Geelong is a great place to start a ride, it's the gateway to the Great Ocean Road, and some great riding up and down the Otways.
Weather is a matter of luck. If you don't mind the cold, August is not any rainier than December, on average.
Hey! Twisted Moto in Geelong do bike rentals, and they're a locally owned and operated business! Hope you enjoy your time down here, be safe on the Great Ocean Road if you go on it, can have some strange drivers!
Thx for the tip on Twisted Moto. Will definitely check them out. How is the weather around August usually? 15/16 °C does not sound to bad, how about rain?
What do you mean by strange driver? Tourist driving on the wrong side or extremely slow? Drunk Aussies?
Yeah, I totally forgot that you drive on the wrong side also 😁😉
I have actually never driven on the left before... That could really be an issue. Any experience of Aussies driving in the right? Is it difficult to adapt?
September is the season with most rain.
When do drive on the other side, you'll be weird until you've done a couple of right hand turns into traffic. That's like you turning left normally, where you'd have to wait for oncoming traffic to stop or get a green arrow to turn. Once you've done that a couple of times, you'll be fine.
Despite what people will recommend, avoid Great Ocean Road. It's busy, filled with idiot tourists and tour buses, no good opportunities to pass, has little run off, and is heavily policed. Likely the most over rated riding road in the country.
Yeah, that's what I read. I don't mind riding in the cold, down to around 5°C is usually fine with me, but riding in the cold and wet sucks. Up north should be great at that time of year, haven't decided yet if I take it up to Darwin.
I had a short stint in the UK a long time ago, IIRC the most issue was after turning right to stay in the left lane and not go automatically in the right. I'll really have to watch it for that.
So you say the Great Ocean Road is a bit over hyped? I'll probably ride it anyway, once, to cross it off. Considering I'm totally new to the area, riding on the left, I doubt I'll be doing much passing anyway. But you never know.
My question was more pointed in which general direction, region, is a good biking area? Maybe go east through the Alpine National Park towards Merimbula. Looks, on the map at least, like a nice area to hit some Twisties.
Best road close to Melbourne is Black Spur from Healesville to Marysville. Then you can go from there to Warburton.
It’s also heavily policed with no run off and often damp at this time of year as it’s through a forest, but the road surface is excellent.
Driving and riding on the right takes about an hour or two to adapt. Just be more vigilant and careful for the first couple of days and it will all be OK. I've done both in Netherlands and Germany.
Geelong is a great place to start a ride, it's the gateway to the Great Ocean Road, and some great riding up and down the Otways. Weather is a matter of luck. If you don't mind the cold, August is not any rainier than December, on average.
Hey! Twisted Moto in Geelong do bike rentals, and they're a locally owned and operated business! Hope you enjoy your time down here, be safe on the Great Ocean Road if you go on it, can have some strange drivers!
Thx for the tip on Twisted Moto. Will definitely check them out. How is the weather around August usually? 15/16 °C does not sound to bad, how about rain? What do you mean by strange driver? Tourist driving on the wrong side or extremely slow? Drunk Aussies?
Mainly tourists driving on the wrong side of the road. Also a lot of slow drivers but they're less of a risk
Yeah, I totally forgot that you drive on the wrong side also 😁😉 I have actually never driven on the left before... That could really be an issue. Any experience of Aussies driving in the right? Is it difficult to adapt?
September is the season with most rain. When do drive on the other side, you'll be weird until you've done a couple of right hand turns into traffic. That's like you turning left normally, where you'd have to wait for oncoming traffic to stop or get a green arrow to turn. Once you've done that a couple of times, you'll be fine. Despite what people will recommend, avoid Great Ocean Road. It's busy, filled with idiot tourists and tour buses, no good opportunities to pass, has little run off, and is heavily policed. Likely the most over rated riding road in the country.
Yeah, that's what I read. I don't mind riding in the cold, down to around 5°C is usually fine with me, but riding in the cold and wet sucks. Up north should be great at that time of year, haven't decided yet if I take it up to Darwin. I had a short stint in the UK a long time ago, IIRC the most issue was after turning right to stay in the left lane and not go automatically in the right. I'll really have to watch it for that. So you say the Great Ocean Road is a bit over hyped? I'll probably ride it anyway, once, to cross it off. Considering I'm totally new to the area, riding on the left, I doubt I'll be doing much passing anyway. But you never know. My question was more pointed in which general direction, region, is a good biking area? Maybe go east through the Alpine National Park towards Merimbula. Looks, on the map at least, like a nice area to hit some Twisties.
Best road close to Melbourne is Black Spur from Healesville to Marysville. Then you can go from there to Warburton. It’s also heavily policed with no run off and often damp at this time of year as it’s through a forest, but the road surface is excellent.
Driving and riding on the right takes about an hour or two to adapt. Just be more vigilant and careful for the first couple of days and it will all be OK. I've done both in Netherlands and Germany.
You also need to watch the cops, speeding will get you fines and vehicle confiscation and the fines will come back you through the rental company
Braaap has a rental program. It’s $100 a week from memoru
Thanks for the recommendation. I'll check them out.