Cape York & into Asia via Timor-Leste, Indonesia, etc

[Keef]

Originally Posted by The Bigfella

Anything else?

Hey Ian, I'm still wondering how you're planning on getting across the Straight of Malacca. Got anything organised yet? Thing is, according to reports over on the HUBB, this crossing ain't as straightforward as it used to be, even up to as recently as last month (March).

BTW, we'll be following in your tracks, starting in 18 days' time (Mon-14-May), when we're back in Bali.


She'll be right mate ..

KEITH [& ELLEN]


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[nathanthepostman]

Hey BigFella, lovely photos. Really enjoying the report.

See that you're in Medan. Mention of boat to Malaysia. I used an agent called Mr Lim, who operates on the Malaysian side. I can try dig out more details if need be.

See you mate.
Nate.

[The Bigfella]

G'day folks.

K & E... don't miss Bromo.... and watch out for the elephants in Sumatra.

Nate.... yeah, I've heard of Mr Lim. Stanley at JJ's Guesthouse in Medan seems to know the process and he really likes bikes, so I'll shoot him an email and see if he can cover the Indonesian end. I'm not going to rush things... and I may be going back down to Lake Toba to visit some folks I met there.

[The Bigfella]

Originally Posted by Larks

Yeah, don't forget to stop and smell the roses again. (Who'd a thought they'd let me on this forum eh Ian? I'd better get myself a bike now if they're gonna let me stay......)

G'day Greg. Jeez, I suppose I could spare another old postie. Haven't got any runners though.

[Keef]

Originally Posted by nathanthepostman

Hey BigFella, lovely photos. Really enjoying the report.

See that you're in Medan. Mention of boat to Malaysia. I used an agent called Mr Lim, who operates on the Malaysian side. I can try dig out more details if need be.

See you mate.
Nate.

Nate - there's mixed reports about Mr Lim's service. More than a few say he's stopped dealing with this shipping route; one or two others reckon he's still operating, especially the Indo to ~~> Malay direction.

See these HUBB threads:

Need a shipping from Malaysia to Indonesia

Bike from Malaysia to Indonesia? .. From post #60


C-O-N-FU-S-E-D ..

-----------------

EDIT - well, I'll just wait and see how you get across Bigfella.

Yeah, Bromo is on the list. And I'll watch out for them heffalumps! ..


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[inferno_robe]

great report. keep this stream of photos going. as we chinese would say, jiayou!

[nathanthepostman]

Interesting indeed.

I would say, whether Mr Lim is in business or not, there'll be someone who'll be able to get the bike across. Money talks after all.

Just be wary. Desperate to get across before my visa expired, I was introduced to a man - a big man - as big as you BigFella - who said he could get the bike across to Malaysia. I paid him the 1 million ruppiah (about $120) he asked for. Three days later I got the passenger ferry to Malaysia by which time the bike was already there. That's when I met Mr Lim, the agent on that side of the pond, who also wanted 1 million ruppiah. And I didn't have much choice but to pay him. So no doubt it'll be an interesting crossing, however which way you do it.

But it's all good fun.

Best of luck with it, and enjoy the time off in Oz.

Nate

[The Bigfella]

My wife's been giving me a hard time about putting a map up on where I've been. I rang her a couple of times while I was in Indonesia and got a "what country are you in?" comment or two... so, without further adieu... here's a couple of maps.

First up, all my Australian trips on the KTM.... which are all the solid green lines.



The solid purple line was the Scrapheap Adventure Ride to Cameron Corner at Easter 2011 - which was on two other bikes, not the Super Enduro. First up was my Honda 250, seen here with my son attending to his MZ250.



I blew the Honda up about 30 minutes later... trying to keep up with my L Plater son. I finished that ride on a backup bike kindly supplied by Adventuremoto.

Steve's $242 Scrapheap Kwacka that he loaned me had an issue or two of its own. I had a blowout at 110 kph, trying to catch a certain L Plater.... who'd been overtaking R1200 GSA riders



.... and the dotted purple line was the bit of road the SE did on the bike trailer, heading towards Cairns.

Some of the Super Enduro's trips that aren't detailed in this RR include last year's Alpine Rally which is a winter trip to the Snowy Mountains,





.... a trip up the Great Dividing Range to the ADV get-together at Upper Horton,



.... and the delivery trip I did back from Brisbane to Sydney via the Oxley Wild Rivers National Park



The Timor-Leste and Indonesian route is detailed here



In-country time was about 4 weeks in Timor-Leste and 10 weeks in Indonesia - so far.

Dotted purple is shipping (Darwin - Dili), about 9 ferry trips, ranging from 45 minutes to 15 hours and a couple of days on "our" boat out to see the Komodo Dragons and dive with the Manta Rays.

The dotted blue line is where I've got in mind for my next two legs. Two months this time, starting back in Sumatra, then Malaysia, Thailand and into Cambodia. Then... later this year, back to Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia again, then home via Thailand. That's the plan... and to be truthful, that's about as detailed as the plan is at the moment.

[MCmad]

Great thread

[Reefdog]

hey bigfella

how and what maps are you using to upload to here...???????????????????
computer dumby this way

enjoying the rr

reef

[The Bigfella]

Originally Posted by Reefdog

hey bigfella

how and what maps are you using to upload to here...???????????????????
computer dumby this way

enjoying the rr

reef

Nothing special there... I stuffed up the setup of my SpotAdventures page when I was trying to get organised to get away.... so for these maps, I just grabbed a couple of images via google,... put them into PowerPoint and drew the trip onto them freehand.

I've had the GPS on the bike again since Bali (it broke on Cape York and it took a while to get Garmin to sort it out). I download the tracks every day now, so have those for Bali onwards, including elevation data. Trouble with that though is that some days it might turn on and off over the big bumps and I end up with multiple tracks for the one day.

[Reefdog]

"""I just grabbed a couple of images via google,... put them into PowerPoint and drew the trip onto them freehand.""

all ok,,so thats how you do it,,,
thanks for the heads up will give it a try
google maps is good but a pain in the ass if you want to change the route and you have already saved the map,,,there could be a easy way to change it but i havent found it ..

""Trouble with that though is that some days it might turn on and off over the big bumps and I end up with multiple tracks for the one day"".

I also get this using the GRRRRRRR garmin zumo 660 GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

thanks again mate for the great RR
when are you going up into central asia/ europe???????

reef

[The Bigfella]

when are you going up into central asia/ europe???????

Ouch.... settle down mate.... this trip was originally planned as a rental bike ride of the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos. I think it might wear a bit thin with the missus if I kept on riding, although I do have some ideas for future rides.

No... this one finishes after the HCMT... and maybe a side-trip into Burma, but that will be without the bike.

[Sleepy John]

The woman is a Saint!

[loxsmith]

Originally Posted by Sleepy John

The woman is a Saint!

She is a rare species!!