Day 202, Saturday, 17 October, 2009

Distance travelled – 52.3 km
Avg speed – 17.7 kph
Max speed – 53.7 kph

New Norcia to Bindoon

We stayed at New Norcia for the morning so we could go on the 11am tour, so it was about 2pm by the time we started off for Bindoon. It was quite a hot day but for once the wind was behind us and we rode out at 25 kph.

The terrain was quite hilly so even though we had some long slow ascents we had some great downhill runs as well. Going down one hill Mark reached a top speed of 53.7 kph and I managed 51.5! On the decent of another we caught up and had to slow down for a semi-trailer descending in low gear. 

On Bindoon Hill, which is the last steep ascent before Bindoon, we stopped to talk to a trucky who had broken down just short of the crest. His road train of three tankers could not complete the climb and he was waiting for a tow. He had set out a trail of red reflective triangles behind his road train to warn motorists of the hazard ahead but just before we arrived another truck had driven over the top of them. He was a little frustrated by the fact that a fellow trucky had done this to him. Seeing this road train stranded on the hill started us thinking about the weight that many of the trucks are carrying. We climbed the hill at about 9kph and we estimate that some of the trucks that passed us were only doing 10 or 12 kph.

There are no campgrounds at Bindoon so we stayed at Windmill Farm B & B arriving there just after 5.30pm amongst the heady scent of orange blossoms coming from the orchards.

Zoom into the map and use the 'Satellite' layer to see our new location.

 

Inside the New Norcia Guesthouse

The Abbey Church

We found this fence post marked with the word 'Flood' but no date. The Abbey Church is in the background.

Something we have not seen before - a sun dial on the side of a building. We think it needs recalibrating as we took this at 8.40am. The shadow indicates it is 9.45.

Inside the guesthouse common room.

The altar inside the Monastery Chapel

Chapel inside St Ildephonsus College

Chapel inside St Gertrude's College

An abandoned truck in the orange grove next door to the Windmill Farm B&B

 

 

 

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