy but we'll give it a crack. So this is Mammoth Cave and the entry. We'll see what it's like inside. It's quite a cavernous space this one here. It's very Indiana Jones. I don't know it must be about 10 meters up to the top. So this originally forms from basically a sand dune being built up into a ridge over I think it was two million years. Apparently it's quite young. So it's just crushed seashells and things like that. So basically the sand dune turns into limestone and it's how the water moves through that over millions of years. So everything will be different depending on the water flow and how it finds its way through. So this place was known as the Cave of the Bones when they first discovered it. Over the first few years they discovered I think it was like 10,000 different types of bones. A lot of prehistoric sort of animals. Giant wombats, giant kangaroos. They even found thylacines or Tasmanian tigers in here. There even used to be giant echidnas. Imagine that. Seems a lot has changed since then. So this place was first discovered by settlers in 1895. I'm sure the locals already knew all about it. So this is part of a ridge and there's actually hundreds of caves through the ridge but this is probably one of spectacular. Apparently I can see my way. So you never know what's beneath you. Here's the exit from above. You could miss it if you walked 10 meters beside it. I made my way back to my bike and the next thing I was going to explore I was going to stay on my bike. I rode through Liyue Inn National Park then turned off to Boranup Forest or State Forest number 45. There was a lookout at the southern end with lots of different trail options to try and get there. I thought I might try one of the more narrow tracks then I spotted one of the smaller tracks and thought yeah I'll have a crack at that. There were a few uphill climbs. Not hard, just a lot of fun. Not my favorite surface sand. It wouldn't be at Western Australian Trail if it didn't have some sand on it. Dull lock gate. I could see a tower behind the trees which probably meant this is the highest point around and most likely be near the lookout. Oh well, do a u-turn, use the bank as reverse and see if I can get there another way. Well this track looks more promising. Well I made the lookout, just had to detour. Probably the route I took wasn't the right one. Stunning up here. Absolutely stunning. I made my way back down to the main road. Got really warm in there but now I'm back out. I've got to put the jacket back on. It's that thing of uh when you're on a dirt bike and you just because you're going so slow and the wind's not hitting you all the time and also in there the helmet because it's lost the screws and had to tape it all in it just fogs up so I can't see anything. So when I'm putting my gloves on I've got to hold my breath put the helmet on because I have to put the helmet on first because I can't put the helmet on put the gloves on so I gotta hold my breath put it on and then get going so I'm getting good at holding my breath. Once I get to Perth I'm getting those screws replaced so I can open the visor again. That's why dirt bike have goggles and an open helmet because you're sweating so much when you're on a dirt bike and I normally dropping the bike most just about every ride I've ever been on dropped it at least four or five times if not 20. Oh and the other issue I'm dealing with still when I came off the ferry from Kangaroo Island and I broke the zip next morning missing some teeth solution for now is get it to there line it up get across the broken bit sure that's not going to break in about a week's time when I'm in the middle of nowhere and I can't get it repaired. I pulled up to check there was moss growing in the middle of the road note to self if it's raining in this area be super careful as I'd never known moss to be the grippiest surface in the world and they're off well they are sheep if one goes they'll all follow this guy's got a bit of speed well it's been a fun day out exploring the Margaret River area definitely worth a visit on a motorbike