Day 9 & 10: Albany Rest Day x 2

Collis and I had a very lazy morning and didn't get moving until after lunch. The weather is cold and wet today so we checked out the forecast for the next few days. There were 3 wild weather warnings for the area we are planning on riding through with possible hail, thunderstorms, strong NW winds and heavy rain with possible flash flooding. The forecast did not look promising and the conditions appeared unsafe especially for a bush camp the first night out. The weather for the following day is much more promising with weather clearing up pretty much late morning. Our decision was made to have an extra rest day here in Albany and take the safest option of riding the following day.

We spent the afternoon visiting the wind farm and some of the local beaches before food shopping and then attending a meeting we called with the riders to inform them of the change to the ride. Most riders were happy with the decision and this would give them a chance to recuperate more from the tough riding over the last few days. Di's hip is still not right and this will give it another days rest, Doug has a broken tooth he wants attended to so hopefully he can get an appointment tomorrow and Peter's new bike requires the cables fiddled with so he can get it into the bike shop. Jim and Fran are happy to give their bottoms a longer rest and Jacquei well she's just happy. There was some dissension amongst the group but all seems to be sorted and we feel we have made the correct decision for their safety. We do not make changes to the ride lightly but we will make changes if and when necessary.

It rained quite heavily throughout the evening but eased overnight. The morning is quite clear and some blue skies. We are still comfortable with our decision especially when we rang around to the places we are staying at over the next few days to find out that the weather there is filthy. By the afternoon the wind has picked up to be very strong and NW (which would have been a headwind). The clouds are closing over and the forecasters may just be right about the rough weather. As I wrote this, the skies opened up and it is pouring. If we had ridden we would still be on the road to an unknown bush camp.