Munda Biddi - Nglang Boodja camp to Collie

It was quite cool this morning. With only 50km or so to cover we were not in a hurry to leave early. The birds were quite loud with their competitive singing and the sun was streaming in quite brightly, so  an actual sleep in wasn't possible.  

Distance travelled = 50 km
Temperature 4 to 27. Not too humid. No rain and fairly calm.

This day was a mixture of dirt road, fire track and single track. Our first destination was Honeymoon Pool. We heard about the seriously steep switchbacks so we decided to go via the road to the pool. As it turns out the route north bypasses the switchbacks anyway. (map courtesy of someone from Strava - sorry for lack of reference. By the way, I did  a lot of research using Strava to get an idea of times for this trip. Unfortunately I did not add my own as I didn't carry enough batteries for the gps to cover the trip wholly.)

For the first time on this trip we saw someone else at camp. A bloke rocked in, having camped at Honeymoon pool with 5 of his mates. They traveled from Sydney to do this trip, though he was from Albany.

Curious, we checked out Honeymoon pool. It looks to be  a nice spot to car camp and is apparently very popular. It is set along the bank of the Collie River and is shaded by many trees. There were many people camped already, as the school and Easter holidays are looming.  I was offered an egg and bacon sandwich by one couple, which was hard to refuse.

Although we missed most of the switchbacks, we still needed to join the track proper, so there were some remnants to negotiate. They were a tough climb, even I had to walk a couple as traction was difficult with the leaf litter covering the trail.
Once level, the going was easy through pleasant forest, made all the more enjoyable with good dry weather and a non to hot temperatures. Our travel today was short, making it into town at around 2pm.
The sign to Collie was a welcome one. You had to keep your wits about you as it was confluence of signs where tracks were coming in from Collie to go north.
The last few kilometres into Collie were on pea gravel surfaces, some quite deep and rather irritating.  The forest into Collie was recovering from bushfire, which was quite pretty with the high contrast of bright green leaves on charred trunks.
 Our accommodation in Collie - Colliefields - offered a discount because we were travelling on the Munda Biddi trail (also offered to Bibblemun walkers). Our host was very helpful, even offering the use of the washing machine. Breakfast was included in the price. The rooms and facilities were spotless.
We went to the visitors centre (just in time they close at 4:30pm) and had a play on the coal haulage locomotives and excavator.
Nev, Mark and Ed booked their bikes in for a service, this time getting a decent one. The bike shop in Collie is something to be seen; I have never seen so many bikes crammed into a shop. By the reports along the track they are reputed to give good service, and I am inclined to agree. Mark spent a small fortune as he had to replace chain and cassette as well as get some cables freed up.  The owner's cat is appropriately called Sprocket.
We enjoyed a good last supper together at the asian restaurant, catering for Chinese and Vietnamese meal variations. The menu was a literal book of options ! The food was of good standard.

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