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Australia is the driest content on Earth and
seemingly getting drier. Maps may show streams and dams in different
locations. This does not necessarily indicate a permanent supply of water, or even
drinkable water. Often some streams only run after recent heavy rain. Plan to carry sufficient water to last until you are able
to arrive at known potable water sources.
I have found the following books to be useful in planning some
of the tours that I have done.
Route Planning
Bicycle Touring in Australia
by Leigh Hemmings - ISBN 0731801970
Includes eight tours covering Sydney to Gold Coast (NSW); Cairns and the
Atherton Tablelands (Far North QLD); Red centre circuit west of Alice
Springs (NT) - beautiful but hazardous country due to the inherent danger of
deserts; South West of Western Australia from Bunbury to Albany; Adelaide to
Victorian Border along the coast (SA); Victorian Coast linking with the
previous ride and incorporating the Great Ocean Road through to Melbourne
(VIC); Devonport to Hobart via the west coast (TAS); and a loop of the high
country of NSW starting and ending in Canberra.
Great Australian Bike Rides by Leigh Hemmings
- ISBN 0731804082
Consists of ten tours covering a descent of the Hunter Valley from Scone
down to Morisset (NSW); the Blackall Ranges and Sunshine Coast (south
eastern QLD); Mt Tamborine Rainforest circuit (south eastern QLD); Adelaide
hills to the wineries of the south east to Victor Harbour (SA); Kangaroo
Island (SA); Goldfields of central VIC; Avon Valley descent from York to
Perth (WA); circuit from Perth of the south west of WA; circuit of King
Island (TAS); and the south eastern coastal area beyond Hobart (TAS).
Bicycle Tours of Southeastern Australia by
Julia Thorn - ISBN 086417277X
Details ten tours starting with a circuit of far northern NSW from Ballina;
the lower north coast of NSW from Taree to the historic city of Maitland;
the beautiful Blue Mountains of NSW from Mt Victoria to Orange; Sydney to
Canberra; Goulburn to Batemans Bay (NSW); rural VIC from Lilydale to
Bendigo; a loop from Geelong along the Great Ocean Road returning through
inland centres; a circuit of the VIC goldfields from Bendigo; along the
Murray River from Albury to Mildura (NSW and VIC); and the Murray River and
vineyards of SA from Renmark through to Adelaide.
Cycling Australia by Ian Duckworth - ISBN 0933201761
This book details eight rides that mostly link the major state capital
cities, starting with Adelaide to Melbourne; Melbourne to Canberra; Canberra
to Sydney; Sydney to Brisbane; Perth inland to Albany; a circuit from Perth
inland through the Avon Valley; Hobart to Devonport via the east coast
(TAS); and Devonport to Hobart via the west coast (TAS).
Bicycling around Victoria by Ray Peace - ISBN
0850914485
This is a collection of rides ranging from single day trips to a number of
multi day tours. It includes rides around Melbourne as well as further
afield.
Bicycling Tasmania by Ian Terry (this may be
out of print) ISBN 0646070576
This small, but good book, details rides linking the north and south of TAS
via the east and west coasts, as well as through the centre.
Rail Trails of Victoria and South Australia by
Fiona Colquhoun, Alexander McCooke, Vince Aitkin and Ray Peace - ISBN 0957975902
The rail trails of south eastern Australia are detailed in the book, which
includes maps, profiles and history of the respective lines. The
trails are shown where they are operational and what is planned for the
completed route. The current state of the rail trails can be seen on
the RailTrails Australia website included on the Links page.
Cycling around Sydney from Bicycle New South
Wales - ISBN 0646226126
A small book detailing 33 rides around Sydney ranging from 10km trips to two
day rides covering up to 145km.
Accommodation
Camps
Australia Wide (whatever the latest edition is - usually
updated every 2-3 years) by Philip Proctor (I recommend the spiral bound
edition). It can be purchased from
their website.
Although this book appears to be intended generally for the grey nomads in
their motor homes or 4WD's towing a caravan or trailer and tent, the cheap
camp sites around the country are extensive. The information included
is detailed, and I have found this to be a great book for extending the
accommodation information with over 3,000 sites listed.
Camping in
Australia by Cathy Savage and Craig Lewis - ISBN 13: 9781741171556 or ISBN 10: 1741171555
This book also appears to be aimed at the grey nomads with over 2,500
campsites listed, a number of which are in national parks.
NRMA
Accommodation Guide and
NRMA Tourist
Park Guide - both available from the New South Wales motoring
organisation NRMA
The Long Paddock
- a Directory of Travelling Stock Routes and Reserves in New South Wales
- can be obtained from
NSW
Department of Industry & Investment. This comprehensive book can be
used to show the TSR's, reserves that may be used for camping, as well as stock
watering places, with the latter being an invaluable resource on a dry
continent.
These books list many of the accommodation facilities around the country and
details their star ratings, as well as prices, facilities and location.
To help reduce costs of arranging my trips, I have been using
Skype over the
internet for my phone calls. It makes a substantial difference in phone
costs.
Sometimes it is difficult to locate planned accommodation. I have been
using both the map and satellite versions of
Google Maps. Just key in the address that you are looking for into the
search box at the top of their web page, and it will usually display on the map below.
I have found the best
format seems to be street number and name, town, state, Australia. It does
not seem to be case sensitive. If you include the business name, it is
also possible that it will be identified, although I have had errors on location
of several kilometres when this was done. When searching for the camping
facilities, the street location and then the hybrid map/satellite image can
often provide an exact GPS location, taking all of the dramas out of finding the
caravan park. Once all of this has been done, it is possible to copy the
map into another document using
SnagIt so that all
fine detail accommodation maps can be kept on one or two pages. Other
programs can be used to capture the screen image, but I have found SnagIt to be
quite good.
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