Looking for touring partners

alpinist

Hi. I'm glad I found this forum. I'm in Australia (Melbourne) and planning to bike tour in Aus, NZ and SE Asia over the next 3-6-12 months. Not sire exactly I'm flexible and want to see how it goes. First off I'm planning a run between Adelaide and Melbourne then off to Queensland.

I'm disappointed to pickup on some of the threads here that Queensland might not be as ideal touring as I'd hoped (busy roads I read) but still I have never done a big bike tour and I want to see that wonderful looking part of the world so I'll give it a go before heading to NZ which being from BC, Canada I know will be right up my street.

Anyway anyone out there on the road in this neck of the woods drop me a line to share a tale, tip or two or even to maybe hook up on the road.

Happy trails....

artemidorus

Here's a thread with some relevant things, although it doesn't answer your question comprehensively:
http://www.cyclingforums.com/t175911-.html

robalert

best place to get advice about touring in the local area is to drop into the local bike store

i was in brisbane and the local store was very helpful... i got maps of cycleways from them...

Gold Coast to Sunshine coast has a good cycleway... running up the coast

Sydney cycle touring is more limited.... but doable if you can brave the traffic... go to the rta.nsw.gov.au website for cycleway maps

i think the lonely planet guide of cycling in Australia is readily available

geoffs

Hi Alpinist,
What part of BC are you from??
I spent 3 months touring through BC and the icefields Parkway. Fantastic place to cycle! Its very different and somewhat similar in some regards out here in Aus.
Drivers here are much less courteous but generally are OK. Lots of great cycling in SA. Vic is also good, we spent last December there cycling around for 3 weeks.
The coast south of Sydney isn't to bad and has some great scenery. The north coast I haven't cycled but if you pick your route well it will be OK.
Sydney is even more beautiful than Vancouver. If you stay on the quite roads and ride where people are used to seeing cyclists you'll be OK. There are some good local guides availabe. If you go on the wrong road though, it's bad if you are not a confident rider and try to be a gutter bunny.
We have just come back from 6 weeks in France and Austria which was a cyclists paradise.
NZ is great and I prefer touring there than here in Aus.

Good luck with your travels

Cheers

Geoff