Wine Trails and Wheat Belts

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Warren

Welcome to my two wheel travel blog. You can view my photos in higher quality by clicking on them and I love to read your comments.

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• Wine Trails and Wheat Belts - March 21, 2025
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Western Australia Motorcycle Tour

It’s somewhat surprising given how much I have travelled that I’ve never visited the other side of my home country.

To be fair it isn’t like when I was living in Japan where I could ride across the country in a day. Australia is a much bigger place. Perth is about 5000km west from me.

However I discovered there was a direct flight from Cairns and decided it was about time I went.

Even by air it is a long journey, especially flying Jetstar. Actually I found it about an hour too long in their uncomfortable tight seating which is best endured for 1-2 hours maximum.

I spent a couple of days recovering in Perth not venturing out too far but enjoying walking around the city in the mild weather compared to the fierce heat of North Queensland. Also enjoyed some delicious food I’ve not had for awhile. Authentic Japanese soup curry which I last ate on my 2021 ride to Hokkaido as well superb Thai Khao Soi. Both unexpected finds.

I am renting from West Coast Motorcycle Hire. This is an all tarmac ride so whilst I don’t need an ADV bike I chose a Triumph Tiger 900 GT Pro just to see how it compares to the BMW’s I have rented.

Perth to Collie

Easy ride out of Perth, the rental shop is located in Bassendean away from city traffic. For navigation I am using my phone in my pocket with RWGPS app sending turn by turn prompts to my Bluetooth headset.

Pleasant riding all morning on forest roads that service six dams with huge pipelines that supply water to Western Australia.

I had lunch at the side of the Serpentine dam with these feathered friends waiting for leftovers.

The roads were damp all morning with heavy rain ahead of me moving south. By about 1.30pm I caught up to it. I killed some time in Dwellingup looking at heritage trains (being an ex rail guy) and let the rain move on before I turned south east and managed to skirt most of it.

Leaving the forests behind I enjoyed some easy riding in pastoral land which I failed to photo well.

For anyone who read my last ride report you know I had a medical incident and crash that could have been very serious. What I have put in place for this ride to ensure that hopefully does not happen again is my already double strength reflux medication has been further increased (by my doctor) and despite already having slowed down my riding long ago in Japan I planned very conservative daily routes to allow myself to go slower with plenty rest stops.

Actually today the thought crossed my mind that I should have hired a Harley tourer. Frankly that type of bike better suits me these days. I don’t carve corners anymore so it is just a mindset shift I need to make when planning a trip not a change in my riding style.

I am staying in Collie tonight. A historic coal mine town. I did a long walk around town, nice place but alas not much of the historic buildings have survived.

Collie to Margaret River

I took a look at one of the huge open cut coal mines around Collie this morning under gloomy skies. Aussies are good at making these holes in the ground.

Passing showers all morning. The waterproof coating I applied before leaving home to my riding gear is doing it’s job. The roads have been easy flowing and the countryside quite pleasant however in these conditions difficult to photograph.

I came across a gnome garden, a huge one that people have created adjacent to a roundabout. There were thousands of them, above just a small portion.

My route bypassed towns all morning meaning I missed my morning coffee break so seeing it was already past 11.00 I detoured into Donnybrook and seeing a bakery decided to stop here for an early lunch and look at which way this rain is moving.

Arriving in Balingup the small town has many mannequins like you see in southern Japan for the rice harvest.

When ready to set off the Triumph will not start. It has power but is not trying to engage the starter motor.

I tried everything I could think. Turned off and back on a few times. Put into gear then back into neutral few times and wiggled the clutch lever endlessly since it it requires the clutch lever pulled in to start (even if in neutral) Put bike on centre stand to try rule out side stand switch even though it was in neutral.

I am on a slope so I hop on and get bike rolling down and try bump start it. The engine was spinning over plenty enough to start but something is stopping it from firing up. After about 40 minutes I decide better call the rental shop.

About now I am thinking I could be up a creek without a paddle here. I’m in a small village with no hotel but I’m sure someone would give me a lift to nearest pub with a room if I am really stuck. However Michael from West Coast Motorcycle Rentals generously offers to bring another bike to me although it will take all afternoon. Wow, I’m relieved and pleased to hear this.

Some people walking by try help then a bloke who rides a 1200 Triumph stops. He looks at dash and says something about additional service light is on. He puts the bike into steering lock and removes the key then reinserts it and takes bike out of lock and turns ignition on. I hear the fuel pump whine and the dash looks more normal. It starts up. We test it a few times and it seems ok.

I phone Michael and tell him the good news and set off again.

I’m happy to be able to continue and Mr Sun seems also pleased and decides to make an appearance.

Balingup to Nannup is the best road of the ride so far, lots of nice curves.

I don’t dare yet stop the engine anywhere isolated so ride straight on until Busselton where I take a break at a large highway petrol station/roadhouse. The bike seems ok, starts up no problem.

Riding down to Margaret River I pass by literally 100’s of vineyards but just stop at a couple I recognise. I love wine but am trying to reduce my consumption (unsuccessfully). However I am wishing now I planned an extra day here to take a winery tour bus and see more as it is such a scenic region. Old habits of planning to keep the wheels moving on a rental motorcycle are still strong in me.

I stop off at Cowaramup which my neighbors told me about. The entire town is cow themed.

I managed to buy something different in local wines since I get a little bored with Aussie Shiraz. That might sound like I’m a wine snob and with over 750 wines rated on Vivino maybe that title is justified but actually I just enjoy good wine, tasty cheese and riding motorcycles.

I know I need to lose some kilos, reduce my waist (too much of said wine and cheese) but anyway tonight I enjoy that Zin (it’s way milder than Californian) with cheese and crackers while I type out this ride report in my motel room listening to the Absolute80sShow to drown out a rowdy women’s tour group (drunk) a few rooms down from me.

Margaret River to Pembelton

Nice riding this morning past more vineyards. There are still some sheep farms which appear to be what the region was previously but everywhere I look there are new vines being sowed and trendy winery signs being hung.

The climate in this region is lovely, daytime 23, night time 13. I find myself dreaming about how nice it would be to live here.

Stopped in Augusta for coffee and read a newspaper story about how Albany (where I am going tomorrow) was flooded couple days ago. How fortunate is my timing this ride!

I like how the plaque shows next is the South Pole.

Mostly featureless highway over to Nannup, saw a few black Emu’s on side of road, slowed right down as they are truly huge birds but they seem smarter than Kangaroos and moved away when my motorcycle got closer thus no photo.

Nannup bakery has excellent Vietnamese rice paper rolls, delicious long lunch break sitting in the shade thinking how lucky I am.

Route 251 to Bridgetown is easy flowing with some curves and was best road of the day.

After a break in Bridgetown the Triumph again would not start. Same as yesterday. I tried the trick of putting bike into steering lock and remove key the inserting and unlocking then the bike fires up.

Missed a forest view tower I wanted to see on my way to Pemberton but was on reserve so did not feel confident to back track. The Tiger 900 has a high thirst for fuel. Reminds me of my Speed Triple, the only bike I have ever run out of fuel on.

Did a lap around Pemberton which took all of 2 minutes as it is a one horse town. I checked out the old railway station. Reminded me of when I was a young lad working in the railways and most stations had hanging basket like these and nobody vandalised or stole them when the station was closed.

Car park at the Pembelton hotel is full of bikes. I check in and enquire about this and the woman at reception exclaimed today is the Black Dog Ride event with a look of why do you a biker not know this! And frankly I should of known as it is an awareness ride for men’s mental health a cause I empathize with and care about. Every single day in Australia 7 men take their own lives. I think it is the highest cause of death for men under 40. I will follow on social media and try get involved next year.

For me the name Black Dog is also associated with a bloke who hides behind the alias of ‘Hagler’ (coincidentally also from W.A). He runs a motorcycle tour business of same name which friends in Philippines introduced me to. Some years ago I was going to join a ride across southern India until I caught him doing a bait and switch on the hotels advertising 3-4 star but the actual hotels booked were cheap and nasty dumps. (Reminds me of Intrepid Travel who do the same thing). I had a falling out with this character as did the Philippine guys but I see he is still running tours.

I’ve been getting my dinner from the supermarket each night because pub meals are too big for me but there are no facilities in the basic room I have tonight. I go for the roast of the day with an IPA beer but frankly both are well below my expectations despite costing me nearly $50 in total.

Pemberton to Albany

Cool start so I donned a merino base layer t-shirt which I got for my first ride in New Zealand and accompanies me on every tour just in case.

Fairly uninteresting roads today. All highway with a few gentle curves but mostly featureless, closed in by trees and scrub.

On dull roads like this my mind loves to wander, inevitably going back in time to remind me of every stupid thing I’ve done. When I brush that aside my mind will switch to reminding me what an naive idiot I was regarding girls that I can see now were interested in me. Basically it loves to dwell on lost opportunities but everything is so obvious in hindsight, looking back we know which horse wins every race.

What I can rejoice in today is taking a big leap faith leaving my career early to start on my bucket list instead of wasting money on a luxury car or expensive real estate and leaving following my dreams too late.

Especially since I was then diagnosed with cancer. Every day since beating it is a celebration. Here I am following my passion in life, exploring new places on a motorcycle. The luckiest guy in the world.

But all this boring road has made me digress… lets switch off the cruise control and go back to the ride report.

I turn off to visit the scenic Elephant Rock beach area but it was a traffic jam with loads of grey nomads in motorhomes clogging up the place and people everywhere. It was chaos so I ended up just leaving.

Rode out to Ferguson bay where the whaling industry once operated and it was nice but the cross winds were fierce. Again I was thinking wish I was on the Ultra Glide Michael rents instead of an ADV bike with bugger all protection from wind.

Then made my way to the Apex view point on Mount Clarence (above). After this I rode up to the Desert Corps Memorial at the very top commemorating those who fought in Gallipoli in WW1.

I stood on the actual battle locations in Anzac Cove where so many young boys from Western Australia died on my Turkey tour in 2019. It’s a place I highly recommend any Australian visit.

Alas I did not know there was a ANZAC museum here also, but it is closing at 4.00pm. Oh crap! Such amateur research on my part otherwise I would have arrived earlier.

Stopped at another viewpoint and was taking a selfie when a woman runs over and offers to take my photo and chats a little with me. Wow! Albany mystery girl you just made my day.

Albany to Wagin

Warmer this morning as I ride north and inland.

I wanted to see the Granite Skywalk at Castle Rock. I had read there was a short path option of just 500m each way but when I arrived I could not find anything other than the main trail which is 4.4km round trip and not possible in my motorcycle gear.

I don’t usually publish photos from Google but in this case I want to show what it is as nobody I have spoken to knows anything about it.

I would have brought my walking shoes and shorts to change into if the info had been more accurate. Reluctantly I ride on. Another time.

Today’s inland route is far more interesting to me than the previous days of riding. Following the train line I’m passing through historic regional towns which I love seeing even if I don’t feature such often on my blog.

I also finally get to have what is my favourite part of any motorcycle tour, a picnic lunch. There is something I find so extraordinarily peaceful about doing this.

The temperature this afternoon soars past 30 degrees. I’ve found the limit of my Five summer Boxer gloves. Only good for a small temperature range and I will need to keep looking for the perfect pair for me.

This region certainly lives up to the Wheat Belt name. Many silos and the land is a pale straw shade as far as I can see.

Next up is something I was looking forward to highly on this ride. Visiting where Donald Campbell set a world water speed record in 1964.

First I go to Dumbleyung town where there is a replica model of the Bluebird jet powered boat that Donald Campbell piloted to a speed of 444 kph.

Nearby is a visitor centre which has an excellent display and nice cafe.

Donald is the only man to have broken the land speed record and the water speed record in the same year. Attempts to break the water speed record have claimed the lives of most people before and after his record including Donald’s own life just 3 years later when he attempted to go faster.

The world water speed record since 1978 has been held by Australian Ken Warby who took a jet powered boat he built in his Sydney backyard to Blowering Dam in NSW and went a mind boggling 511 kph.

I find the stories of these men, their daring feats and incredible engineering skills fascinating.

Next I went to the Dumbleyung lake where Donald set his record.

It appears as if it’s a salt lake and today had a very low water level. Nice display at the lookout with a brass plaque showing the course Donald took complete with a chrome mini Bluebird model. Very pleased to see all this today.

Lots of space out here. Got to use the Triumph in the role is was designed for on some loose small ball bearing red stone surface to reach the viewpoint but honestly with a little care you could ride up here on almost any bike.

The dash was showing 108km range when I left Dumbleyung and I had 45km to Wagin including my side trip to the lake. Leaving the lake the reserve light came on showing 90km range and I had 33km to reach Wagin. I’m on the highway with cruise control set to 110 kph (the highway speed limit) and was watching the range tumble as if the fuel line had sprung a leak.

Arriving Wagin I am left with 25km range but given how fast it was falling might be only half that. Obviously the sensor and/or software for fuel is inaccurate. Todays route was only 289km and I started with a full tank. Thirsty bike and no way it holds the claimed 20 litres unless there is 4 litres hidden somehow.

I’ll do a separate post on how I found the Tiger and little comparison to the BMW F800GS I rode in Sardinia.

I overestimated the town of Wagin. It looked a reasonable size on Google street view but everything is shuttered. The one pub left running doesn’t do meals on a Tuesday. Fortunately a small IGA is still operating so I can source a microwave dinner which is far better than some meals I have had on tour in other countries and I even found a somewhat decent bottle of wine at the pub so no complaints.

Wagin to Perth

Some more historic towns today as I ride north and back to Perth.

Still following the train line so there are a few old loco’s and stations for me to look at along the way.

Lot’s of roadworks today and its 30 degrees so I seek shade at the many stop/go lights. You have to wait for a pilot vehicle here in W.A to lead you across.

Beverly is an area for flying light aircraft. I enjoy how each town out here inland has had some display to make me stop and have a read.

I visit the historic town of York and miss the turnoff for the towns viewpoint due to using the phone in my pocket for navigation and going off course for lunch. Oh well no big deal but I think in future I will not be so lazy and have my OPPO mounted on bars with My Route App to avoid this sort of thing. Otherwise RWGPS navigation has been fine this tour. Fantastic ham and salad roll from the York bakery.

Pleasant riding all afternoon with the landscape a little more varied and a few more curves than the mostly straight Wheat Belt roads.

Easy return of the bike. I chat a little about the wonderful roads in Spain where the owners are riding next year before my Uber arrives to take me downtown where I have a couple more days to enjoy good food and finish this ride report. Bun Bo Hue Vietnamese noodles tonight (different taste to Pho) which is another item I don’t come across so often.

Glad I finally came to see Western Australia. It’s a terrific place.