Austraila

[justyn.smith]

Harsh outback

The coastal journey from Adelaide west, up and back around to Brisbane are through some of the harshest areas there are. but it's not all grim. The rest of the ride is more 'rider friendly' and the sights you will see will stay with you for the rest of your life!

I hadn't checked your stats so I didn't think to suggest the Ulysses club, though they are a great bunch (Dad and Uncle joined last week, I get to be an associate member for the next 7 years ).

My point was to make sure you kept in contact with people especially during the harsh stretches. Let someone know where you're headed and when you expect to be there, then LET THEM KNOW you made it, a couple of hours in the sun with a broken leg would be miserable, but a couple of days will kill you.

Good luck with your adventure!

(an afterthought... don't worry about the GPS maps, any tourist map would be better, all the highways are numbered and well signed.)

[Badger]

Round Australia

Hi Ackeric,
I've just read the thread you started and thought I'd add my two cents [all right, five dollars] worth.

Firstly, its a great idea and if you do it, it will be a memorable experiance.

I note that a lot of what has been said has been discouraging. Like any adventure, success lies in the planning.

Climate.....how long were you thinking of taking?
What ever, dont be in the harsher areas [interior/northern] between mid Nov and mid March, unless you are well prepared for extreme heat. Tourists occasionally die because they hire a car or van, head up dirt tracks in January, get bogged in sand and try to walk to get help, dying of dehydration well before they're missed, or found. There is an oft spoken rule, if you get trouble, stay with your vehicle, you have a much better chance of being found. If you're heading into remote areas, notify someone responsible [cops] of your plans, so if you get trouble, and aren't where you said you'd be, someone will go looking for you.

In the tropical far north, temperatures of 35 C throughout the year are possible, the wet season is roughly Nov - March, the build up to this [Sept- Nov] is when everyone living and working there goes 'troppo', the humidity is stifling. Once the wet starts it is much more pleasaant, but of course if it's a wet wet, it's really..... wet!
If you were thinking of 3 or so months, then spring or autumn [Aug- Oct, or March - May] would be the pick. Where I live in the mid north of South Australia Autumn is absolutely beautiful [as it is in most of southern Australia]. It's normally dry, with warm sunny days and cool nights.
For my money, on a bike, autumn is the pick of the seasons.
Venturing into the harsher areas at the end of autumn, in winter, or early spring is a reasonable proposition.

Are you only going down black top, or were you thinking of venturing down unsealed roads? If you're going off bitumen, dont do it on a heavy bike. I have raved about the 'versatility' of the XS, but you dont want to be riding any distance through soft stuff, sand, bull dust, [or mud for that matter] on a heavy bike, you will not enjoy it, and with other traffic around it is positively dangerous.......sharing a dirt road with one, or a number of road-trains is something you certainly wont forget in a hurry. [Not in living memory anyway!]

If it was a blast round the coast on sealed roads that you had in mind [in the style of the iron butt rides, I've read a bit about], then still do your homework, but it would be a great ride.
Get the timing right!

Wild life is a real worry, if you see anything, [cattle, sheep, kangaroo's, emus and birds generally, camels, wombats,.....crocodiles] expect it/them to behave in the most unexpected way. Slow right down, use your horn, give yourself every chance.

Flock and herd animals dont like to be separated from their mates, so if you have one on one side, and the rest on the other, expect it to risk it's life [and yours] to cross the road. If there are even numbers either side, you might have animals from either [or both] sides dashing across in a panic to rejoin a pal, or a parent on the other. Kangaroos and Emus in particular have very small brains.
Speaking of crocodiles, be very cautious about swimming in rivers and water holes in the tropics......get local info, or dont!

Dont forget Tasmania, a beautiful island easily accessible by ferry from Melbourne with lots of good windy roads. If you're here during summer, Tassie's the place to be, in winter [June July] on the other hand.......

Speaking of great windy roads [I mean lots of curves....], the Snowy Mountains are fantastic, take days to get from Sydney to Melbourne the most circuitous way you can figure from the map........that one's a summer undertaking too!
You'll want to get in as much windy stuff as possible [dont miss The Great Ocean Road west of Melbourne] before crossing the Nulabor Plain between Adelaide and Perth [nulabor means treeless] where the engineers actually put bends in the road soley to try to stop people from going to sleep........

If you're going past Pt Augusta [to or from Perth or Adelaide, or up the centre to Alice Springs and Darwin], the Flinders Ranges just north and east of Pt Augusta are well worth a look.

From Perth up to Darwin is a long way, but there are some gems along the way. A place called Monkey Mia where you can swim with dolphins if you're so inclined. Or perhaps swim with the mermaids swimming with the dolphins......
I'm told Broome, further up the coast, is paradise in the North West.
You'll have a ball!
Good luck!

[pgg]

Talking of crocs, they're sneaky buggers. Working on prawn boats in Karumba (Gulf of Carpentaria - worth a look on your trip) I'd go swimming in the river off the wharf - against all recommendations. I'd never seen a croc or any sign of a crocs, so being a young smarta** I just ignored the locals warnings. Crocs - ha! what rubbish. Anyway, one day after a swim, and dangling my legs off the wharf, a HUGE S.O.A.B croc slowly cruised past 6 feet below. I gasped. I gulped. I shook. Guess what - swimming in rivers was rapidly removed from the agenda.

[glenn]

Hi Ackeric
I found this site that some touring australia stuff on it. May e interesting. havent been right through it
Glenn
Oz
http://www.mcnews.com.au/Touring/200...dAustralia.htm