Munda Biddi - Hewer Sleepers camp to Donnybrook

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This ride was memorable for its dangerous diversion onto Vernon Road. If you ever do this track my advice is to find an alternative to Vernon Road. It is a dirt road running by the forest  with steep roller hills on pea gravel corrugations. My bike handled them well, but even so you are flying by the seat of your pants as the whole machine and your body is working overtime to keep in a balanced state. Not at all pleasurable, when it goes on for kilometres and it somewhat tarnished the general experience of this day. I was grateful that the Loctite and straps were doing their job holding the rack and panniers in place.

We suffered quite a chilly morning at 2 degrees and none of us wanted to rise early. Early morning rituals forced me out, but I was soon clambering back in until everyone arose. I had a sore hip as I did not inflate my mattress enough & the cold probably got me.

Distance travelled = 65 km
Temperature 2 to 23. Not too humid. No rain and fairly calm.

It wasn't all bad ! The trip started well with the Timberline trail rejoining the Sidings rail trail. Evidence of the rail remains with some sleepers left exposed.
I am glad we went with this alternative route, as this section, though interesting, was not as attractive as the trail we did yesterday.
A new transition for the forest into banksia trees. Some evidence of their yellow blooms still present.
We reached the campsite of Nala Mia at Jarrahwood in just over an hour, proving that we were right to camp at Sleeper Hewers. Jarrahwood is a one horse town basically with a toilet block, couple of houses a historic display and and the campsite. I believe there is accommodation available if you arrange it beforehand. The historic display was interesting with machinery and photos of past events. We had morning tea here.
We read about the Vernon Road diversion and kind of wish we ignored it. It is hard to see on the photo, but those are corrugations in the shadows of that gravelly road. The loose gravel with the ruts and undulations made it a precarious ride.
After our memorable experience we were back onto some fun on single track. Jon fell over again on a sandy patch, but was OK. The odd log or two was presented to add a bit of interest.
To make it a bit harder before entering town we had a few kilometres of soft earth dirt road to contend with. I think the surface was newly graded. The maps show that we need to retrace the steps to get back on to the trail. There was no way we were going to do that with our destination so close.
Donnybrook, we looked at accommodation opposite the rail station boasting the cheapest in town at $40 per night. Apparently also the cheapest backpackers in town. This turned out to be true as Donnybrook has its peak season with fruit pickers entering town and booking out all available accommodation.
The owners bought this hotel as a sideline business to their farm and now are finding it to be a full time business. They are keen to get travellers from Munda Biddi and Bibblemum tracks and are doing a good job refurbishing the premises.

We also enjoyed a good meal, the hosts even gave me a bowl of delicious chunky soup gratis as I jokingly said that the meals were not filling enough ! (they would be normally but we did have a good workout today).
Nev and Mark had a nice double bed at much the same rate in the 'managers' quarters. Down in that elitist area of the hotel there was also a communal kitchen and lounge area.
We were also interested in that all the itinerant workers were well behaved, and leave their boots in the corridors. The communal showers and toilets were very clean.
Jon elected to camp. He found a stealth spot to pitch his tent in the park. Also was able to grab some power from the amenities to charge his electronics.
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Location: Donnybrook WA 6239, Australia

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