The big Lap

[Candles]

 
Cheers mate, looking forward to the WA coast. 

Candles

[West Aussie Glen]

Version 1 of the lap.  a thought in progress.  I have even toyed with the idea of going on the boat at Melbourne and lapping Tasmania.

If you haven't been there before plan on overnighting at the Daly Waters Pub, it is a must do:-

http://www.dalywaterspub.com/

You need to book for your evening meal as soon as you arrive.

If you have the time and want to see the Pilbara plan on leaving from Karratha about lunchtime and riding to Newman in the afternoon, the scenery with the afternoon sun is fabulous. You will pass the turn off to Karajini National Park
Overnight Newman and do a mine tour of the Mt Whaleback Mine the next morning (you need to book) before heading back to Karajini National Park.

https://parks.dpaw.wa.gov.au/sites/default/files/downloads/parks/20130200%20Karijini%20National%20Park%20broch6.pdf

[Dick B "Yewie"]

Ros and I did our big lap on our Red 2008 ST1300 in 2013 travelling just over 20,000 Kms in 90 days.

We did not go to Tasmania on this trip but had previously spent three weeks touring Tassie on an earlier trip did not feel so bad about missing them out on our Big Lap.

We rode on 60 of days with the other 30 off-bike days being taken at places where we wanted to stay at for a day or so and look around. On the riding days we averaged around 340 Kms per day which is a bit slower than what you are contemplating. This worked well for us given our age (late 60's) and the fact we were two-up. Your proposed riding routine sounds fine. We travelled Clockwise which suited us as we did the trip in April/May June. This allowed us to get the colder, southern part of the trip out of the way first up and still missed the wet season when we got to the top end. Either way (subject to seasons and temperature) would be fine.

Like Glen, we stayed as close to the coast as we could whilst staying on the bitumen. We had to back-track, a bit, a couple of times because we wanted to go to Darwin,  Cooktown and Karumba but this was minimal and well worth the effort.

We stayed at pubs/motels/roadhouses and cabins.

We were fortunate enough to get an article published about our trip in the Australian Motorcyclist and I put a copy in my dropbox in case you were interested in reading it. https://www.dropbox.com/s/2zv7d9zsg2bhziq/Round%20Oz%20Article%202013.pdf?dl=0

We also ran a daily blog which you could check out here if you were interested. http://www.bushellsbikebashes.com You would need to go back to April 2013 and work up from there.

We did not have any mechanical issues (thank you Mr Honda!). We had the bike serviced in Perth and Alice Springs and changed both tyres on the way. We tangled with a Kangaroo in Queensland which nearly brought us down and (we found out later) bent the front forks although we continued on oblivious at the time.

We maintained a daily log of costs, route and other pertinent stuff and would be happy to share this with you if you were interested. 

We were fortunate enough to be invited to stay with a number of OZSTOC members along the way and they have since become lifelong friends. Don't pass up this opportunity should the opportunity come your way. If you need a bed in Sydney you would be welcome to stay with us.

We can only encourage you to make the effort to do the trip. You won't regret it.

Good luck

Dick and Ros
 

[Gadget]

Bed, shed and fed in Brisbane if you need it.

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[Candles]

Cheers mate

[alans1100]

Version 1 of the lap.  a thought in progress.  I have even toyed with the idea of going on the boat at Melbourne and lapping Tasmania.

If you haven't been there before plan on overnighting at the Daly Waters Pub, it is a must do:-

http://www.dalywaterspub.com/

You need to book for your evening meal as soon as you arrive.

If you have the time and want to see the Pilbara plan on leaving from Karratha about lunchtime and riding to Newman in the afternoon, the scenery with the afternoon sun is fabulous. You will pass the turn off to Karajini National Park
Overnight Newman and do a mine tour of the Mt Whaleback Mine the next morning (you need to book) before heading back to Karajini National Park.

https://parks.dpaw.wa.gov.au/sites/default/files/downloads/parks/20130200%20Karijini%20National%20Park%20broch6.pdf

Better running from Port Hedland to Newman than from Karratha as the direct route from Karratha is only sealed for about the first 100km. Could be more since we were there in 2010. If you're going out that way the highway runs through some places like this about 50km before you get to Newman.



https://goo.gl/maps/anQqV1FE7cC2

[Candles]

G day mate, is the route on the attached link the one you recommend?
I'm doing it anti clockwise. It looks amazing. 
Thanks so much for helping info

Candles

[West Aussie Glen]

Thanks for the correction Alan. Yes Candles that is the route, I was talking about it today and realized I had gotten Karratha mixed up with Port Hedland (really no excuse as I was there late last year). As I don't know what the road out via Tom Price, Paraburdoo and Nanutarra is like. I would have gone back to the coast road the same way as I came in. I assume as Alan has recommended it that it is sealed all the way.

The other option is to go to Karajini before Newman and then keep heading south from Newman and cut across to the coast just below Mt Magnet to Geraldton on even keep coming south into Perth. Either way there are some interesting places in amongst a lot of open space. Do some googling a lot depends on how much time you have and what you want to see and achieve.

The third photo in this thread is on the road between Pt Hedland and Newman, the photos after that are south of Newman.

http://ozstoc.com/index.php?topic=10208.msg1188245#msg1188245

[West Aussie Glen]

For any big lappers and for that matter any OzSTOC members passing through Perth if you can find me at home there is usually a bed at my place and plenty of space to check over your bike. Also given some notice we can try and organise an impromtu and casual local RTE at somewhere like:-

  http://alfredskitchen.com.au/

[alans1100]

Thanks for the correction Alan. Yes Candles that is the route, I was talking about it today and realized I had gotten Karratha mixed up with Port Hedland (really no excuse as I was there late last year). As I don't know what the road out via Tom Price, Paraburdoo and Nanutarra is like. I would have gone back to the coast road the same way as I came in. I assume as Alan has recommended it that it is sealed all the way.

It's sealed on the route I showed and the places I marked were all fuel locations.

[StinkyPete]

When I rode that region we took the coast road because we wanted to visit the memorial to the famous "Red Dog" at Dampier.

[Candles]

Great idea about the red dog visit. I've really no idea what to visit around WA. But getting some great 8deas.
thanks mate

Candles

[StinkyPete]

If you are a "dog" person you would no doubt know the Aussie movie and the story of Red Dog.   Here's some info  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Dog_(Pilbara)  and my photo.   

[StinkyPete]

I suggest the following as important stopovers if you are heading up the WA coast.....

The Pinnacles at Cervantes
Kormoram's Lifeboat at Carnarvon (from the HMAS Sydney & Kormoran sea battle)
HMAS Sydney Memorial at Geraldton is very moving
Denham, a small bit of paradise, but don't bother with the dolphin thing at Monkey Mia, as it's crowded, expensive, underwealming and overrated.
Stromatelites at Hamelin Pool
Stay at the Fitzroy River Lodge just out of Fitzroy Crossing, another oasis.

[Candles]

Fantastic mate, I'm just plotting all the things I want to see now. Great stuff, thank you

Candles

[rally]

 

Don't worry about reliabililty, my 2003 model had nearly 200,000 klms and never (but for once) missed a a beat from a really minir fault.

Rally

[Gadget]

On the Qld SE coast, Rainbow Beach with a 4WD bus day trip  to Fraser Island is worth it.

Between Rockhampton and Brisbane the road into to the town of 1770 and then back down Bundaberg via Lowmead and Rosedale is a great ride with little traffic.

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[BigTed]

I've been stalking DJW's thread for my own lap next year... I can't wait!

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[Candles]

I'll everyone know how it went and a ride report...

Cheers

[alans1100]

Marble Bar is another side trip - done that a couple times on the bike as day trips from Port Hedland. Fuel at Marble Bar if needed.

https://goo.gl/maps/RfQ5c8S97oz

A lot of the river locations on the main highways have rest areas as well - sometimes there's water and other times none - a lot of free camping places between Broome and Geraldton as well.