weather advise in north australia anyone?

[Singaporedream]

hi everyone.

we are currently RTW from singapore, to the west, then now in Australia, finding our cheapest way home thro east timor and indonesia.

we were worried about the weather in north australia during december 09- January 2010.

we are in sydney now, using the east coast via brisbane, caines then to darwin to ship to east timor, as fast as possible.

1) the monsoon that will happen in the indonesia island durings January-febuary, is it dangerous?

2) the weather in the north australia during mid december to early january, is it OK?

please advise..we are so green

goh
singaporedream

[snatchy]

Hi Guys
The weather is likely to be hot in northern Australia. along the east coast it will be more reasonable due to the moderating effect of the adjacent sea. Humidity climbs by the time you get to cairns. once you start to go inland from cairns to darwin, it will get hotter and more uncomfortable. bring plenty of drinking water for the more isolated stretches.

At this time of year there are often heavy localised storms in northern Australia. you may or may not get hit by them - just luck.

The monsoon in Northern Australia usually starts about christmas or early january, but it does not have a precise due date! once the monsoon hits some roads may be cut from flooding. be very carefull that you do not end up stuck in the middle of nowhere from roads that are cut - this is only really relevant for the cairns to darwin stretch.

i suggest you simply listen to the weather reports on the radio (ABC regional radio ABC Transmitter Frequencies - ABC Reception Advice) and listen to advise from other road travellers - particularly truck drivers. It is a good excuse to talk to some locals. If the heavy rains are forecast, be cautious.

i think i made it sound much worse than it will be.... :confused1:
enjoy the trip!

[TravellingStrom]

I agree, it will be hot, take plenty of water and drink it, don't get caught out by flash floods, it may rain 500km away, but the water will travel fast and far.

Cheers
TS

[flying biker]

Tropical storms can dump a lot of water in a short time but in my experience they usually don't last long.

If you are camping it's a good idea not to camp in any dry creek beds. They may not be dry all the time!

[Singaporedream]

hi all.

thanks for the advise. it sounded scary. so during this time of the year there isn't any human being living in the north because of such bad weather?

a question:

usually when will this bad season end? i only have 3 months visa and limited fund...

[mcguyver]

Goh
Its true that it will be very hot & usually wet during Drc & Jan, but generally speaking all the major roads will be open. If you want to travell by lesser roads you should check with the local police in each town.

[J1mbo]

Hi

I've recently got back from a 3 week trip: Sydney, Adelaide, Darwin, Cairns, Sydney. This was the end of Oct/start of Nov and the heat was getting pretty hot, but bearable, in the Northern Territory and inland North Queensland. Around that area it was consistently 35 degrees+, getting up to 40+ near Darwin. Dec/Jan/Feb will be hotter.....

I found the best bet was to get on the road as early as possible - as soon as it starts getting light get going, around 5:30am. Take it easy for the first hour or so though as the kangaroos will still be about, but most of them got off the road around first light. Definitely don't ride at night - make sure you're off the road as soon as the sun starts to set.

It wasn't until around 10:30am that it started getting hot and about 1-2pm when it was hottest. Once you get off the east coast, you can easily get 500km done by lunch time if you set off at 5:30am. At that time of year, I'd probably stop then and find some shade.

Drink plenty of water, but also make sure you get something with electolytes too - you can get powders, or just buy a Poweraid when you stop for fuel. I didnt do this initially, but once i started drinking one of these every couple of hours, the heat was much more bearable.

Hope this helps a bit too.

J

[Singaporedream]

hi SAAB463 and J1MBO,

thanks for the advise.

we entered australia on 28nov09 and we were only granted 90 days stay, expire on 27Feb2010.

we were thinking to stay around brisbane area with a friend until 15 Febuary 2010 and start riding up to darwin within 7 days.

will the weather be very terrible around 15 Febuary 2010 or around that time in the North?

if we are gonna stay longer till march, then we have to pay A$250 per person to extand our visa... don't think we want to pay such $$$.

anybody experience mid Febuary weather in the north?

[Hornet]

I rode OZ in January / February. It is very hot - in the desert it got up to 47C. Along the east coast it will also be very humid and wet. I spent 9 hours in a cyclone on 1 day and couldn't get through to Cairns because a bridge was flooded. Check out my blog if you want more info.

Would I do it again - without a doubt! Enjoy the ride. OZ is fantastic!

[PaulD]

I just read Choppa's weather report, he reckons it's gunna get HOT before turning Hoter, and finally F#$%* HOT and then wet, to wetter and finally
F#$%^* WET So just harden the F#$* up and get goin !!!!!

[farqhuar]

SD, you won't have any problems up North in the summer months.

Yep, there are plenty of human being living there at this time of year, and no they don't all melt into puddles of dehydrated perspiration.

To repeat what others have said, on the many occasions I have gone North in summer I try to ride early in the day, watch out for roos, take plenty of fluids - but NOT water, you need gatorade and other energy drinks to replenish the electrolytes otherwise the more water you drink, the thirstier you'll get.

Monsoons are no big deal - just sit it out, or if it is only a passing torrential downpour ride through it - feels really refreshing, and I'm sure you've experienced far worse in Singapore.

[Singaporedream]

thanks for your encouragements guys.

i will just go ahead, go to darwin, buy my last set of tyre there before heading to east timor.

thanks again!