23 October 2009. Thought I'd take a less direct route from York to Mundaring through the forests which mark the water catchment area for the reservoir Lake C Y O'Connor (Mundaring Weir) in the hills east of Perth. There are many, many roads and tracks through these forests and while most the named roads are graded and good, some of the smaller tracks require 4WD. Anyone heading out here (and the scenery is fantastic) to do any mapping by vehicle, foot or bicycle should take plenty of water and let someone know where they are going and what time they are due back. Don't rely on mobile phone coverage everywhere. The next time I'm driving out here I'm taking my chainsaw because fallen trees over the roads are common.

Note that some areas of the forest are National Parks or Conservation Parks and have restricted access to cars because they are trying to stop the spread of die-back and they don't really want to allow unfettered access to off-road drivers (vehicles should not leave the existing roads or tracks anywhere). When I finally got to civilisation at a car park near Mundaring Weir I found myself on the wrong side of a hefty, locked metal barrier with lots of signs saying I shouldn't be there. Obviously some of the routes in (including the one I took) don't have any "no unauthorised access" signs up, so next time I'll plan my route a little more carefully to make sure I don't stray (by car) into a National Park.

Mundaring National Park and Helena National Park are situated around Lake C Y O'Connor. There are many other National Parks, Nature Reserves, etc. throughout these hills.