Collie Junction to Nglang Boodja
Munda Biddi Trail
Start
Collie Junction
Time
3-5 Hours
Finish
Nglang Boodja Hut
Date Ridden
26th August 2021
Length
38.6km
Elevation
780m
Traditional Custodians
Kaniyang People
The Ride - With the decision to not ride into Collie and stay the night due to needing to catch up on our schedule, Aron and I had a bit of a break at the trail junction to enjoy a snack and to rehydrate. While I had heard good things about the ride into Collie and a pizza would have been great tonight, we had accommodation booked in Donnybrook and Nannup so it's a side-trip I'll save for a later date. The goal for the day was to ride through Wellington National Park and on to Nglang Boodja Campsite, our last camping spot until after Northcliffe thanks to a golden run of town to town sections coming up.
With a bit of rain falling in the morning, I knew that more was forecast for the afternoon, I just wasn't sure when. The clouds to the south west looked ominous but not too threatening so after our little break we loaded up the bikes and departed. The excellent forest that we experienced leading towards the junction continued with a creek system providing a lush landscape to ride through including one of many small bridges for the day. I was happy to see some fungi surviving here on a bit of rotting wood, a nice break from the unrelenting procession of wildflowers that lined the trail. After crossing another powerline (unavoidable around the Collie region), I was happy to spot my first and only Native Rose, a wildflower that was abundant on my Cape to Cape adventure last year and one I have come to really enjoy. Up ahead is a landmark that all Munda Biddi riders will naturally stop at, whether they know about the popularity of the spot or not.
A large fallen tree that has had the middle chopped out provides a nice spot to rest your bike and take a photo, one I've seen a lot on the Munda Biddi FaceSpace group. One does not simply ride past this point without a photo so in the bright sunshine I lined up the shot and hoped the harsh lighting didn't ruin my shot (I think I recovered it enough). Happy with getting a photo, I moved on towards the last railway crossing we would have today and as luck would have it, we would get a train passing through that was full of material from the nearby Worsley Refinery. I snapped a couple of photos as we battled through some fallen branches that were partially blocking the trail but by the time we reached the crossing, the train had passed. The railway crossing sees you come off the nice single track and onto the wide Worsley Back Road as it heads through Harris State Forest. This coincides with a smol puppa hill so it was nice to trundle along under the canopy of the trees and focus on maintaining a rhythm.
Passing the Crystal Valley Outpost, this is another accommodation option for riders coming through if they didn't want to stay at Collie or any of the nearby campsites. They cater for riders quite well and it's a good option for e-bikes to stop and recharge if you don't want to do the side trip into Collie. For us it was full steam ahead towards Wellington National Park and as we reached the top of the hill, the winds blowing in ahead of the rains made for a tougher ride. While we were still in the forest it was quite enjoyable but then we reached the farmland and the exposed nature of the landscape didn't favour us at all. This stretch leading towards Coalfields Road was not super enjoyable with the winds and the grey conditions so I was happy to speed up and just get through it. The farmland looked a bit scrappy at the edges of the road had a lot of invasive weeds that gave it an unnatural look. Doing a little chicane as we reached Gastaldo Road, at this point Aron saw an emu in an open paddock but for the life of me I couldn't see where it was.
Continuing on, I had phone reception so was busy checking the weather radar and the progression of the band of rain that was coming in from the south west. Nearer to Coalfields Road I started to look around for a farm shed or bus stop, anything we could use to shelter under as it would only be a brief downpour and I would prefer to stay dry if I could. There were a few options as we pedalled along but most involved standing under people's house and I didn't want to be rude by inviting myself onto their property. We still had some time so pressed on and reached the Old Coalfields Highway where instead of ripping up the tarmac when they put in a realignment, they have simply left it to be reclaimed by nature. Nature is doing an alright job with a mound of dirt over the road now sporting some wildflowers although I suspect they were planted rather than naturally occurring. Reaching Coalfields Road, the large dual road leading towards Collie from the coast and this is also the intersection of the road leading into Wellington National Park. I knew there was an information shelter in a nearby car park so suggested we camp out there to avoid the rain that was starting to fall.