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Is W.A in Dec-Jan crazy? Is W.A in Dec-Jan crazy?
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Photo by Andy Miller, UK, Taking a rest, Jokulsarlon, Iceland

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  #1  
Old 3 Sep 2009
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Is W.A in Dec-Jan crazy?
I'm planning to fly out to Australia sometime in November, buy a bike over there and then ride home to London.

Current plan is to start in Melbourne, ride around Victoria and Tasmania before heading west to Perth and then up to Darwin to get the boat across to East Timor.

Do I have a big problem with the Northern part of W.A up to Darwin if I am hitting it in December/January? I understand that this is absolutely the worst time to go but am wondering whether this is something I can just man up on or whether the heat/humidity and potential for washed out roads is something more serious.

I am a very inexperienced rider, and will be riding alone, so will be sticking to the major roads (unfortunately) during this part but if this is a really bad idea does anyone have any creative solutions i.e. putting the bike on a train up to Darwin (looking at the rail map there does not appear to be direct links from Perth).

Apologies for the long post but have been amazed by how generous people on this forum are with their knowledge and experience!
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  #2  
Old 4 Sep 2009
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You're right, it's the worst time of year to be riding in tropical Australia.

Heat and humidity are not necessarily problems per se, but tropical cyclones, storms and floods could make the ride impossible in some places, even on the highways. However I don't know what the long-range weather forecasters are expecting the coming season to be like. Some years are worse than others.

It's true there's no railway line from Perth to Darwin. You'd have to use the Adelaide-Darwin line.

On the bright side, summer is a good time of year to be riding down south. Maybe you could delay your departure by a couple of months so that you could ride all the way to Darwin.
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  #3  
Old 5 Sep 2009
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I'm currently in Sydney preparing my bike. I planned to go to Tasmania beginning of December and then ride towards Perth.

Let me know if your travel plans fit then we could team up for a bit.

Cheers,

Frank
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  #4  
Old 15 Nov 2009
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not sure if you are still doing this ride but I live in teh north west of WA and the rumours around bout the wet (they are just rumours and who can really predict the weather anyway) there is meant to be 2 or 3 big cyclones this year and not as bad as last wet (famous last words)I had some back packers stuck at my house for a week as the roads in and out of Karratha were flooded

it's fine to travel up here it's just bloody hot and there might be delays and you don't wanna be camping when a cyclone hits you need a solid cyclone rated structure

welcome to crash at mine on the way through
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  #5  
Old 15 Nov 2009
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Hi guys, you'll like Victoria. We're on our way west now, currently in Adelaide. Do ride the Great Ocean Road, it is stunning. Camp sites are a ripp-off at $40 per tent, so we used free sites like picnic sites etc next to the road (for free) The coastal road from Mt Gam in SA up north is also verry nice. Adelaide is currently extremely hot, 42degC, they say its normal.

Enjoy Tasmania, we didn't get to go threre, budget too low.

Johan
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  #6  
Old 24 Nov 2009
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Feel free to drop me a line if you need more info/a place to crash in Perth. I'll be here for January, but will be travelling out of town in Feb.

Cheers,
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  #7  
Old 23 Dec 2009
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Hey,
I'm currently in Sydney ready to go on a tour of Oz on a DR650. Hopefully will be hitting the road on Dec 28th and heading in the direction of Micalong Creek (ADV gathering). After that I'll be making my way towards Perth over a few weeks. If anyone else is along the way or heading in same direction let me know and we can meet up!

cheers,
Will
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  #8  
Old 23 Dec 2009
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We'll be heading in the opposite direction, but will stop for chat, as always...see ya on the road. Boot.
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