Tasmania & Melbourne: Our Final Recap

Those of you who have been following us already know, our second chapter was significantly less defined by cycling and more by our Workaway experiences. What we thought would be a convenient pit stop on our way to Southeast Asia—and a cheaper way to travel—quickly became one of the most enjoyable, educational, and wholesome parts of our journey so far.

Choosing Workaways for our time in Australia was definitely driven by budget, but it turned out to be an incredible discovery on so many levels. We’re really glad we did them—for the connections, the learnings, and the inspiration we were able to take with us.

Two months in Tasmania and almost a month in Melbourne flew by. We easily could have stayed longer, thanks in large part to the company of new and old friends that made it hard to leave.

Curious how our new travel style impacted our daily habits and expenses? Here’s a breakdown of our stats for this stage of the Tour du Monde.

Our Bike Touring Stats – By the Numbers

In Tasmania we only spent a total of one week on the bikes, but we enjoyed every bit of it. 

🚴‍♂️ Total Distance Cycled: 400 km
⛰️ Elevation Gained: 4.450 meters
📆 Total Days of Cycling: 7
🛠️ Number of Punctures or major Mechanical Issues: 0

Fun fact: Even though New Zealand had a lot more total climbing and distance, Tasmania actually had more elevation gain per kilometer — meaning our days were far fewer but steeper and punchier.

Accommodation & Sleeping Arrangements

We only camped in our tent once during our entire stay in Australia. But we also only paid for accommodation for five nights—a big change from New Zealand.

We experienced all kinds of setups. In Melbourne, we spent nearly a month staying with friends and loved every moment. It was a total luxury to have a spare room, good company, and the chance to feel at home despite being so far from it.

Our Workaway stays brought even more variety: bell tents, camper vans, spare rooms, and hand-built earthen structures—each cozy and unique. One takeaway? We realized how little space we really need to feel comfortable.

Budget Breakdown 

💰Total average cost per month: 975€ (per person)

So… how did we still spend this much when we were getting food and accommodation for free half the time?

1. Australia is expensive—and Melbourne has really good food. We couldn’t resist.
2. We spent a lot on new bike parts and a full service before heading to Southeast Asia. This totalled 940 euro for both bikes.
3. We had to pay for some missing vaccines before our next leg. This totalled 340 euros for both of us.
4. Transport costs were higher thanks to the ferry to and from Tasmania.

After almost 5,000 km of riding, our bikes needed some love. We brought them to Off Course Bikes in Melbourne (highly recommend!) for a full service: new tyres, new chains, new cassettes, fine-tuning, and a few essential spares. A painfully big chunk of our budget, but worth it.

Food & drinks remained our biggest expense at 43% of our total spend—even with free meals for half the trip. Melbourne was full of culinary temptations, and we leaned in.

A small note: Cash is barely used in Australia—even less than in NZ. We took out cash early out of habit and struggled to spend it toward the end!

We didn’t save as much as we hoped—but we have no regrets. The money went to what matters: good food and healthy bikes.

Food & Drink

In a nutshell: Toasties, Parmis, Pies and Ice cream. 

We didn’t expect a culinary revolution coming from Australia, but we did discover Parmis—a chicken schnitzel layered with tomato sauce, cheese, and chips. Sometimes with gravy, seafood, or pineapple. Think Cordon Bleu meets pub classic. Massive and indulgent.

A Parmi in Australia seems to be the equivalent to a pie in New Zealand, almost always readily available and a popular pub grub. We were greeted with amazed looks by the bartender when we ordered a Parmi and we said it was the first one we ever had.

On the flip side, Melbourne was a food heaven. World-class restaurants and cafés on every corner. A strong Asian influence, and too many good places to choose from. The real challenge? Forcing ourselves to try new spots instead of returning to favourites. Thankfully, our amazing hosts helped guide the way to mouthwatering sandwiches, soul-warming bowls of Ramen, liter tubs of yummy ice creams and so much more.

Between that and the Workaway meals, our camping stove barely saw the light of day in Australia.

Route Planning & Navigation

Cycling was never meant to be the focus here. We deliberately took time off the bikes during Tasmania’s colder, wetter winter, opting instead to shelter in our Workaways during the shorter winter days.

In Melbourne, our movement was mostly limited to Smith Street, just east of the Central Business District, where we stayed with our friends. Honestly, we didn’t need to go far. Smith Street had everything. That said, we did make the odd trip to the Botanical Gardens, ran some errands in other parts of the city, and took a few rides downtown.

In Tasmania, we originally planned a cycling loop between Workaways. But thanks to generous ride offers from hosts and extensions at some stays, we ended up traveling more directly, skipping both the east and west coasts.

The first few days followed the Tasmanian Trail—gravel tracks, forest roads, and occasional questionable fence crossings. The final leg was over the Central Highlands, on a lightly trafficked road. Coming into Hobart, we were thrilled to find a 14 km cycle path called the Intercity Cycleway leading right into the city. All in all we had no navigation challenges.

Map legend side note: No, we didn’t hitchhike the traditional thumb out way—those rides marked on our map were generously offered by our hosts. Thanks to all the big vehicles, it was always easy to fit us and our bikes in the back.

⚠️ Cycling Safety in Tassie

We had high hopes. Early on, drivers gave space and seemed cautious. We thought maybe dodging wallabies at night made Tassie drivers more attentive, alert and reactive.

But as we got closer to the capital Hobert we noticed that Tasmanian drivers were just as reckless, or even more so than NZ drivers. Witnessing outrageous maneuvers, like cars coming from behind us and making zero attempts to slow down, causing oncoming traffic to come to a complete halt or having to veer off the road. Thankfully our time spent on the road was kept to a minimum.

Final Thoughts

Tasmania and Melbourne became very dear to our hearts for many reasons. All the stars seemed to align for us here, as we made beautiful connections, upskilled in areas we were interested in (natural building, permaculture and handy skills) and got to witness the wild Tasmanian countryside. Melbourne was like a dip into a city honeypot— we were able to indulge in all the great things a city has to offer and got to spend quality time with friends. 

We’d love to return to Tasmania for more cycling (once we’ve forgotten how hilly it was). It might not have been the cheapest chapter after all, but it was one of the richest—in every way that matters.