Proposed Around Australia Trip.

[polishbiker]

Hi there,

I have been creating a route from Cairns to Perth through all the major cities such Sydney, Melbourne etc but recently i been considering simply taking X number of months off work and doing a Perth to Perth loop going clock-wise. In progress of discussing my option with HR as well as looking into what it takes for someone to manage my property in the mean time.

Already created route from Cairns to Perth, looking into daily itinerary from Perth up North until it joins Cairns. Still need to look into distances from Darwin to Cairns.

Could not find any articles on here from anyone who has done it in the past. If you have any info/suggestions/warning would be appreciated.

At this stage it would be:

Perth WA
Geraldton WA
Broome WA
Darwin NT
Cairns QLD
Brisbane QLD
Sydney NSW
Canberra ACT
Melbourne VIC
Adelaide SA
Port Augusta SA
Albany WA
Augusta, Western Australia
Perth WA

My biggest concern atm is the weather, been reading other peoples blogs/articles and seems that around October is the way to go, i would prefer to do it much sooner and perhaps allow myself 4 months to do it. Would obviously prefer not to get wet everyday. This is a plan in progress, upgrading my bicycle atm with lets hope very reliable parts. Any suggestions on what time would be 'best'?

Would like to find some other cyclists to join and do at least some sections with me, member Baalzamon would possibly be doing Perth-Broome as well.

Peace.

[footieimp]

Hi

Go for it! We cycled around Oz five years ago and it was fantastic. We started in Perth mid-September and went anti-clockwise around. The headwinds across the Nullabor were pretty bad but the tailwinds all across the top end made up for it.

If you head clockwise in October you will be in the top end during the wet season, which means roads could easily be closed.

We avoided Cairns, turned inland at Townsville, so it was a total distance of 14,000 kms.

The crazyguyonabike website has lots of cycling journals.
If you want any more info then feel free to ask.

Impy

[il padrone]

The general advice for round Australia tours is to ride anti-clockwise, on account of the more favourable winds (westerlies across the Nullarbor, SE up the east coast, easterlies across the north) in the times when it is best to ride the different regions.

This couple did it clockwise and wrote a book about it.

‘What I knew about Australia’s Highway One: it was long, more than 16,000 kilometres around if you included Tasmania; and it was full of trucks, missiles of destruction half the length of a soccer pitch with 62 wheels so that if one didn’t get me, the other 61 might. What I knew about cycling: nothing.’

After fulfilling their backpacking ‘tour of duty’ in Europe self-confessed cycling ‘frauds’ Andrew and Janette Bain decided to embark on the ultimate adventure: to explore their own ‘backyard’ and cycle around Australia. Unprepared, unconfident and terrified of trucks, they wobbled away on a journey with a solitary ‘bike tool’. In Headwinds (Hardie Grant, $29.95) Andrew and Janette redefine the ‘Aussie Crawl’.

Plagued by murderous trucks, psychotic cassowaries and aching limbs, they survive bushfires, food poisoning, Billy Joel songs and unwelcoming wildlife, to emerge saner than they thought they ever would. Along the way, they meet the eccentric ‘Mad Phil’; Yoshi, the deepsleeping Japanese cyclist; Surf nazis; Grey Nomads; Wallaby mafia; and Adrian, the bible-thumping cyclist from Geraldton who was inspired to ride around Australia by – of all things – a bush-tucker book.

Headwinds is as much a story of determination, adventure and chocolate as it is about life on the verges of roads in the Sunburnt Country. Not to mention what can go wrong when you get the wrong advice! From the pencil-thin highways of the east coast to the humbling vastness of the outback, Headwinds is a story that shows there is a taste for adventure in everybody … sometimes even despite themselves!

Part of your route is covered here. Crazyguyonabike is a very good website for tour reports and info.

Go in Oct from Perth, across to SA and Vic in Dec-Jan-Feb (maybe even do Tassie in Feb), heading up the east coast in Mar-May then across the north in the dry (May-Nov) and heading down the west coast, preferably in Sep-Oct.

[polishbiker]

Thanks for the info guys.

Thats the thing, i was hoping it would be possible to do it sometime next year as i dont want to wait another year to do it! Clockwise or not, either way!

Is New Zealand/Tasmania any good at this time of the year?

I just feel like taking a few months off and cycling without getting wet 24/7

[RonK]

Is New Zealand/Tasmania any good at this time of the year?

If you mean over summer - yes, it's the perfect time to go . Take sunscreen.

I returned from NZ only a few weeks ago. I've also toured Tassie at this time of year.

[footieimp]

Hi again

Check your inbox!

Impy

[tmac100]

I recently came across a website with .de as an address. It has a list of a number of around Australia trips starting around 2001. Some were websites and there was a blog as well. I cannot find the link to this .de address. Anyone know of it - if so post it.

[il padrone]

Not Eric Staarup's website? It's http://www.lonebiker.dk.

Good resource anyway as he's been around Australia three times, trying to get the record. I think Peter Heal has it well sewn up now though.

[tmac100]

Not Eric Staarup's website? It's http://www.lonebiker.dk.

Good resource anyway as he's been around Australia three times, trying to get the record. I think Peter Heal has it well sewn up now though.

Not this one of Eric's. I have never seen Eric's before and will look thru it as I get ready to do Perth-Sydney next July-August.

Yes I know it is the Aussie winter, but 40 y. ago I lived in Gundagai where there was NO central heating - or even someone to keep me warm Mind you, I wasn't looking. OTOH, I just listened to CBC internet news and my home town of Winnipeg, Manitoba has extremely cold temps with the windchill bringing it down to -50 C. Yes, that is a minus fifty celcius in the wind. In these conditions farm animals need to be kept out of the wind - or they die FWIW, school busses are forbidden by law to haul kids in these conditions as well.

So, in some respect, PER-SYD next winter will be comparatively "balmy"

[LHT]

try not to set your plans to live by. Just turn up and take it as it goes, the rest will take care of itself.

[tmac100]

Aaaah, yes
The story of life's journey

[Poiter]

I recently came across a website with .de as an address. It has a list of a number of around Australia trips starting around 2001. Some were websites and there was a blog as well. I cannot find the link to this .de address. Anyone know of it - if so post it.

Think that could have been my list.
http://users.tpg.com.au/pheal/AroundOz/ ... ecords.pdf
Erik had it posted on his site with no reference I think.

[polishbiker]

Thank you for all the replies and hints.

For now the next trip is going to be in August this year, from Perth to Sydney through Adelaide, Melbourne and Canberra, ~5000km and 7 weeks of freedom!

Just buying and upgrading lots of bits for the bike, cannot wait!