Off early (ish) after a coffee made on the ever increasingly dodgy cooker, and a few biscuits for breakfast. We headed down the road with the trees gradually getting taller and taller. One emergency breaking episode due to an Emu being startled by the Toyota that I was following then running for the road straight at me. Turned off at the last minute,.. Phew. Half way to Geraldton we came across the first of the cultivated fields and it was huge, there must be some big equipment over here for turning this acreage of soil. The hills were rolling and there was a windmill pumping water periodically. It looked like a scene of McClouds Daughters. We came down into a town Northampton that has heaps of character. It looked like a real Wild West town, with old cottages, several pubs with roughcast walls and lots of deep verandas.
Arrived in Geraldton about 10am having covered about 250km so stopped for a coffee and breakfast. After a bit of a ride around casing the place out we stoped at a waterfront café that had a collection of bikes at the front and a restored Norton in the middle of the Café. Had a very nice breakfast of Pancakes and Dad had some Eggs and Toast. Very pleasant watching boats on the water, children playing on the promenade and several classic motorbikes riding by on this sunny Sunday morning. Geraldton as with so many Australian towns has a very nicely developed and maintained public area. There is a lot of civic pride here.
Rode on towards Perth. Ongoing rolling country and increased population. We were passed by a group of Bikies, all riding very close together in a rough formation. Not long after they passed us they pulled into a roadhouse. We had been going for another 250km or so and were due a stop and Dad who was out front pulled into the roadhouse behind them. I had mixed feelings, I was keen to stop as my concentration was fading, but the thought of interacting with these bikies was less than appealing. What did the kids advise me again, oh that’s right “Don’t let Granddad say anything inappropriate to any Bikies” OK this is not going to be easy. It works out they were a bunch of good guys and very friendly. Talked with a guy in another group first who was out riding with a couple of friends and their Wives? He called them Wenches but I think he meant Wives or Girlfriends. He was interested in our trip, and we got on to talking about travel speed. They were travelling at 150 – 170 km/hr apparently. He was telling me that they cover up there number plates and sure enough they were covered, which gets them out of being ID’d and he also mentioned that if you are caught at 170km/hr then the bike is confiscated, so you should just give running a go. It looked like he was riding a Suzuki Hayabusa, which is a 300km/hr superbike so I guess the police would need their supped up Commodore to catch him, if it came to that. I suspect he will not make old bones.
Continued into Perth after a pie and brew and the country changed again to vineyards in the Swan valley then the roads gradually got busier and busier as we came into Perth. The GPS has been very disappointing with its directions in Australian cities and it was taking us down minor roads so I stopped following it and started following the road signs. We ended up at a police checkpoint and my heart skipped a beat initially as my headlights are not working and it was getting dark (my fog lights are going so being seen is not an issue). It was a breath test and they pulled us in to be breathalysed. Pass, as no alcohol of course but he wanted to see my licence for some reason, perhaps I look too young to be riding a motorbike? I can’t think what else it could be. Anyway once he was satisfied we continued into central Perth.
It is Sunday night and the town was still very busy at about 5.30. We went straight to a motel that was recommended by a couple of Kiwi Moteliers that I met at the last roadhouse fuel up. They do relief motel management and said I should stay at the Kings Park Motel so this took the guess work out, I just put it into the GPS and rode there. Showered then walked down to the local Chinese restaurant for a feed, very nice.
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