BIKE

My bike is a KHS Crest 27 speed steel frame mountain bike. It's red, it’s black. It is equipped with PowerTools components, Shimano Deore gears and has nice V brakes set so to really stop you in a hurry.  I have a Blackburn rack attached to the rear for my panniers and other gear, and it's all strapped on with a number of good old occie straps (with setup combinations which are astounding!) See album photos for various setups and angles. Two water bidons in the usual places and two repair kits (one lube/wire/sandpaper and the other tools) one attached below rack on seat post and the other in the V near headset above a bidon). I have spent most of my time in the lowest gear but have made it (once or twice) onto the big chain ring, hence justifying why I didn't remove it before the trip. Bar ends attached (uncannily, on both sides) which have saved my brake levers a number of times but are usually too cold to hang onto in the frigid alpine Victorian air. I was biomechanically fitted using the Total Fit Matrix system at Jones' Cycles in Brisbane before the trip.

RACK

My Blackburn rack has taken a beating. It has broken here and there, has worn in some places and has bent slightly out of shape. Considering the load it is carrying it has done well. It is the aluminium sort, and if I were to get a replacement I'd go searching for their heavy duty model which is made from thicker aluminium. A steel rack would be the best for this sort of journey.  Rack was repaired with wire, hose clamps, gaffa tape. Remember that if your rack can’t hold anything, you can’t go anywhere unless you leave your gear behind.

PANNIERS

Panniers are German made Deuter panniers. A good size and clip on well for gentle touring but need some support in the form of occie straps and some 'top' pressure for those bumpy gravel roads. They have a nylon yellow cover that pops out of the pannier hood to protect them and make them more visible. These covers are unfortunately not waterproof and have the annoying feature of letting water seep through to gather in a puddle at the bottom where it doesn't drain. Good old plastic bags are simply the best way to keep your gear dry.

BAR BAG

I have a Blackburn bar bag that is the non rigid version. Plenty of pockets and straps, and a few spare loops for tying other stuff on or securing the bag better. It straps on to the handle bar easily and moulds itself around the odd shaped things you stuff in it nicely. It does however hang in a funny way on my MTB handle bars. I now have my tent occied below it (above the wheel) to make the bar bag sit upright and it does the trick nicely. Is handy as a walk about bag as well - just add an occie strap to two of the loops and off you go!

TOPO MAPS

The topo maps I am using are published by AUSLIG. Most of the ones I am working off are at a scale of 1:250 000 (1cm=2.5km) which is a satisfactory scale to work off. The contour intervals on these maps are at 50m intervals. I would prefer to be using 1:100 000 maps (20m contour intervals) but then you need more maps which takes up space, increases weight and means mailing more bulky packages home. I am traveling at a rate of about one map (north-south) every 5 days to a week. For particularly 'unknown sections' of the trail I have had a 1:100 000 topo and they are like wearing a pair of glasses to correct 10:10 vision after working from the larger scale maps!

Topo(graphical) maps give you relief (ha!).  They also provide information on man made features, buildings, rivers, land type, elevations, place names, roads and significant areas (such as N.P.s) plus other bits of information like a grid (usually 10km or 1km ) and latitude and longitude.

Of course there's nothing like being too well informed and so I also have a Hema road map or similar map for the part of the state I'm in. Particularly handy as they show distances between most points and your major features without getting too cluttered. They are at a scale of 1:300 000 usually. (Of note was the VIC Alpine one - an exceptional resource.) National park maps are handy as most of their trails are not on any other map. In fact, any map that seems useful that you can get your hands is a good burden for your trip. Sometimes an obscure map can help you out of tricky situations that you get put into by other maps!

COMPASS

My compass was a gift for the trip and a thank you for some tutoring I was doing. It's a Silva Ranger (Type 15) and has a red string which is extremely annoying yet occasionally very useful. It's other features include a sighting mirror (never underestimate the value of the mirror), a magnetic compass (don't take bearings while sitting on your steel frame bike) suspended in a liquid in a rotating dial with degrees marked, Luminescent markers and arrows for dusk/dawn readings, scales for hundreds of metres for 1:25 000 and 1:50 000 maps, and a cm and inch ruler. Standard really. The mirrored lid clips securely to the perspex part of the compass. A real winner especially when atop high peaks and you want to know what you're looking at in the distance. Also handy for choosing the right road, checking you're heading in the correct direction in overcast weather, getting out of chaotic situations at Lake Eucumbene, checking your beard length and for when your GPS batteries have silently died and you have no replacements.

GPS

My GPS is a Garmin e-Trex which is a nice yellow colour and fits in the palm of your hand or the smallest pocket you've got. Once locked onto the satellites it gives you your GPS position, elevation, bearing and heading, sunset and sunrise times, time and date, and of course a compass. You can create and save checkpoints and then track to them, or save paths previously travelled and retrace your steps. It has saved me on several occasions when there has been no clear indication of the direction on the maps I've had. Will save you a heap of time in backtracking with it's retracing function if you do get lost. Fortunately this hasn't happened to me yet... except in a city called Canberra, and I didn't have it with me!

EPIRB

This is an essential safety device for traveling solo or in small groups in the Australian wilderness. Once activated it sends out a signal on two frequencies which can be picked up by aircraft. Mine's an MT310 which fits in your pocket quite comfortably. Apparently when it's set off you will be found within a couple of hours - anywhere in or around Australia. Ideal conditions prevailing of course (clear sky view, antenna fully out, standing in moist soil on a metal foil sheet...). For the $200 - $300 you spend on one of these it makes searching and rescuing a lot easier and your chance of survival a heap better. It's nice and warm mentally to have in your pocket.

TENT

My little nylon house - the Macpac Microlite. Strangely I have not been cold in it. Cool yes, but cold no. A multi-pitch design which means you can pitch just the fly, just the inner tent or both together. This (I imagine) would make camping in summer with it a delight lying only in the inner tent part with a cool breeze flowing through but no insects. It's big enough for one, or perhaps two unusually thin and short triangular people. I can pitch it in less than 5 minutes easily, and pull it down in less than that. The fly is UV resistant so you don't get sunburnt while inside (!), and it has a tidy arrangement of elastic ties to make getting stuff in and out of it easier. Condensation buildup in the dawn is a problem in my tent but that's just my humid self. The door is one piece but with a screen section (with a zip of its own) extending halfway across the door. This feature is good because two doors can be a pain. It has a window at the top so you can check out what's happening outside without undoing stuff and sticking your head out. This of course only points in one direction, so you have to be smart to work out where you'd most like to look when pitching it.

SLEEPING PAD

Thermarest - what a concept for camping. No longer do we have to lug around a swag the size of a sheep.  I still fit it into the original plastic sleeve. It's tight but it goes in. Fits better on cold mornings. Mine's a Ultralite in the Performance series. 2.5cm x 51cm x 183cm and 680g. A few minutes to self inflate, two puffs and you're sleeping soundly. A great insulator between you and the ground too.  I love you Thermarest.

STOVE

My MSR Whisperlite International multifuel stove is just a winner. Easy to use and maintain and works like a dream. Packs into the MSR cooking kit very nicely (to save on space) and doesn't weigh much. It can operate on all sorts of fuel eg. camping fuel, kero, unleaded petrol.  Getting it started is fun and a bit of a flame show.

OUTER WEATHER WEAR

I have a jacket. Don't ever go on a trek like this without a Goretex jacket. They can't be beaten and are well worth the small fortune you pay for them. It was the last item I bought in Brisbane for the trip. If I lost this jacket the trip would be delayed until I could get a replacement. Add it to the gaffa tape and tarp list. Mine's a Selewa Powertex jacket. Frank who works in a Melbourne trek shop who I met at Tom Groggin swears by his too.

Wind, rain, snot and leeches can't penetrate the material (believe me - it's true) and it's quick drying and light to wear. I wanted a red one but K2 BaseCamp didn't have it in my size. Blue's better in terms of not scaring the wits out of most native wildlife, so I became happy with this colour quite quickly. (Just remember though that colour's everything - ask any kid.) This model has an inner and outer zip, snaps down the front as well, zippered pockets and a hood from heaven. All zips are heavy duty and once you get the hang of them (it took me until Wolgan Gorge) it's easy to get in and out of... except while riding a bike -> pull over you idiot.

One complaint is the elastic tighteners with the bead on the end. Countless times have these snapped back while I am zipping up to crack me squarely on my knuckles and fingers only the coldest of mornings . Occie straps are just as bad though so the jacket's not the only culprit.

Is Goretex, is good.

LAPTOP

My iBook has proven its worth. It's taken a bumping and a heap of climate and temperature changes. It has had it's battery stretched to the point of automatic shutdown. It has had huge packets of photos thrown at it constantly and has had to deal with some dodgy connections with large up loads. [I retired this laptop in 2008.]

I can't say I could have bought a better machine for this trip. Check out all the specifications on the Apple web site and go treat yourself if you're up for a new laptop.  Become a fan of the iBook because it's just so nice to touch and work on. I like looking at it... not just the screen and keys but the whole aesthetics of the machine. Mine has a name and yours should too.

CAMERA

My Kodak DC5000 is proving to be a real winner on almost a daily basis. I have become very used to it now and am playing with most of it's functions competently now.  It's a tough little sucker - mine's copped ash, dust, humidity, rain and freezing temperatures and the worst it's done is claim it's batteries were low due to the cold. Bulky, but built to last.  Transfer to lap top takes about 5 minutes (from a cold computer start) and I can rename the files as I view them easily. Comes with Windows and Mac software, USB and serial compatible. A few different effects, timer, close up function and is overall easy to use. Bob isn't an uncle of mine but when I'm using this, he's your's.