I have finished the writeups on my Muru Witjira fatbike. check 'em out here:

http://troyszczurkowski.blogspot.com.au/2013/03/muru-witjira-fatbike-build-for-ultimate.html - part 1

http://troyszczurkowski.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/muru-witjira-fatbike-build-for-ultimate.html - part 2

Enjoy!

Nice work - I was trying to weave in a visit to the Island on my last trip stateside, but couldn't fit it in, it is penned in for the next trip!

Rhino should be able to assist with some of the Victorian sections 

I've heard the BNT around Armidale section is pretty. There is a pretty good train link from Brisbane to Cairns (Sunlander - http://www.queenslandrail.com.au/railservices/travelnetwork/pages/thesunlander.aspx No distance train services south from Brisbane (only metro train to Gold Coast) I would probably ride Cairns to Mackay, then train down to Sunshine coast (north of Brisbane) and ride around Noosa and North Shore. You could hop off in Gympie and head east to Rainbow Beach township, then ride south along the inland track (Cooloola Way) to Noosa, unless you wanted to bring a fatbike (we have some of the best beaches in the world to ride a fatbike, on the east coast) buuut, you could still ride your planned bike on the low tide sand with some fatter tyres. I've driven the Brisbane to Townsville section quite a few times for work, just featureless bush from Mackay south to Sunshine Coast.

Good surfing beaches start at the Sunshine coast (Noosa) and south from there. I'd skip the Gold Coast. Head for Byron Bay - pretty beaches, good choice of north and south breaks, protected headlands and a culture that is geared towards the traveller - lots of backpackers/hostels to choose from, but just a short ride south you'll be able to stealth bivvy on beautiful beaches.

Tasmania you've got the Tasmanian trail, or road tour as well.

Some sections of the BNT can be a bit frustrating - you can do a heap of climbing and descending all day to cover a 3rd of the distance you could if you followed the road right nearby.

I'll come for a pedal if you need some LK.

Fargo for drops. El Mariachi for flatbars.

Mid summer and winds not ideal. Water is a big issue in the areas you listed. Lots of nothing on a very busy interstate, with huge trucks (road trains - prime movers with up to 4 trailers on them - think ice road truckers and you have the same mentality of the drivers - they stop for nothing)

Fly into Cairns, then ride down the Bicentennial National Trail (BNT) to Melbourne. Spend a bit of time riding some of the coastline around nsw north coast - maybe head for Byron Bay to reach the most easterly point, beautiful beaches south from here and plenty of stealth bivvy options. Spend a bit of time in the Victorian high country (think Man from Snowy River) as well as east Gippsland. Great Ocean Road (west of Melbourne) - similar to Big Sur or Oregon coastline. Tasmania. New Zealand even. Cairns, Port Douglas and the Daintree is very rainforest pretty. There are trees in the rainforest that sting too...

The BNT will take you through a diverse range of landscapes that I reckon would be better than an east/west crossing. Plenty of re-supply points, national and state parks to bivvy in.

A mate of mine did a coast to coast a few years back - started at Perth, ended at Byron Bay, same time of the year you mention. Headwind, through some desolate, featureless landscapes and boiling hot. Coming from your BC winter I reckon you'd be battling the temps and UV more than the distances.

I've still got my mint '88 GT Karakoram, still original 'cept for tyres and grips. Biopace rocks

Hea Area54,
Now that you are back. Did your stick and berries survive? Did you have to do anything special?

All good, turned out to be a non issue, but happy I asked the question. I used sugoi mid-zero tights (I sewed in some loops on the front so they mated with my braces) and some OR cirque softshell pants as the outer layer, super comfy at 25F below, I felt there was scope to go lower. Layered up with mtn h'wear primaloft puffers at night, part of the sleep system.

Used the same combo down through Oregon as well, 11 days in the same layers day and night, worked well as a system.

I took along an old windstop ski mask to cut to shape, but yeah, found I didn't need it. The cirque pants cut out the breeze as needed.

Saddle was the same I use on other bikes - Selle Italia SLK.

Fantastic. Kids pretty durable 

Use common sense with it. Obviously don't expose yourself to unnecessary risk, just raise your tolerance to imperfect conditions.

Our supplier of Tout terrain here is sending me a plug 2 for evaluation, I'll put it on the Fargo, SON hub, will play around with it on the explorer and the extreme, my HTC phone, my exposure lights (Diablo, race Maxx, joystick) garmin and anything else I can find. Curious about the extreme and touts report, considering the extreme can charge off the solar panel it comes with, at low light. I'll run the multimeter on the system also to get some volt and amperage data.

During training, get your body used to running all sorts of fuels too - might have to run on some greasy fry-up from a burger joint, or purely on lollies from that service station at 1am. Don't wash your hands during training either - try to expose yourself to as much diverse bacterial flora as possible to harden that tummy up - cement is not enough...

I've got the Powermonkey explorer and the extreme - I took the extreme to Alaska recently and was very happy with it - recharging gps and lights. I use the explorer as a booster battery for my exposure lights too.

The extreme has 2 output ports with different amp ratings - I found my HTC would not charge on the 'USB' output port (500mA) but would charge nicely on the high output port (1700mA IIR - I haven't got the specs in front of me)

I'm speccing 2 bikepacking bikes for a client, I need solid feedback from hard users of these hubs to help me make a decision on which hub to spec. Bikes are El Mariachis. Basically I want to hear the stories and experiences of both hubs, good and bad.

Thanks in advance 

Cheap drybag, nothing fancy. I stitched one up from a piece of polytarp to cover my MSR bottle and pump.

The + for me:
You take less junk
Bike handles better
You tackle harder terrain
HAB is easier
Lighter bike is faster bike
Faster bivvy (because you have less junk to pack)
Life in general is simpler

The negs are just the opposite of above for me.

I only take panniers along when wifey and pet monkey come on trips, they are still learning to minimise their gear (but aren't we always doing that?)

It's an evolutionary process. I look back on photos and slides from family bike touring trips, oh man, my folks carried some stuff, but it was probably the lightest stuff of the day.

Yeah, it ain't perfect. I think there are good strengths though - The Revo light can act as a torch around camp as well as a cache battery for devices, for charge/usage away from bike. You can independently turn on the smart port without the light on I thought.

I wasn't impressed with my e-werk cache battery. Seems to work well enough, but just looked a little too homebuilt for my money. NiMh cells and circuitry potted in a resin block.

Another option is the Boost USB cable that works in concert with an exposure light. This cheap cable will plug into the Smart Port on the back of your Exposure light, provide USB power. On the Revo light there is a input charge port (from your dyno hub) and the Smart Port.

LHS side would be a good solution to run a triple with SRAM road.

One thing to consider with fuel in the frame is if you have to fly. If the TSA detect fuel vapour in your fuel bottle, surrender the bottle and get another at your destination. If TSA detect fuel in your frame/fork leg...

I'd like to see a high volume pump (floor/track style volume) in a seattube on a fatbike. Remove seat, withdraw pump plunger, attach handle, pump away. Hose comes out the side/bottom of the seattube.

Here we get these with kids yoghurt in them. I reuse them with honey as a cheap gel. I think they are about the same size as the baby food ones.