Melbourne to Darwin. Down the middle.
 

I saw this trip offered on a Motorcycle tour company page. Takes about a month with sightseeing so it seems. ?

Anyone here done a trip like this before ? Any advice ? I wonder if I can rent or buy a bike in Australia easily..

Sounds hot and thirsty lol.

Depends on the time of year...right now only the top end is hot. Alice Springs is down to zero degrees overnight, up to twenty during the day so nice time to visit.

I've also been told its a very boring ride. Looks wild and remote too. Which I like..

Take the West Coast... Long, hot, lownesome, took us a 11 month, dont miss Tasi...

To buy a bike is not hard at all, you just need looooots of cash down there, two Zegas full help ;)

Its as boring as you make it. There are a few side attractions that you can zoom past without loosing any time. Or you can stop and look... WW2 aerodromes, pools of water, butterfly colonies, rocks, graves from 'We of the Never Never'... And you can take extensive side trips - bypassing lots of tar ... Savanaway leads off to the east. Oodnadata track leading downwards to the Flinders ranges .. and I'd recommend it if the road is not damp.

Darwin is 'normally' 32 C max each day ... 30 is cool, 34 is warm, winter to summer. At 25 C they put jumpers on. What changes in Darwin is the humidity! Rather than talk of winter/summer the locals use 'the build up' (or suicide season) and 'the wet' to identify the season most avoid. Where the temperature changes a lot in inland .. hot in the summer peak, cold in the winter, and cold when ever the wind comes up from the south! At night inland you can expect the temperature to fall to freezing.. if you leave water out over night it may have ice. Best to keep things inside .. stops the dingos taking things off for investigation, and keeps them a little warmer.

If you like remote places and night skys .. the Australian outback has lots of it.

Yep, Darwin is hot and thirsty whenever you visit. But again, right now is a good time as it's hot and dry rather than hot and wet. And night time temps can get below 20C which means sleeping is a bit easier. Also no cyclones!


If you start in Melbourne this time of year though the weather there will remind you of the UK!

Adelaide to Darwin
 

Hi Ted , (first post , member for almost an hour)
I rode this route this time last year on my V Strom, 4500km 9 days riding over 17 days. Really surprising how interesting it was. First thing in the morning , clear roads and the Outback air with a horizon as far as one can see- fantastic.
Woomera the old Rocket Testing Base, stayed in an Underground motel in Coober Pedy, walked the 10km around Uluru, The Olgas, Alice Springs ( stay at White Gum Motel, very motorcycle friendly) gets nippy in Alice in July, Namatjira original paintings hanging inside the Ti Tree Roadhouse, Devils Marbles, Daly Waters Pub an institution serving cold beer and Barramundi Burgers,Soaking in the Hot Pools of Mataranka,Kakadu National Park - Rock paintings , Crocs Tours.
So much to see and yes it's mostly a flat ride with long straights there's enough wildlife around to focus your concentration at times.
If you want to hire a bike check out www.bikeroundoz.com.au check out Special Offers Tab and see if any of the Routes and dates fit your plan as these can save you a lot of money. I own my bike and obtained a Queensland Licence ( as licence no is key to buying and selling vehicles , but thats a whole other subject involving local address and Bank Account)as I plan to take a while renting may seem expensive in short term up to 3 months but with hassles of finding Purchasing , setting up etc could well prove more economical. If your keen to buy check out Used Motorcycle For Sale - Buy and Sell Motorcycles Australia - bikesales.com.au . Need Australian Ph no to enter to get owners address from site.
Hope this helps .

Cheers motokiwi. Good tips there. And welcome to the hubb :)

Ted,

An Outback road trip was one of my highlights of a two and a half year trip. Though I did it in old-skool Toyota, and not on a motorcycle. As someone said, if remote, austere places are your thing, the Outback will not disappoint. I never really understood people who said it was boring myself. The road that runs through is Highway1, aka Stuard Highway. I love 125´s but maybe not for that lol. If you want something more adventurous, there is the Birdsville track, which cuts across from Highway1 to somewhere in Queensland, and on the other side, I believe there is a track called the Outback Highway, and from there you can leave HW1 and somehow arrive at Perth. No idea about the logistics, you´d need a hell of a lot of fuel to cover them. No way I´d do it on two wheels personally! That said, I did meet a german guy who had cut a rascal van in to, and attached the rear end to some six camels. He had a Bermuda shirt and some Khaki shorts. He said he´d been walking around the Outback for over twenty years! :eek3: