New South Wales 🦁

Where it all began, we rolled out of Sydney on 4 July 2018. Australian winter meant clear blue skies, cool evenings, and perfect driving weather. The east coast treated us well: pelicans at The Entrance, Byron Bay sunsets, and the Opera House in the rear-view mirror. Key stops: Sydney · The Entrance · Port Macquarie · Coffs Harbour · Byron Bay.

Queensland 🌴

Queensland in the dry season, warm, sunny, and absolutely beautiful. We tracked up the coast from the Gold Coast to Cairns: Lake Mackenzie on Fraser Island (the whitest sand you have ever seen), snorkelling the Great Barrier Reef, and eating our body weight in fresh seafood. The tropics begin around Townsville, the air gets thicker, the birds get louder, and the crocodile warning signs start appearing. Key stops: Gold Coast · Brisbane · Noosa · Fraser Island · Airlie Beach · Cairns.

Northern Territory 🐊

The Northern Territory is another planet. We arrived during the Build-Up, the sweltering pre-wet season when temperatures hit 38–42°C and the humidity makes you feel like you are walking through warm soup. The locals told us we were mad. They were probably right. But nothing, nothing, prepares you for standing at Uluru at sunrise, watching the rock change colour from grey to pink to blazing orange. Kakadu in the wet season means dramatic storms, ancient rock art, and crocs everywhere. Key stops: Darwin · Kakadu · Litchfield · Katherine Gorge · Alice Springs · Uluru · Kings Canyon.

Western Australia 🌅

Western Australia alone is bigger than most countries. We entered the Kimberley in October, technically the wet season, which meant red dirt roads, boab trees silhouetted against electric skies, and the occasional flooded creek crossing that made us question our life choices. Down the coast: Exmouth and the Ningaloo Reef (swimming with whale sharks, bucket list, done), the eerie Pinnacles, and arriving in Perth in time to spend Christmas on the beach. The entire WA leg was over 4,000km. Key stops: Broome · Kimberley · Exmouth · Ningaloo · Shark Bay · Perth · Margaret River.

South Australia 🍷

The Nullarbor. 1,200km of dead-flat, treeless plain under a sky that goes on forever. We crossed it in January, Australian midsummer, with temperatures above 40°C and fuel stops 200km apart. It is one of the most unforgiving and strangely beautiful drives on Earth. The reward? The Great Australian Bight, sheer limestone cliffs dropping 100 metres straight into the Southern Ocean. Then the Eyre Peninsula, Adelaide, the Barossa Valley, and Kangaroo Island. SA has incredible range: desert to vineyards to wildlife in the space of a few days. Key stops: Ceduna · Nullarbor Plain · Port Augusta · Adelaide · Barossa Valley · Kangaroo Island.

Victoria 🏔

Victoria, moody, beautiful, and unexpectedly cold after months in the tropics. The Great Ocean Road in late summer is stunning: the Twelve Apostles at dawn with no other tourists around, wild ocean spray, and little penguins at dusk. Melbourne was a proper city stop, great coffee, great food, and the kind of laneway culture you have to earn by getting lost in it. The Grampians gave us our best hiking of the whole trip. Key stops: Great Ocean Road · Twelve Apostles · Port Fairy · Grampians · Melbourne.

Home Stretch 🏠

Looping back up through NSW, the Snowy Mountains, Canberra, the South Coast. Nine months on the road changes you. The van that had been our home, our shelter, and occasionally our biggest headache had delivered us through every state and territory. 30,000 kilometres. Zero breakdowns. One very good Winnebago. We pulled back into Sydney in April 2019 with a full memory card, empty fuel tank, and absolutely no regrets. Not bad for a couple of amateurs. 🚐