How Big Is Australia, Really?

Most people understand that Australia is large. Fewer people have really sat with what that means in practical terms.

The drive from Sydney to Perth is roughly the same driving time as New York City to Los Angeles. It is also more than 1,000km longer than the drive from London to Moscow. When you put it that way, the scale of a big Australian trip starts to land differently.

This is one of the reasons a motorhome changes the equation. You are not managing accommodation, packing and unpacking, or making decisions about where to stop based on what is available. You go where you want to go, at the pace that suits you, and the question of where to sleep takes care of itself.

Planning still matters. A big trip across Australia rewards people who know their route, know their vehicle, and have thought about power, water, and fuel before they leave. But the motorhome removes enough of the friction that the trip becomes possible in a way it often is not otherwise.

If you are thinking about a big one, the Nullarbor, the Top End, the Cape, start with the map and work backwards. The distances are manageable. You just need to respect them.