Flinders Island

[hartleymartin]

G'day,

Flinders Island popped up as a possible location to do a bit of a Cycling/Camping/Fishing trip. What else is there to see on Flinders Island? Where are the camping grounds, and importantly, where are the local shops where I can purchase my supplies and the usual other bits and pieces. The road from North to South is about 75km's long from what I can ascertain on the interweb. Also how do I get there? Can I take a Ferry from Melbourne, or do I have to fly in?

[LG]

G'day, I haven't been to Flinders for a few years but absolutely loved it when I did visit. I'm also thinking about a bike tour "one day" with my family. The roads are quiet with not huge hills on both asphalt and dirt. The weather is generally good although it can be a tad windy.

Shops - Whitemark & Lady Barron with all the groceries you'll need. Take a few spares for the bike though. You'll notice the people are really friendly, so if there's anything you need, ask somebody and word will get around the community pretty quick.

All the info on how to get there is on www.visitflindersisland.com.au I've been on a return flight from Lonnie, which was on a very small single engine plane, so you'll need to enquire how they go carting bikes.

If there's any specific questions you need answered, let me know as I have a have a friend who's been there recently

[hartleymartin]

When you say small single-engined aircraft, methinks that the weekly ferry might be a tad safer. I can swim - can't fly.

[LG]

When I say small, I mean about an 8 seater (including pilot). Bags were in an area behind the back seats. If you get the seat next to the pilot you will have the spare controls, and can at least take over if the pilot has a heart attack. Only about a 20min flight from memory.

If you're coming from the mainland, it may be easier to fly/boat from Victoria. It's definitely worth the effort getting there.

[m@]

Plenty of info, photos, maps etc on this site. I'd say the ferry would be the way to go with a bike in tow...

[hartleymartin]

Thanks for your help everyone. This is a trip for the future, as I still have a couple of much closer-to-home destinations to visit first in order to hone my touring skills. I also need to find about 4 or 5 Rover Scouts who would be interested in doing this trip with me if I use it for my Rambler badge. The impetus to get planning this trip has just increased because I bought a single-burner butane gas stove and a dozen gas canisters for $35 from BigW. Not a bad buy I think. At least this way, we can always have hot tea at camp, rather than eating cold spaghetti.