which way between Perth and Darwin?/

[tmac100]

I have posted this question elsewhere, but I am looking for info, NOT making SPAM - which is OK in sandwiches..

In June 2011, I return to Australia and start in Perth to ride to Sydney ... It will be GOOD riding on the other side of the road (did Cairns- Darwin via Borooloola and Roper River in 2006) again. BUT I have other long term plans...

EVERY year, I can only travel between June and August due to work, so I need to know ..

Which way should I do Perth-Darwin during June-August: N-S or S-N?? This trip may happen in 2013 as the next year (2012) I am supposed to go to Poland and Ukraine to visit the ancestral homelands with my 80 y.o.uncle {not on a bike trip with him ;- **...

I understand it will take about 2 months in either direction, but I just need to know which direction is better from the wind perspective. I despise headwinds and try whatever I can to minimize their negative effect. Presently, I am not sure if I will use my diamond frame touring bike or my Greenspeed GTO on this trip.

TIA for info/links.

[snoopidoop]

Hello tmac,

I havn't been on this route yet, but every bike trip report about Australia I read so far is talking about counterclockwise. The route is always described from Darwin to Perth.

Did you read the report of Mike Vermeulen? It is one of my favourite and covering exactly your topic:
http://www.mvermeulen.com/oneyear/australia.htm

Greetings from germany

[Machka]

So this year you're riding Perth to Sydney, and then in 2013 you're riding Perth to Darwin (or Darwin to Perth)?

If you're coming through Victoria in August, it will likely be quite cool and wet ... and even snowy in the mountains.

[tmac100]

So this year you're riding Perth to Sydney, and then in 2013 you're riding Perth to Darwin (or Darwin to Perth)?

If you're coming through Victoria in August, it will likely be quite cool and wet ... and even snowy in the mountains.

HI,

I sent you and Rowan a PM a short time ago. The original plan changed - Sanford (ex-MacGregor, MB) suggested we break the trip into 2 years and "make Chateau Neuf de Pa... instead of Wonder Wine" by doing half the distance in the same timeframe of 7ish weeks. That way, we could "see the sights" and then not have to do 150 km days, so that is what we will do. Leave Sydney on the IP on June 22nd and get into Adelaide the next avro. Then head off and go north and then east thru the Flinders, then Broken Hill, then... Also somewhere get to the Barossa Valley and maybe Mt. Gambier, and ...

We both will have until August 17th when my flight leaves SYD and I head to China.

As Sanford and I are both from Manitoba we can either dress warmly, OR wait out the ice on the roads and hole up in some local hotel and tell stories in the pub about the snows in Manitoba - and the blizzards in March of 1966 and 1997 that we both lived thru even though the airports and cities were disaster zones..

My sleeping bag is a 3-season one that is good to about -7 C so even if we are in a tent it will be warm - the mylar covered sleeping pad will also reflect body heat at the bottom.