Australia to East Timor Shipping

SHIPPING THE BIKE FROM DARWIN TO TIMOR-LESTE

The next 3 weeks were spent in Darwin organising logistics for the months to come, motorbike repairs and chasing up visas. The city was strangely dry for the first week I was there with humid 32 degree days, the only relief being the pool in the backyard or the air-con inside.

I fixed the bike using high temp silicone to stop the oil leak around the alternator wires. 2 indicators were replaced as they’d vibrated to bits and the starter switch was replaced after a few days of trouble-shooting. Finally a functioning bike again!

The following days consisted of over 65 calls to the Iranian embassy in Canberra as they had misspelled my name in the visa, when I eventually got through to someone I was told ‘no problem no problem’... ok we’ll see.

Finally the mighty dr650 was loaded onto an SDV ship for $749 roll on (Optional $450 if I had crated it). This was relatively painless with everything packed on it and me keeping only a backpack for the following days/weeks. ETD 3^rd of February with ETA on the 4^th of February (Update: this has since been delayed until the 8^th).

Without my bike I was now forced to relax, oh damn. This meant over the following days I visited Litchfield national park and the amazing Florence falls and enjoyed the natural beauty of the Northern Territory, in particular Darwin. A huge thanks to Brenton and Ashlea who allowed me to stay with them in Darwin! On the 4^th of February I flew out to East Timor.

Timor Day 1:

At 10:30 AM I landed in Dili, the capitol city of Timor-Leste... a young country that hasn’t even celebrated its’ 13^th birthday. A quick history: Having been under Portugese rule for many years East Timor declared its independence in November of 1975 only to be invaded by Indonesia 9 days later. Indonesian rule lasted until 1999 when the UN sponsored vote took place for independence, following murder, rape and destruction the Indonesians left with the country left to rebuild by itself. The country uses the USD as its official currency.

Dili, Timor-Leste from above on arrival.

East Timor sunset on the beach whilst fisherman are returning from the days work.

My first impressions were that this country is relatively expensive, unfortunately dirty, hot and humid with a beautiful mountainous backdrop. I was staying at the East Timor Backpackers which costs $12 USD per night in a shared dorm. Here I met Moritz and Mart both travelling solo on their motorbikes in the opposite direction to me. Their amazing stories of the road were inspiring and got me even more excited for the coming months/years.

East Timor Backpackers outdoor setting.

My luxury room!

The adorable puppy that lives here.

Moritz was kind enough to give me a ride to the SDV shipping office only to be turned back and told to return a few hours later. Around 2 PM I walked the 30 minutes back to SDV and began the process of getting my bike. Heavy rains began at around 1:30 PM daily. ETA of the bike had been pushed to the following day.

Moritz and Mart preparing their bikes for shipment to Australia.

The next day began with running to the Indonesian Embassy, I wrote my name on the ‘check in’ list and got all the paperwork required. Now my standard passport photos were not acceptable, they needed a red background of course. So I hopped on the closest microlet (public transport, 25 cents) and headed for the plaza where I was told the closest photo and print shop was. I arrived at the plaza and their camera was broken, I was sent further down the road to another photo shop, again broken. So I headed back on another microlet to the hostel where I enquired about another photo/print shop. Finally I received my passport photos, with red background. I headed back to the embassy only to be told to come back tomorrow, 11 AM knock off for them today!

I then headed to the shipping company and was updated that the ship was now delayed until Sunday, nothing more to do but head back to the hostel and wait for the afternoon thunderstorm and rain, refreshing and the coolest part of the day!

Timor Day 3: Friday

I got up that morning at 6 AM and made my way down to the Indonesian Embassy for 7 AM to ‘check in’ again, sweet this time I was 12^th on the list... by around about 10 AM I was through, paid the $50 USD cost and was on my. Tuesday I’ll be back to collect my passport. Although not much has gone to plan since getting here I have actually really enjoyed great company at the backpackers and it reminded me that I can plan as much as I want, but it won’t go by that plan anyway.

There was not much to do over the weekend besides plan some routes, relax and hang out with the other backpackers in my room. Monday arrived and I managed to get my carnet stamped for the bike, but still no bike.. I was promised Tuesday afternoon it would be ready (Update: it wasn't).

2nd largest Christ statue in the world at 27m high.

So now it’s been exactly 1 month since I left Perth and I am currently still waiting for my bike to be released from the shipyard (I've been promised tomorrow morning). As soon as she’s free I’ll make for Kupang city, Indonesia and prepare for the ferry crossing to Flores island.

The ship with my bike on it, the waiting is killing me!

My flight to Dili, 1 hour... whilst the ship has taken almost a week.

A motorbike blog MUST have bike pictures, so here's a few from before I left. The next blog will have more biking pictures!

Harvey, South-West WA... off-road testing!

Checking the bike is suitable for the trip!