Packing Light

[Rilda]

How does a girl pack light for biking, cooking & tenting across Australia? I NEED to know, 'cos I have no idea and Andrew is planning our trip!!!!!

[Happosai]

How does a girl pack light for biking, cooking & tenting across Australia? I NEED to know, 'cos I have no idea and Andrew is planning our trip!!!!!

Leave Most of the STUFF at home - you won't need it.

You will tend to live in one or two sets of clothes, choose clothes that can be layered, thermal clothing can be used as Pj's as well as worn in cooler times.

Leave Most of the STUFF at home - you won't need it.

I find that the Hiking type sites/places have a lot of information and stuff suitable for touring.

Leave Most of the STUFF at home - you won't need it.

Unless the bike is towing a small trailer Leave Most of the STUFF at home - you won't need it.

Basic toiletries - soap, shampoo, toothbrush, hairbrush, chamois towel etc NO! you don't need a hair dryer!

Leave Most of the STUFF at home - you won't need it.

First aid kit

Oh and

Leave Most of the STUFF at home - you won't need it.

do you see a trend ?

Hap

[Rilda]

Thanks Hap.
Have you done much touring on the bike?
Layered clothing sounds a good idea and thermals for PJ's.
I will NEED the hot water bag & VERY warm sleeping bag!
I saw chamois towels on the Commonwealth Games swimming & wondered about them. Are they all the same quality and last well or do you suggest a particlular type/brand? I assume you roll them into their container wet. Do they go smelly?
How about food...? Andrew has a tiny cooker.
Any nifty ways of carrying water? Are there food grade water bags, which would mould into any space?
Rilda.
PS Hadn't planned on a hair dryer

[Ol Fart]

Cooking and tenting? Across Australia?
Easy, take a credit card, get membership in Comfort Inn or Golden Chain and sleep well.
You're on a holiday, so have one from cooking as well and get the old man to spring for cafe meals and the odd restuarant.
Hint, you can buy healthy food at Subway and heaven forbid. MacDonalds
Next, get people to offer you a bed along the way, speaking of beds, book ahead to bed and breakfast places, a great way to get to know other people, eat well, sleep well and..... have a holiday.
Unless your a wild outdoorsy type with boundless energy, supple and well sprung spines and simply cant do without a damp tent, wet clothes and burnt snags, go easy on yourself.
Life, was meant to be easy.

[Rilda]

Sounds absolutely wonderful, but do they have all of that out in the sticks (including the endless credit card ) ? First trip was to be to Tenant Creek, Mount Isa & Rocky.
Rilda

[Bearcx]

How about a Gord ?? made form a sheeps' stomach, to carry water.

[ol_750]

Talk to Donal about some u beaut thermals that he got hold of , anti wicking & anti bacterial.
Bias Boating & whitworths sell fold up 12 volt hair dryers,,

[Rilda]

Bearcx... didn't I say we're taking our own private camel...
Rilda

[Bacca]

I missed out on a Camel, one was given away after the black Saturday fires at Casterton & of cause it was already gone (Wanted a camel but we ended up with horses, still there cute)

[Rilda]

Interesting re anti wicking & anti bacterial thermals... lots shows up on Google. Thanks, Rilda.

[Happosai]

Thanks Hap.
Have you done much touring on the bike?

Ive don a bit over the years - from high speed dashes to slow rambles.

Layered clothing sounds a good idea and thermals for PJ's.

Yeah the more uses one item can have the better - like lambs wool for the seat, it can double as a matress in conjuction with those self expaning ones.

I will NEED the hot water bag & VERY warm sleeping bag!

If you get the right sleeping bag you shouldn't need the hot water bottle

I saw chamois towels on the Commonwealth Games swimming & wondered about them. Are they all the same quality and last well or do you suggest a particlular type/brand? I assume you roll them into their container wet. Do they go smelly?

No there not all the same, but you dont have to have the most expensive.

You wringe them out and put them away damp, if you use them every day you can wash them BEFORE you dry yourself off - if they are left for a long time they can get smelly but washibg them in a little bleach will fix that.

How about food...? Andrew has a tiny cooker.

It's all relative, depending on how long and were your going.

Tinned food dehidrated food, things that can be made in one pan/pot.

Biking is a minamlist pastime, so you tend not to need lots of STUFF, but one or two luxury items can make the end of a hard day seem all worth while. Simple things like thos little 3 legged stouls, LED head lamps good quility but compact cooker (it needs to be a high btu unit) - nothing worse than waiting 40 minutes for water to boil

Balance is important taking what Ol Fart says and mixing it with bush camping can make your money go further.

If your going bush you might have to be more self reliant.

I tend to break it up - camping most of the time but also staying in pubs, caravan parks and motels.

You can bush camp for say five or six days and then stay in an on site van for on day and night - take a brake from roughing it, and do all your washing, showering, eating and pampering.

Taking a brake from the holiday refreshes you.

Any nifty ways of carrying water? Are there food grade water bags, which would mould into any space?

I havent used them but enduro (and pushbike) riders wear a harness like a vest that has a bladder and a pipe that you can stick in your mouth and suck on to keep you hidrated.

Rilda.
PS Hadn't planned on a hair dryer

Smart move.

Any big trip needs to be broken up into do-able chunks with rest days scattered in along the way.

My ex and I took 4 kids under 8 over 12 thousand Khs in six weeks in a station wagon and a lift up camper trailer at xmas time, and we had a ball, drove from Melbourne to perth and up to Coral Bay - and back

Travelled around 500 to 700 khs a day for 3 or 4 days, stop a day or two in a nice spot, Xmas and new years in Perth with the outlaws then off again, stopped in Monkey myre for a couple and the off again to Coral bay.

One trick we found to beat the heat and get cheap water was to buy ice in the morning and fill a drinking water esky with it adding to the ice that had melted the day before - chilled water in the middle of the desert is worth it and a bag of ice at 3 bucks would turn into water that you would pay over ten bucks for.

Maybe you could put the ice in those bladder things an have it chill you as you ride along using your body heat to melt the ice.


Different I know but you get the idea.

Freinds of mine did the Melbourne to Perth trip, and took 3 months, they were lucky to do 100 khs a day but enjoyed every minute.

Horses for coarses

Hap

[Ol Fart]

Yeah, that's great Hap, she's on the back of that shovel head chopper.
Convenience stores along the way have them new fangled refrigerators. Drink plenty of Gatorade to keep the vitamins an minerals up, esp in the desert heat. They'll need all the spare room for fuel and parts. And the record player.

[Ol Fart]

Hey Rilda.
When you come through Melbourne, you can stay with us. We have a spare room and would be honored to have you. Just give us a week or so notice. Andrew has my number. Looking forward to it already.

[Rilda]

Thanks you'll (as my American friend would say)

Some very good suggestions. I'm sure I'll be asking more questios as time goes by.

Andrew is going to rebuild my queen seat sometime, as my back complained after our last trip to Mount Gambier. I liked the idea of the lambswool seat cover being big enough to use as bedding.

Thankyou for your gracious invitation Ollie. Don't know when we are coming by Melbourne, but we will certainly let you know.

Rilda

[Happosai]

Yeah, that's great Hap, she's on the back of that shovel head chopper.
............

Most of what I was talking was for bike touring - except maybe the ice bit.

Rilda doesn't say how long there going to be on the road, if they are in a hurry, what budget they have and so on.

I was trying to get across that you can be comfortable with very little, and you don't have to fork out big dollars to do it, but it is a personal thing.

Some people think staying in a 2 star motel is roughing it, others would see that as luxury.

Using your social network for places to stay on holidays is a well proven method, I just think the more you think about it and the more options you have, the easier it is.

If its a big trip maybe towing a small trailer so you don't' overload the bike could be an option.

Me personally, I usually have one change of cloths, thermal underware 1 or 2 t shirts, a pair of thong/sandals, a hiking tent and sleeping bag, lambs wool and inflatable mattress, hiking stove and army surplus style cooking utensils, tinned food, cuppa soups, 4 litres of water, first aid kit and sun screen, chamois towel and basic toiletries.

Anything else I might need along the way I will purchase as required.

When the ex and I toured on a bike each we carried basically that and a little more, and that covered the 1 or 2 week trips we usually did. but that was pre kids and advancing years.

Hap