The Munda Biddi (which means path through the forest in the Noongar Aboriginal language) is a 1000 km off-road cycling track from Perth to Albany in Western Australia. The towns and Munda Biddi Huts are about 40 km apart, which would make the whole trip a 25-day event. We usually ride at least 50 km/day and only had 17 days to complete it, which we thought should be enough. Little did we know.....
Southern Section (Albany to Nannup)
Most people ride the trail from Perth to Albany. We did it backwards for the simple reason that if we didn't have enough time, it was easier to short-cut the trail around Perth. So here's the southern end of the trail in Albany. Note the clean bicycles!
A gorgeous section of the trail along the coast before it heads inland....
First day and first encounter with a Tiger Snake (Notechis scutatus)! We saw 12 of these on the track in the southern part of the trip. They are highly venomous and have a reputation for being aggressive. We found, however, they usually just went out of our way (well, except for this one - unfortunately it was dead).
South-western WA experienced the wettest spring on record. We couldn't believe how green it was!
They also had some fierce storms, which brought down many trees. We had to climb over 38 of these, some bigger than us!
Some short sections of the Munda Biddi are on rail trails, which makes them flat, easy to ride and well maintained. I loved the signs on the Torbay Rail Trail.....
There are many diversions along the trail due to flooding, logging, hazard reduction burning or mining. This section was a bit boring for riding but still beautiful with all the flowers.
Sometimes it is so narrow that the ride turns into a face-whacking and leg-scratching adventure. Kirsten disappearing into ferns...
.... and having a close encounter with a grass tree.
The surface of the track varied from smooth to very rocky, sandy or gravel. Here's Kirsten fish-tailing through a patch of sand (note the fly screen over her helmet).
The majority of the Munda Biddi winds through forest on a mountain bike track, which is sooooo much fun to ride!! Below is a typical section - you really have to concentrate to a) stay on the track b) avoid trees, shrubs and snakes, c) keep pedalling to have enough momentum to jump over branches and d) try to enjoy the scenery at the same time!!
We each had two panniers, approximately 5 kg each. With tent, sleeping mat/bag, stove, billy, food, wet weather gear, it did not leave much room for clothing. So an (almost) daily ritual of washing the riding gear in a sink was part of the trip.
The Red Tingle (Eucalyptus jacksonii) is endemic to a small area north of Walpole. They are one of the tallest Eucalyptus species and usually hollow at the base of the tree, providing excellent habitat.
Frankland river near Walpole....
... and the Nornalup Inlet.
It's only day 4 and my bike is stuffed!! Due to the spring storms there was a lot of timber on the track. A stick caught my derailleur and snapped it off! A glance at the map tells us that the nearest bike shop is 100 km to the north or 100 km to the south. Kirsten is not looking happy!
We managed to remove the derailleur, shorten the chain and turn my 24-speed bicycle into a fixed-gear bicycle. Not an ideal solution on an off-road track with many hills! We camped at Fernhook Falls, got up at 5am and cycled to the closest main road to hitch a ride to Manjimup. Below is me waiting for somebody to give us a lift on a rainy morning! Thanks school bus!!
Despite our predicament, the landscape was incredibly beautiful in the rain!!
The famous Albany Bottlebrush!
I was very lucky that the bike shop in Manjimup had exactly the parts I needed and after 2 hours (during which we had a big breakfast!) we were back on the trail. Unfortunately we missed about 180 km of the Munda Biddi, which will have to be completed some other time. Camping at Green's Island.
Riding down into Nannup, a very cute country town with great food!
This bench was made out of bicycle parts - pretty cool!
Some of the locals on the track....
I can't believe how big these Banksia cones get!!
And how gorgeous is the plant?
Banksia grandis, which is endemic to south-western WA.
Due to a late spring we had perfect timing for all the wild flowers. We took almost 100 photographs of different species - the diversity was unbelievable! Here some samples..
Northern Section (Nannup to Perth)
The Munda Biddi huts are fantastic! They each have two water tanks, a toilet, two picnic tables, a bike rack and four sleeping platforms (note we used the tent to stay away from the mosquitoes). We encountered other riders on the trail but always had the huts to ourselves.
Some huts even have a fantastic view!! They are all located away from roads and are accessible on foot or bicycle only.
Our daily breakfast - unless we were in a town of course......
.... lunch was corn crackers, tomato paste and tuna (usually with flies for extra protein) .....
... 2 minutes noodles and lots of tea for dinner.....
... and our new favourite high-calorie-snack.
While mostly riding through forest there was the occasional section through farming.....
.... and mining. You can tell they are serious when they put these large boulders on the track!
This Bauxite mine was a bit of a shock in the middle of gorgeous Jarrah forest!
Some of these trees have accumulated leaves and bark several metres high!
Another fun section!!
And we got very good at climbing these logs with the bikes.
This is what my legs looked like every evening - scratched and very dirty.
Oakley Dam was just gorgeous!! Fantastic for a swim, a scrub and cooling down! Just missing the cold beer!
The weather was mostly sunny with a few very hot days, on one of which we spent 12 hours on the track! The next morning we had a very slow start and sat in this coffee shop in Jarrahdale for 7 hours waiting for the temperature to cool down!
Red-tailed Black Cockatoos were our constant companions. They are shy and very hard to photograph, but they left evidence everywhere....
The Perth Hills provide drinking water for the area and we cycled over many dam walls. Usually swimming is not allowed.
The closer we got to Perth, the more rubbish we found on the track. Not a bad setting for a living room though....
On the last three days the track condition deteriorated and it was often covered in ankle-deep pea gravel, which is impossible to ride through. Even pushing a loaded bike through it is tough!
The Munda Biddi ends at Mundaring, which is north-east of Perth. Another bicycle trail then leads all the way to Perth airport! After 16 days of riding and approximately 900 km we had a day off at Kirsten's cousin's place in Perth. This is exactly what we felt like:
We were amazed at how well our bikes performed on this rough ride. Here they are at Perth airport waiting for the flight home - slightly damaged, very dirty and no punctures!!
Below are some more photographs for the botanically interested......
