We came via SEA, Indonesia East Timor to Darwin...

Here on HU is a shipping database which you can use to get some shipping companies.

Contact Justin Campbell <justin.campbell AT airmenzies.com> to ask for the contacts in your home country or directly for a quote. (Tell him you got the email address from the German biker couple)


The Carnet you can extend up to two years in AU, at least it was no problem for German registered bikes (cost in AU an extra 100AUD for carnet extension plus the fee for the carnet in your home country). But this dispense on your home country, ask your automobile club. And yes you have to get it out of AU after or you will pay a hell of money.

It´s not about slow I guess, you cannot go faster than 100 in most places anyhow, as far as I remember max was 120km/h. If they catch you going fast somewhere (even in the middle of nowhere!) it gets really expensive or even they throw you out of AU (e.g. going 50km/h to fast you parob. go to jail ;)

With Justin we flew our bike from Sydney to Frankfurt for under 1300EUR. It took us less than 3 days to organize. We got the bike back in FRA after 3 days.


Good luck!

Down Under
 

Hi there

I did the same in 2007. See Claudio Angelini.
My advice would be to take your own bike.
This way you can test your set up back home and everything is ready once you get there. In my opinion it's cheaper anyway and you know what you have. Looking around for some bikes in Down Under I figured they are quite prizy and most of them come with lots of miles on the clock.
Once you get there, organize an Aussie Sim Card (is sometimes even required when applying for a job or for the tax file number) and open a bank account in one of the big Aussie Banks. This will give you a local debit card and therefore less costs when paying for fuel and other stuff. And you don't need to carry lots of cash, since nearly everyone accepts them.
Keep in mind that Australia is expensive, even more when you head for the Outback. Fuel was then at 2 A$ in the Outback. Food doesn't come any cheaper. I would even say that prices are comparable with Switzerland.
Therefore forget about fruit picking. You earn f.. all and work long hours in the sun. I managed to work as a mechanic in some places and the paid up to 36 A$ an hour. Some mining companies offered me even 60 A$ as a diesel fitter if i'd stay for 3 months!
One piece of advice; yes, you can extend you stay in Australia for another year on a working holiday visa but only if you have done 3 months in a agricultural business... but keep in mind, you could also do the same in New Zealand. They have the same deal as Australia. So in total could cruise around for up to 4 years on those islands! Keeping in mind that you have to enter any of these countries before you turn 31.

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact me. I did 55'000 Km in Australia on my Africa Twin and worked for about 4 months in different places.

After that headed North via East Timor to Indonesia and the some other countries of South East Asia. They are dead cheap and I was living of my money I earned in Australia for quite some while.

Greets from Kinshasa

Claudio

Whatever you do, don't take the advice above and skip the east coast. There are amazing places, beaches, rides etc etc etc on the East Coast. Like any country in the world there are places to avoid as being overly touristed, expensive, whatever.