Hi, and welcome to my Blog!
Well the time has finally arrived! After months of planning and preparations I am finally heading off on an extended adventure on my bike. Time to stop talking about it and actually do it! I will be leaving on Sunday the 5th of Feburary and will be gone about 3 weeks.
This is the basic route i will be taking. down the great dividing range, Glenbawn Dam, Blue Mountains, Jenolan Caves, Wombeyan Caves, Kangaroo Valley, South Coast, Snowy Mountains, Tumut, Bathurst, Warrumbungles, Mount Kaputar, Copeton Dam, Walcha and Wauchope.
All up i expect to do a bit over 4000km


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I've tried to plan my route so as to take in as many dirt roads and tracks as possible and avoid using highways
I plan on camping in National Parks and reserves wherever possible with the occasional night in a caravan park or pub



WHAT I AM TAKING .
Deciding what to take is hard!! Obviously space is limited when you travel on a bike but keeping weight down also has to be considered. All up including the luggage itself i have about 35kg of luggage to strap on, which isn't too bad considering i will be living off the bike for 3 weeks.
Here's the run down on what i'll be carrying...

Tankbag -
Rain cover for tankbag, pen and paper, sunnies, multitool, wallet
plastic camera tripod, camera, phone, UHF radio, Go-Pro helmet
camera, spare tinted goggle lens, alcohol wipes .

The tankbag mounts up on top of the fuel tank (obviously!) It is relatively small but is handy for all the bits and pieces you want close to hand. I'm sure lots of other stuff will find its way in here as the trip progresses. The UHF is probably useless as they only have a short range. I plan on giving the camera a thorough workout so it needs to be easily accessible.

                                       

Top Box -
Kitchen bag, fold up cooler bag, billy can, 12volt led light, mini
maglite, headlamp, books, laptop, 12v laptop charger, folding
stool, pot, pan plate set, gas stove and gas, AA battery charger,
 Navman, locking cable, thongs, self inflating sleeping pad, cargo net

The Top Box is actually called a space case. It's a tough plastic type of thing and is waterproof.. It will be mounted on the rear rack of the bike. My laptop will live in here. My dad and i wired the box up to connect to the bike's power supply so i can charge my laptop, phone and other batteries while i'm riding. My cooking,eating and kitchen gear is also in here along with torches and lights. The sleeping mat, cooler bag and thongs get strapped to the top of the box on an aluminium plate rack. I also have a 6 litre water bladder that can be strapped on here

Right Pannier Bag -
Drybag with 3 changes of clothes, Thermals, shoes
Bag of earplugs, First Aid kit, Jacket Liner, Toiletries bag, Thermos

Left Pannier Bag -
(L toR) Tomohawk, Hiker Fly, Sleeping bag,
2-3 days food, Lightweight tent

The Panniers are Wolfman Dry Expedition bags. They too are waterproof and are said to be pretty tough. I went with soft panniers rather than aluminium boxes because a soloid aluminium box mounted to the sides of your bike can easily break your leg in a crash. They are also kinda heavy and bulky. The Wolfman stuff all seems to be well made and plenty tough.....i guess time will tell.

I have a PVC tube attached to the bike to carry this little 3 piece fishing rod
Thanks to my Mum for the nifty bag.

Tools and Spares - Front and rear tubes in fenderbag, Spot Tracker, Garmin GPS map WD40, Loctite, Brake, clutch and gear levers, cable ties. spare fuses globes, co2 tyre inflator, tyre patches, pump, tyre guage, wheel bearing Fuel and radiator hose and clamps, bolt kit, spare oiled air filter in zip lock bag,  metal putty, cable repair kit, 2 chain joiners and section of chain, tyre levers and various tools

  I will be going to some fairly remote places and hope to be able to fix any bike problems that arise myself. This stuff is all heavy but i'd rather carry the weight than get stranded somewhere. I have all the standard tools, Gear head spanners, tyre repair gear, basic spares. The little orange gizmo is a spot tracker. It tracks my progress via satellite and plots them on a map which can be viewed by anyone. It also lets me send a short message to family and friends when out of phone service areas and has an SOS button which can be activated in the case of an emergency to alert emergency services of  my need for help and exact location. The link to my Spot Tracker page is Andy's Spot Tracker .
The GPS map is loaded with Topo maps and will be handlebar mounted