Instead of another flying overseas holiday, we have bought ourselves a Jayco Hawk wind-up van and are heading off into our own backyard, taking the kids exploring the outback of Australia for a couple of months.
With the spreading coronavirus in the news, now is probably not a bad time to be hitting the road, away from the big cities, and having a little time off-grid.
We have settled on a plan to head across the Nullarbor from Perth, turning left at Port Agusta and up the middle to Darwin, before following the west coast back to Perth. It will be a little rushed, covering over 10,000km in two months, though undoubtedly a family adventure to remember.
Here is a map of our planned route. Our van is not built for off-road touring, so we will mostly be sticking to Highway 1 and the Stuart Highway through the middle. There are many long driving days, but that is what we just have to do.
Some of the places we are really looking forward to are the Nullarbor and Great Australian Bight, Coober Pedy, Uluru and around Alice Springs, Mataranka, Darwin and around, Coral Bay and Shark Bay.
We head off in mid-march, keep on eye on this blog for updates and stories as we travel around.
[UPDATE: this trip was cut short due to travel restrictions and changing border conditions due to the ongoing pandemic. We hope to try again next year]