Horizons Unlimited - The HUBB - Brussels to Oz in 2005

Hi everyone. I have long planned to go to Australia for a year or two but have always thought that a RTW flight is a bit of a lame way of getting there. So I have been thinking of interesting ways to overland it and have settled on the idea of going by motorbike.

I would be looking to leave from Belgium in March/April 2005 when my current contract expires (already counting the days). I am looking for people interested in doing this trip (or parts of it) with me. If that's you why don't we see if our plans and ideas are similar and then maybe we can start planning this trip in more detail.

I want to take maybe three or four months or so to get to Oz. This may well be asking a lot and is certainly not written in stone. I can imagine myself getting stalled in Thailand quite easily since I am desperate to learn how to scuba dive too! Exact route and details are still totally up in the air though. First things first I'll have to get a motorcycle licence and a bike I suppose! Any advice on this is much appreciated - I was thinking in terms of some sort of trail bike to allow me to do some off-road stuff in the Australian outback, good idea?

I have worked out that i'll have a total budget of about £6-10,000 for everything, including buying the bike and related kit. I have no idea if this is sufficient for what I am planning though, so any pointers on how much a trip like this might cost from start to finish would also be really great.