An old Yank wants to visit western OZ on the cheap

G/Day Mates and Howdy to Y'all,

I had so darn much FUN when I rode in Oz in July of 2012 with Jock and met many of his mates that I want to again go down under. Jock guided me through pretty much the eastern third of your country but I have not yet been to the western part of Australia.

As we Yanks say I am not going to beat around the bush, if I should come to Oz again I need to do so as cheaply as possible, I was fortunate last time when Jon the man who imports Ural's to Australia provided me with a machine to ride and Jock in his extreme generosity provided me with air line tickets.

So I am looking for suggestions on the cheapest way to get something to ride whilst down under, don't really care what it is, I am not much of a sand rider and when on the deep sand covered roads I traveled the last time was very thankful I was on three wheels rather then two, however a two wheeled machine would be MUCH cheaper to fuel.

When folks fly to OZ from the US and want to go the western side of your country do they fly to the east coast and then to the west coast or just fly to the west coast to begin with. The last time I was in Oz it was during your winter and I had a hard time packing enough gear and not incur over weight charges on the plane. Would it be better to travel the western part of your country in your summer, that would get me out of my country during our winter and that would be nice?

Is there anyone on the western side of Oz that would be interested in doing a rideabout with an old Yank in tow, I rekon I could afford about a month of wondering if I can stay out of the cities, hotels, and pubs, I sure do miss those little meat pies so I better stay away from the bakery's too.

So if anyone is interested in being a part of this, please let me know, if you have suggestions on what to see, what to ride, gear to bring, please post to this thread. In the mean time I am going to start saving some money for air fare and see if I can't make this happen sometime in your summer of 2015 that would be my winter. IF traveling the western part of Oz in your summer is daft, then tell me so and maybe I can work out something different. When is the next "Off Center Rally" and what part of the country will it be held in, that would be a great event to attend I sure enjoyed the last one.

Dave

Hi Cob. The next of center is in the Kimberely region of NW western Australia at Drysdale River Station. The date is always the 2nd weekend in August. ( you should be able to google it) WA in summer can be extremely hot i.e.45C+ for days at a time & the distances between "civilisation" will make the run up the Cape look like a suburban street. Make sure you check the scale on any map when planning! Add to the mix West Australians live there ( not many though, they're mainly Kiwi's & South africians, and Bully of course) and you will see why its called the wild west The OCR's are held in our "winter" for a reason, so all us that live in the SE corner can escape the cold here!!

Good Luck with it, if you contact Zac say hi

DD

Gday.
If you travel more than 1 hour east of Perth, more than 1/2hr north of Perth, or more than 1 hour inland from damn near anywhere in our fair brown land of Westoz, summer temps will mainly hover over 40*C.
Think New Mexico or AZ desert stuff.
Avoid December to March, or stay near the southwest coasts and forests.

Yep, that sums it up!

Anyway, if your in Yass I thought the "wild west" starts on that shite road from your place out to Cowra..........

Ahh, so your familiar with the engineering prowess of Yass Valley council. I'm actually about 30 km from Yass on Canberra side. You should see the shit job they did of "grading" our access road . 2 weeks & its got more corrugations than the Cape road.

The Off centre Runs are in 2014 & 2016
2014 upper north WA 2016 jet to be decided, probably more to the centre to east to south of the island.
You would be best (in my opinion) to start in Adelaide SA & travel west to WA, the Nullarbor is worth the ride, start in late July & take in the infamous Border Run (first Saturday in August each year)
Look me up when/if you are here, I am 20 klm north of Adelaide & If I find the money I will show you around


grandad

look at my blog
pjingladstonesa.blogspot.com

G/Day Mates,

Thanks for the information so far, I knew it would be HOT during your summer just trying to cut down on the amount of gear that needs to be flown-packed. I got a bit further south then Canbeera, on my first visit to OZ, bloody COLD at night in late July-early August, darn near froze me arse off. I'll do a bit of research on places to go-things to see, please submit suggestions on places to go and times to be there as I know next to nothing about your fair country other then I want to go there again.

Aereoplane flights & fares

You won't get a single flight from the USA to OZy west coast - too far for the fuel range!
Cheapest to get a ticket to where you want to go from the USA .. even if it is a broken flight (lands and takes off again). If your going to get internal flight - they are usually cheaper to get when you buy the other tickets in the USA.

Where?
Darwins max temperature is around 32C .... all year. The thing that changes is the humidity and rainfall. Our winter in the north is ok, still gets cold at nigh once your away from the coast - basically you radiate your heat out in to space (-200C) .. that big sky cost you heat at night. Try for the sholder seasons (your fall = the OCR times...). So; if your cold during the day - go north, cold at night - go to the coast.

OCRs - even years, 2nd or 3rd full weekend in August. Border run is 1st full weekend run in August (any year), time is then allowed from there to the OCR to deternime if that is the 2nd or 3rd weekend. Where the next OCR happens is determined by the previous OCR. Usually swaps left to right .. up to down .. and a few times in the centre ...

Sand. Well we have some of that ... usually in the wrong place and for some distance. Would you prefer mud? [humm my scale .. mud (black bottomless), mud (clay), loose wet rocks (say 10 kg each), sand, gravel, washboard, etc]

Places to go ? I like the 'big sky' so tend for the inland (and get the cold nights). Population densities in the west .. lower than on the east coast ... so you won't get as many good bakeries. Most roadhouses do showers .. makes 'free' camping easier. I like Broome... a great place to do sfa.

Howdy Warin,

Thanks, this is the kind of information I need.

... big skies = cold?

Arse about face.

Big land = cold.

Land heats up and cools down quicker than water, so in the winter the coastal areas benefit from the air warmed by the sea. The further inland you go the less it gets this warm air so the cooler it is ... especially after dark when insolation effect disappears.

But yeah. Friggin' hot/uncomfortable in the northwest after November, stormy cyclonic conditions too (think Gulf of Mexico).

Howdy Reeksy,

Damn, sounds like if the drop bears, crocs, spiders, snakes or sharks don't get me the weather will. Oh well gotta go sometime just wanta get in some more good riding before it happens.

Howdy Cobber!

Don't take our word for it... listen to our weather experts. By the way, cussin's allowed on/encouraged on TV here.
http://youtu.be/DBrlqisHdYQ

, TV here is so bloomin civilized its sickening. One of the things I enjoyed most about my time down under is that the people are open and free, the country doesn't put up with fools and survival of the fittest seems to eliminate a lot of critters who would end up on the welfare rolls in the US.

Dave - I loved reading your last adventurous saga out here. Great trip.

You should understand enough of the place to realise that the west has a lot of 'not-much' between localities, and some localities are just that -- A spot on a map with a name but nothing else.

It's easy to get to the west if you fly in on the east side. It just wastes a precious day (or night) each end of your trip to cross the sandpit.

Grab a really good map and have a think about how long you have got, and what is 'doable' in the time. If you don't have a quality Australian Road Atlas, then the large format HEMA one is excellent, particularly the version that covers 4WD tracks as well. It shows most of the out-of-the-way places and road houses off the main tarmac. I always find it better to look at a hard map over a screen map. Gives you a better sense of what you are in for.

If you want to 'do the west' but stay mainly on tarmac roads, then your routes will be somewhat limited due to the lack of tarmac. There are some great road-train routes around the west (mainly north), and some of these are tarmac, or have a slip of tarmac one-lane wide down the middle. We call them 'skinny' roads.

If you don't have a decent map (atlas) as a start point, PM me with your details and I'll send you one of mine. It's best in A3 size which is 43 x 30 centimetres and has all the details you need for planning purposes, but an A4 size would do. You're probably worth the expenditure as I know you will plan a great trip.

Anyway - Your choice and the last thing I want to do is be so presumptuous as to try and plan the trip for you, but I think you need to let us know what tools you have available for planning (other than Google Maps which is crap for your sort of trip). Guys will reference all sorts of names and places, but until you can spread a map out and see where they are and what's involved to get there, it won't make sense.

Fuel is generally available on main and secondary roads within a normal bike's range. Say 300 kms. However, the 'town' may not be open 24 hours unless by arrangement! Even auto fuel pumps that use a credit card can be 'iffy' if power is down, or it's broken, or vandalised. And that's in large towns!

I'm sure you get the idea. It's a remote part of the country and there are long stretches of nothing between the somethings. I love the west and have been there three times now, but the days are long on the bike. Bit like this out Longreach way.

Howdy MIXR,

Thanks for the great information. It would seem the more I learn about the western part of Oz I would get more for my money and time to go again to the eastern side, perhaps venture more into the outback and see more of the southern coast. All I have for maps is what I can find on the net, a map set like what you have described sounds like a great planning aid, I am sending a PM your way.

I've had the pleasure of driving around Arizona, so if you like that sort of country on a bike, then the West is fine. Plenty to see. Just a long way in-between beers, and damned expensive when you find a pub! Planning is half the fun. Riding the plan is the other half. I'll respond to your PM when it comes through. Cheers, Mick.

When are you tinting of going? I will be there in April and staying in the west for a bit (Perth, Broome, Etc). Let me low if your thinking about April at all.. Hope you have been well

Howdy Chris,

"IF" I go again to Oz it won't be until next year, takes awhile to save up for such a trip just putting out feelers now for information and suggestions.

I have been well, still ornery as ever, hope to see you at this years Black Dog Rally.

Dave

G'day Mr Cob,

Maybe wait another year, save a bit more and time your run to make it to the 2016 OCR.

JBtourer

Howdy JBtourer,

Your point is well taken, however I'll be 66 years young in a few more weeks and don't want to put good things off for to long a time period. Sadly I am slowin down and getting gimper from old injuries.