Australia

18th of April 2018 – 20iest of November
6th of December 2018 – 15th of May 2019

Our Route (anti clockwise)

Our Route – Part 1

Our Video – Part 1

Our Route – Part 2

Our Video – Part 2

Our Route – Part 3

Our Video – Part 3

Our Route – Part 4

Our Video – Part 4

Our Route – Part 5

Our Video – Part 5

Our Route – Part 6

Our Video – Part 6

Our Route – Part 7

Our Video – Part 7

377

Days

39098

Kilometers Per Bike

32846

USD/CHF For 2 People

3668

Liters Of Petrol Per Bike

Dates Visited
18th of April 2018 – 20iest of November

(Break in between in Bali, to restart our visa)

6th of December 2018 – 15th of May 2019
Detailed Costs For 2 People And 2 Bikes
- 219 USD/CHF Visa multiple entry one year visa
- 4334 USD/CHF petrol
- 1489 USD/CHF camping
- 210 USD/CHF taxi and public transport
- 1165 USD/CHF entry fees
- 387 USD/CHF new cloths
- 621 USD/CHF medicaments and treatments (some gets refunded by our health insurance)
- 6570 USD/CHF supermarket
- 2790 USD/CHF restaurant
- 234 USD/CHF other things (laundry, gifts, HelpX and House sitting fees)
- 250 USD/CHF import fees and bike inspection
- 7614 USD/CHF repairs, tyres, spare parts for the motorbikes and engine rebuilt of the XTZ
- 400 USD/CHF SIM cards and data
- 564 USD/CHF repair and maintenance of our gear
- 913 USD/CHF new gear and maps
- 543 USD/CHF AirBnB
- 407 USD/CHF parcels and letters
- 97 USD/CHF small ferries all over Australia
- 390 USD/CHF flights from Perth to Bali and back
- 560 USD/CHF ferry Melbourne – Tasmania – Melbourne
- 511 USD/CHF 3rd Party insurance for 13 months
- 1386 USD/CHF shipping costs from Sydney to Johannesburg
- 992 USD/CHF flight Sydney to Johannesburg
- 100 USD/CHF steel crates with cardbord and some screws and tape to put them together ourselfs
- 100 USD/CHF for extension of CDP in Australia
Hights
Highest Point: 1550 m a.s.l

Lowest Point: -13 m a.s.l
Currency
Australian Dollar
Average Petrol Price
~ 1.2 USD/CHF per liter
Sleeping Places
- 82x camping
- 68x wild camping
- 174x friends
- 11x house sitting
- 30x helpX
- 11x AirBnB
- 1x Airplane
Average Temperatures
Between -4 and 42 degrees
Road Conditions
Australia invented the corrugation, at least we believe this. We found it on tarmac, deep sand, gravel and mud roads. The tarmac can be very rough in a lot of places therefore tyres won’t last as they usually do in Europe (also because of the heat).
Weather
If you plan it right you can almost travel a year without rain in Australia. Make sure you are not in the northern part in summer, as it gets extremley hot and a lot of roads might be flooded. In winter it can still be very hot in the North. The further away from the sea the colder the nights get and it can easy get into minus degrees in the center during winter months. So be prepared for very hot and cold temperatures.
Apps / Websites

Here some apps and webpages we think are usefull for travelling in this country

App: WikiCamps Australia, Fuel Map Australia

Websites: DIY Motorbike Workshop Melbourne, DIY Motorbike Workshop Sydney
Health Issues

Xenia: two really bald colds, partly torn MCL and ripped meniscus in left knee

Martin: none

Service / Work on the bikes
XTR: new exhaust, radiator shield and bash plate (sponsored by MetalMule as Xenia got chosen to be the new brand ambassador), oil change and new oil filter 4x, new tyre sets (1xHeidenau K60 Scouts and 2x Dunlop 606), new rear break pads 2x, new wheel and sprocket bearings, cleaning the air filter (many times), new front rim incl. new spokes, new head bearings 2x, rear suspension service (2x), front suspension service (3x), new clutch cable, new swing arm bearings and seals, break fluid replacement, 2 breather hoses replacements as the old ones had holes, front and rear suspension upgrades by Teknik, swing arm linkage cleaning and regreasing, new chain guard

XTZ: oil change and new oil filter 4x, new tyre sets (1xHeidenau K60 Scouts and 2x Dunlop 606), new rear break pads 2x, new wheel and sprocket bearings, cleaning the air filter (many times), new head bearings, rear suspension service (2x), front suspension service (3x), new battery, engine rebuilt (because of a dusted engine) incl. new clutch plates, break fluid replacement, front and rear suspension upgrades by Teknik, swing arm linkage cleaning and regreasing, welding of the cockpit (2x),
Problems / Breakdowns
XTZ: Martin dusted his engine with bull dust, therefore needed a big rebuilt, the battery terminal came loose, therefore needed a new battery, some electrical issues due to bad connection (dirt), heated grips needed to be replaced

XTR: fuel pump was leaking due to a dirty seal (easy fix), front rim needed replacement after a crack, connector to the regulator was dirty and burnt through (easy fix), chain guard broke and got lost

Lost: spatula, Martins grey thermo shirt

Other: both lenses of the goggles needed to be replaced, zippers of the inner tent needed to be replaced, the whole tent needed to be replaced as it had a big hole in it after a storm, we needed new sun glasses, Xenia needed new shoes and flip flops
Paperwork

Visa: We got ourselfs a multiple entry one year visa, which was easy to get online. Its a visitor visa subclass 600.

Carnet de Passage: Yes you need one unless you are British or from New Zealand, then there are other options. We also extended our CdP with the AA as it run out while we were in Australia. This is not a big deal but you need to have a visa which allowes you to stay longer in the country.

Insurance: 3rd Party insurance is obligatory, we never got checked though. We had ours via the Allianz in Queensland.

CTP & Dealer QLD | Retail Distribution
Allianz Australia Insurance Ltd | 324 Queen Street, Brisbane QLD 4000
Ph: 1800 816 868 | Hours: Monday to Friday 8.30am to 5.00pm
E-mail: qldctp.operations@allianz.com.au

Registration: No registration is nessesary if imported in NSW (different in every state, check webpages of road and maritime service in the state you import). Here the link for NSW: Roads & Maritime Services
Shipping

Into Australia

We did not use an agent in Australia and did everything ourselfs to safe money. It was all very easy in Sydney. We only had to pay two small fees and pass the quarantine inspection (which is very strict). We rode the motorbikes out of the warehouse in Sydney harbour ourselfs and then had to get the crates out as otherwise they would have charged us for the disposal.
Out of Australia

We flew our bikes from Sydney to Johannesburg with Stewart Garmey from Tradelanes Global Solutions. He is really helpful and can organize shipping and flying of cars and motorbikes from various ports to different destinations. Prices change regarding season, route, size of crate and weight.

The crates we got from Sydney City Motorcycles. We used steel crates with card bord and had to pay a 50 AUD each for the crates.
Notable
Ozzies are great people, very friendly, helpful and chatty. We think Australia is probably to most hospitable western country we have ever been to.
Important information
Here some very country specific information:

You can get discounts quite often if you ask for a cash price, when you buy spare parts or new gear

Vodafone is a good phone company to get a prepaid SIM card

Get yourselfs the cards of Woolworth and Coles. We could safe quit a bit with that and got a lot of special discounts only available for card holders. They also work at petrol stations and you get discounts there too.

If you have a multiple entry one year visa, make sure you leave the country in time and get back in time as the visa requests. A trip to Bali, New Zealand or Fiji is an affordable way to get out and take a little holiday!

Favourite Places To Sleep

Gregory Downs wildcamp (-18.644952, 139.25187)
Bowen River Hotel Campground (-20.53383, 147.55593)
Robinson River Crossing wildcamp (-16.46944,137.04778)
Bone Head Camping, (-43.1951596,147.778405)

Points of Interest

Keep River NP in the NT, instead of the Bungle Bungles NP (-15.5460861,129.191304)
In need of an upgread or service for your suspensions? Visit Teknik in Sydney
Do you need a good bike mechanic in Perth? Go to West Horizon Motorcycles!

Some impressions of our time in Australia

Goodies we recommend for Australia

We love our permaloft jackets for cold evenings in Tasmania

In search for a good, leight weight tent? Check out the one from LoneRider

The Heidenau K60 Scout was the perfect tyre for us in some parts of Australia

A drone is a great way of filming the beauty of Australia