We decided it would be a good day for a bike ride , so after hanging washing out & getting ready , we headed off about 10:15 . There is a bike track outside the park , that took us back to the Hwy , we went along it for a few hundred metres before turning off . We were going down the same road as we drove down when we went to Point Quobba . We crossed the dry causeway over the Gascoyne River , it is very wide and dry .
We were riding into the Fruit Loop , a section of both North and South River Roads - a little bit longer than indicated on the map . The north side was 6.5 klms long , the south side 7.2 klms long , one end was 1.5 klms and the other about 500m , add on another kilometre back to the park and you have about 18klms .
To add to our ride , we had temperatures up to 33 degrees , and a head wind down the north side , then a head wind on the last 3klms , as the wind had swung around - fortunately , it was a sea breeze and so it cooled about 6 degrees from the hottest part .
The fruit bowl is an intensively farmed area , growing most of the vegetables to supply Perth .
They grow corn , peas , grapes , tomatoes , asparagus , melons , chillies , squash , mango's , spring onions , potatoes & pumpkin , papaya , banana's as well as some citrus - it's pretty full on !!
Stopping at Bumbaks - a shop front at one of the farms - we had a mango ice-cream to tide us over , it was a bit like the jam shop , with chutneys and sauces and jams - we tried a few samples , their salsa was good , but not as good as ours !!
After a well earned rest , we headed out again , getting cheered on by one of the farm workers / owners , while they were planting the next crop in one of the fields .
It was a good speed to take in all that was happening here , how far back off the road it goes , and how many people are working - trimming grape vines , planting out seedlings , weeding , etc , etc .
We reached the end of the North River Rd and went down to the old bridge - it was put into use in 1931 , but was still susceptible to flooding , with big floods going over the top of it . Now there is a new bridge that is above the highest recorded flood level , so is accessible as long as the roads leading to it don't go under water .
As you can see , there was a bit of water under the bridge , not a lot , but there were fish and ducks swimming around happily .
Crossing the bridge , we turned into South River Road , there were more orchards and crops . There was still a lot of evidence around of the damage caused by the cyclone earlier this year , it wiped out most of the banana plants , damaged the mango trees and ripped apart a lot of the shade cloth covering a lot of the crops .
There are a lot of Bouganvilleas growing rampantly here as well , many colours as well .
Further down the road , in front of someones house & water tanks were some prickly pears , as well as a whole heap of cacti .
There was also jaw bones and skull from a whale !!
Further down the road was another farm gate shop , a couple of cars were parked there , they drove away after we went past - one went past us , then stopped and did a 3 point turn , the only problem was he wasn't looking in his rear view mirror , and just reversed back out in front of a car - luckily the car stopped short of hitting this clown , who kept reversing and drove off . His friend also did a 3 point turn behind us - no one coming this time !!
Continuing on , we got back to the highway and stopped at a stall we had looked at earlier - it had 1kg bags of chilli's for $3 and tomatoes for $2.50 , we grabbed a bag of chilli's , and headed back to the park - time to collapse & sit down for a while with a cold water .
Lunch done , we sat for a while and watched the world go by till it was time for a swim in the pool .
The afternoon was cruising along , time for some salsa & a beer .
Here's a map link :-https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=z1G8gwwxwyYo.kAHcLJN8l4tw&usp=sharing
No comments:
Post a Comment