Greetings from Merredin,

The Black Cockatoos, and others, were at it again this morning, so I was out of bed by 5:45. After checking out at 7:30, and visiting Brumby’s, I headed north. Near Busselton, I detoured west, through Dunsborough, to check out Cape Naturaliste. I returned east to Busselton, then continued north through Bunbury to Mandurah. In order bypass Perth, at Mandurah I went east to Pinjarra, north to Armadale, east to Brookton and Corrigin, then north through Bruce Rock to Merredin (Pop. 3,500). In hindsight, I should have started heading inland north-east from near Busselton. I thought I might see something scenic if I stuck close to the coast, but all I saw was many new housing estates being constructed, and lots of traffic (compared to what I’ve been used to for the last week or so).

The motel at which I’d planned to stay was booked out when I called them yesterday afternoon, so I had to make a reservation at one that isn’t NRMA rated. I got conflicting results from a web search I did on it; from 2.5 to 3.5 star. It’s not all that flash; it’s seen better days, maybe just scraping in a 3 star rating. It has one redeeming feature, however, broadband internet, at 3/hour or $10 unlimited usage.

I took the risk of eating in the motel restaurant, and thankfully, the food was of a better quality than the room.

I’m off to Norseman tomorrow, where I’ve booked into the other (NRMA unrated) motel in town; a web search indicates it’s probably 3.5 star.

Cheers,
Julian