Marrinup camping area: a few 2 strokes provide a holiday atmosphere

Wednesday, December 29 2010 | 36 km | Munda Biddi total: 217 km

The campsite has little to recommend it, no beaches, views or even amenities except for a long drop, other than it is free and less than 100km from Perth.

A few tents are set up and eventually the owners returned in 4WDs with battered doors or a huge vat for weed spraying on the back. Kids fang around on their two strokes, raising clouds of dust and providing some acoustic accompaniment, others, polite to call them chubby, eating chips out of a big bag and drinking Coke out of a giant bottle and generally raising the blood pressure of the parents.

Someone with a louder voice is telling people the way their little segment of the world should be.

Just another summer holiday, it’s not an upmarket crowd.

I’ve got a picnic table, ie, totally content.

It’ll be early to bed tonight, the body is not in great condition, mostly from yesterday’s efforts.

Today had a few less ups and downs but no less fabulous riding, at least early on.

Here’s a first. I missed a turn out in the middle of not much, realised 5 km on and rather than retracing my wheel marks found a back route, read unmarked goat track, that went through to the old Marrinup prisoner of war camp from the 2WW, Italians and Germans were incarcerated here in a fairly low security environment, like where could they go?

There were a few remnant concrete slabs with trees growing through and signs saying CO’s Office, or latrines, with little discernible archeological evidence. 65 years on even the memories are fading.

I’ve faded too and it’s not yet 7 30.