Australia is apparently a big place. . .

Having spent a fair amount of time sussing out other countries, it seemed like a good idea to suss out my 'own backyard' as it were, and spend some time travelling a bit of Australia. A friend from England voiced her plans to come to Australia in 2016 to do just that, so we decided to make it happen. 

Out came the maps and the brainstorming began: where did we want to go? How much time did we have? To fly, to drive or both?

It transpired we had 3 weeks (as stipulated by my friend's employer - fair enough), about 6 places we wanted to see (none of which were close to each other, naturally) and a pre-existing condition that we actually spend time seeing an area, rather than doing a fly-through visit.  With just 3 weeks to work with, we needed to choose our top 3 destinations and lock them in: 

The Great Ocean Road, Uluru and the Great Barrier Reef.

Next question: are we driving or flying between these places? If we fly we'll be spending a lot on airfares and accommodation and may still need to hire a car when we get to each destination, or fork out for day tours; if we drive we'll be spending a lot on fuel and also need to hire a car, to the tune of $3000 in bond, payable upfront with restrictions on where you can drive it once you get up North. 

Quite a conundrum. 

That is, until my partner, who owns an FJ Cruiser, suggested we take his car and put a roof tent on it. 

Thus solving both the problem of transport and of accommodation in one fell swoop. 
Two birds, one Tonka shaped stone. 
YES! 

Our route, starting and finishing in Melbourne

Route confirmed, we all agreed the purchase of a roof tent was in order and the plan was put into motion. 


Getting our hands on a roof tent provided its own challenges, but that's another story.  
You can read about that particular drama in "Please May I Borrow Your Teleporter?"