Epic Scooter Journeys, Parts I and II

Well, 200km in a day is epic when you are riding a 50cc scooter, and you cannot tell my bum otherwise.

On Monday, on the spur of the moment I decided to go to York, Western Australia's first inland settlement, after I finger measured it on the map and decided it would take about 2 hours to get there.

2.5 hours, a cup of tea and some chips later I arrived, wandered over a steel-rope suspension bridge, found the gaol to be closed until March and so just had a wander round, went through the old flour mills, visited some churches and went up a very steep hill - the scooter could only manage 10km/hr - to Mount Brown lookout, and then came home. All in a not very eventful, but thoroughly enjoyable day, I even made it home in time for tea.

Some pictures: http://kylet.co.uk/pictures/york-wa/

Today I went to Toodyay, another 1800's era inland settlement, but a bit nearer - only 75km (or 2 hours) either way. This time I had lunch at the town's Coca-Cola themed diner, and then wandered up the high street admiring old buildings, and then onto the gaol which was open (I was the day's only visitor), and finally to Toodyay's working flour mill, and then back home again.

Some pictures : http://kylet.co.uk/pictures/toodyay/

I have decided the thing I like best about heading out to the quite bits on my scooter - the smell. The heat makes the eucalypts smell great, and the slowness of the journey (rarely over 50km/hr) and the quietness of the roads means I can look about and take in the scenery. I think next I might tackle Lancelin, which might be more of the 3-3.5 hour journey, but if I get going early enough on Friday, I might just do it. I might look for a cushion for my bum before I go, though.