July 3rd 2021

Days km: 16.2km
Total km: 501.6km

After yesterday’s effort I decided I would take it easy today. I’d slept well in the old schoolhouse and my back was feeling much better, though still super stiff and tight until I got moving. I headed down to the shop at 8:15 so I could get my laundry on as soon as it opened at 8:30, but there was already a huge queue. About 12 or so Kangaroos were crowded by the door, and a good number of Emu’s loitered in the carpark. When the lady arrived to open the shop she had to sprinkle some food a few metres away from the door to distract the roos and emus so she could get in.

I got my laundry on, smashed a chocolate milk then tucked into a stellar egg and bacon sandwich for breakfast. I followed it up with some orange juice for good measure.

I chatted to a Mundi Biddi bike rider who had also stayed at the schoolhouse (Michelle? I think her name was Michelle. I’m usually pretty good with names on the trail, but I got distracted by the whole bikepacking thing) we chatted about the Mundi Bindi trail and she showed me some pic of the shelters they have. A bit fancier than the hiker ones (and with less ‘personality’) but I figure that’s because they only had to build half as much. As I waited for my laundry to finish I kept thinking about bikepacking…

“Ok dude, how about we stay focussed on the trail we are actually on?”

“But…and hear me out on this…what if we did essentially the same trail, but…on a bike!”

“You sonofabitch, I’m in!”

This is what happened to Dougal, except in reverse. I started going over the logistics of bringing the whole family over. It would be really cool if we could all do it together. I think the kids would absolutely…tolerate it.

I resupplied for the next few days at the general store, they really are lovely there. My timing was pretty spot on as they had just gotten their first ever delivery of dehydrated meals from an Australian company called Thrive from Tasmania. I had enough food to do me to the next town but bought one to try anyway.

I finally got going after 10am. It was an easy 16km today, which was good after yesterdays 40+ km effort. There were some steep sections and many, many pointless up-and-downs (PUDs), but the forest had changed from Jarrah to Karri and it was really refreshing to see something different. I also bumped into another Mundi Biddi bikepacker who had gotten a wee bit lost.

Near the end of the trail I was climbing a short steep hill and looked up to see a big, black…something on the crest of the hill. I thought it was a dog at first, and then panicked, because it was pretty damn big. It looked like the Grim from Harry Potter. My panic subsided when I realised it was actually a feral pig. Then it flared up again, because feral pigs could be dangerous, right?

We stared at each other minute or so and then he decided I wasn’t worth it and scampered away down the trail.

A pleasant hike led to a pleasant shelter. Tom Road shelter was lovely, and set right next to the river. Which I’m sure would be nice for a swim in not-winter. This was also the first shelter that has wood supplied and there were already a few hikers there and the fire was roaring. I decided to treat myself and had the Thrive meal I purchased this morning, it was creamy veggie pasta and it was delicious. Must get more.

On another positive note, hiking today was pretty much pain free. First time since Murray River, huzzah!