Equipment
Since this trip was our first longer tour and above all in a country, that we did not know, it was quite difficult to ascertain the necessary equipment. Other problem were that the place on a bike is limited and that every kilo is more ballast for the cyclist. At the time we were leaving we thought that we had limited our equipment to a minimum, however, after a few days we already noticed, that we had many things to no purpose since we practically never used them.
So here is a list of the optimal equipment for such a tour to Australia according to our experiences:
|
Bike
| 1 |
stable, comfortable bike (very important are stable rims!) |
| 1 |
stable rack |
| 1 |
lowrider |
| 1 |
trailer with a big bag* (perfect for heavy luggage - e.g. if you have to carry much water because the weight is evenly sperad out on the bike) |
| 4 |
40 liter panniers (also big ones in the front - but they dont fit on every lowrider!) |
| 1 |
bicycle odometer (to know how far it is to the next place where you can get water) + spare batteries |
| 1 |
rear light |
| 1 |
rearview mirror (because if there are headwinds you can´t hear motorists very well and some don´t keep much distance during overtaking) |
|
Clothes
| 3 |
pairs of bicycle trousers |
| 2 |
bicycle shirts |
| 1 |
pair of bicycle gloves |
| 1 |
pair of long bicycle gloves (thick enough to fend of moscito bites) |
| 1 |
bicycle helmet (in Australia it´s law to wear one) |
| 1 |
windjacket |
| 1 |
rainjacket |
| 1 |
pair of raintrousers |
| 1 |
arm gaiters |
| 1 |
leg gaiters |
| 1 |
undershirt |
| 1 |
long pair of undertrousers (if you are freezing easily) |
| 1 |
hood |
| 1 |
fleecepullover |
| 1 |
pair of long trousers (with a zipp off - to get short trousers if you need them) |
| 1 |
pair of short trousers (e.g. trousers which you can also use for bathing) |
| 1 |
shirt |
| 1 |
long shirt |
|
socks + underwear |
| 1 |
moskitonet |
| 1 |
bandana |
| 1 |
sarong (which you can use for many purposes) |
| 1 |
small towel |
| 1 |
cap against the sun |
| 1 |
pair of hiking shoes |
| 1 |
pair of sandals (waterproof) |
|
Spare parts / tools
| 2 - 3 |
inner tubes (also 2 for the trailer if you use one) |
| 15 |
patches+ 2 glues as puncture repair kit* |
| 2 - 3 |
tyre levers* |
| 1 |
outer tube. Also one for the trailer if you use one. Because of the smaller size of this tire and the poorer quality (mostly the tires you can get are for children bikes) it wears down faster. |
| 1 |
pair of brake pads* |
| 2 |
bicycle chain (because especially the one for 27 gears is sometimes difficult to get) |
| 1 |
chain splitter + bolts* |
| 1 |
rim tape* |
| 1 |
gearshift cable + brake cable + outer cable |
| some |
screws* |
| 1 |
spare batterie for the head lamp |
| 1 |
pump (probably it´s better to take spare seals with you because you´ll need the pump very often) |
| 5 |
spare spokes of each type |
| 10 |
spoke nipples* |
| 1 |
spoke key* |
| 1 |
cassette lockring remover + chain whip* |
| 1 |
allen key of each type* |
| 1 |
screw driver* (often with the pocket knife) |
| 1 |
spanner* |
| |
zip ties* |
| |
tape* |
| 1 |
hammer* (mainly for the tent pegs because the ground can be very hard) |
| |
hose clamps* |
| |
wire* |
| |
string* |
| |
chain lubricant* |
| |
grease* |
| |
rag for the chain* |
| |
adapter if you use presta valves* |
|
Camping equipment
| 1 |
tent* |
| 1 |
tarpaulin for the tent + 1 small tarpaulin in front of the tent* (you should choose a dark one with straps or eyelets because then you can use it for shadow against the sun in the midday heat) |
| |
stable tent pegs* (the amount depends on the tent - but take a few spares - the ground is hard and can damage the pegs easily) |
| 1 |
fuel stove* |
| 1 - 2 |
big fuel bottles* (depends on how much you cook) |
| 1 |
sleeping bag |
| 2 |
cooking pots + 1 lid* which you also can use as a pan |
| |
gripping pliers* |
| 1 |
small carving board* (if you want to cook more) |
| 1 |
thin sleeping bag out of silk (good when it´s hot and also as an inner sleeping bag that the outer one does not get dirty) |
| 1 |
sleeping pad |
| 1 |
LED head lamp |
| 1 |
bright torch* (good for finding sleeping places but most of the time we used our head lamps and we didn´t really need the torch) |
| 1 |
plastik mug |
| 1 |
airtight box for foodstuffs* |
| 1 |
cutlery |
| 1 - 2 |
pocket knive* |
| 1 |
solarshower* |
| 1 |
micropur for purifying water |
|
First-aid kit*
| |
dressing material |
| |
first aid cover |
| |
medicaments against headache, a sore throat, fever, diarrhoea |
| |
antibiotic |
| |
Burn ointment (sunburns) |
| |
Salve, iodine |
| |
tweezers (there are many thorns in down under!) |
|
Papers
| |
passport + copie of passport |
| |
driver's license |
| |
flight tickets |
| |
a document of the health insurance |
| |
credit card, cash card, some cash |
|
Misc.
| |
books* |
| 1 |
a small casette recorder and enough casettes because it´s often difficult to get radio reception + rechargeable batteries + solarpower recharger (cheap in some Australian electrical shops) |
| 4 |
10 litre watercanisters* (depending on the region) and a few plasticbottles because otherwise you always have to unpack the canisters if you want to refill |
| |
small travelgames* e.g. chess, a pack of cards,... |
| 2 |
bottles for the bike |
| |
lock for the bikes and maybe also one for the panniers* |
| |
clothespins* |
| 2 |
lighters* |
| |
sun lotion (cheaper in Australia) |
| |
sanitary products+ toiletpaper |
| |
washing agent |
| |
sunglasses |
|
insect spray deet maybe* (the only agent which helps against moskitos but not against flies - and it´s not healthy for the skin) |
| |
diary+ pencils |
| |
road atlas or maps* |
|
guidebook* (maybe) |
| |
adressbook* |
| 1 |
camera* and enough films + spare batteries |
| |
needle and thread (we needed it very often!) |
|
*: These things you can also use together and thus you only need them once.
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