Serlina and Vailan undertook the world’s longest bike trail to fundraise for Indigenous literacy! Here, they reflect on their adventure and what they learned.
“I don’t think I can do this!” Serlina cried, as we struggled to navigate to our central Perth accommodation.
We only had four hours of sleep from the prior night of desperate packing, with our first proper road test of our shiny new mountain bikes about to start. With all the gear strapped on, the circumstances were testing on Serlina’s physical and mental strength.
And the journey hadn’t even begun yet!
We discovered the Munda Biddi trail when Googling for ‘Australia’s best bikepacking adventures’ as part of our Sabbatical in 2021.
We were drawn by its claim-to-fame as the longest continuous off-road cycling trail in the world. Munda Biddi means ‘a path through the forest’ in the Nyoongar language.
After some convincing by Vailan, we went all in.
Our 15 day, 1,061km south to north adventure from Albany, WA to Mundaring, WA can best be described as meandering, meditative, maddening and muling - in Vailan’s case - at the best and worst of times.
The landscape ranged from harsh exposed red gravel and serpent-like crystalline coastlines, to cool shady karri forests.
Quick sand-like pea gravel, windy switchbacks, insurmountable hills came to be a daily feature.
Saddle sores settled after Day Four and we were smiles all round. We met many bike packers, carried and consumed a necessary amount of wine.
No matter how early we committed to ‘wheels down’, the 9-10 hour daily slogs will give us memories to last.
Our accommodation was a mix of purpose built huts in the wilderness, riverside tent stays or local motels plus a bed and breakfast at a local post-office.
A deep sense of satisfaction and calm overcame us when we endured a thigh burning grind to our first hut (see picture).
We set up our tent and prepared a dinner of instant noodles and veggies to the vibrant sound of birds as the sun was setting.
We raised $1,743 for the Indigenous Literacy Foundation and want to thank all our family and friends for their support for this unforgettable odyssey.
On behalf of all of the ILF, we would like to thank Serlina and Vailan for their incredible fundraising efforts. Our work would not be possible without the creative and inspirational fundraising of our supporters.
For more fundraising stories, click here!
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