Summary so far (Sydney to Perth)
Weather
We had a cold snap for a week in the Vic goldfields where the temps were in the mid teens during the day & 6-8 at night. This led to the great blanket wars in the 'master bedroom'. We had 2 wet days (Ballarat & Uluru). Derby, Darwin & Katherine (1 day) were humid & uncomfortable. The rest have been close to ideal - 20-30 during the day & 12-16 at night - until Perth... the weather was cold from then on.
Vehicle
It has been close to ideal so far.
Redundant items thus far are video & microwave which we are yet to use. The awning has been useful in the north but not invaluable. We have still only used the shower only once each but the toilet is being used more & more as we enjoy the flexibiity it grants.
We have been more adventurous than we anticipated with our dirt road travel. Our criterion has evolved to no more than 100km as long as the road condition is OK.
Lifestyle
We have travelled regularly so far but not more than 4 hours in a day. We move at about 80kph and use deisel at the rate of 7km/litre (barring headwinds) - we have had 7 days of tailwinds so far but most days are windless.
The kids are probably averaging about 1 hour of school a day, mostly whilst driving. Zoe is finding it a breeze and Jake is flourishing with the 1 on 1 teaching.
We tend to look for a shower every few days and van park every week. So far we have stayed overnight at - suburban streets(25%), van parks(19%), parks(16%), car (not truck) roadside stops(18%) and in the scrub off the road(22%) - our major consideration being toilet availability.
Drinking water is neither tasty nor plentiful between Broome and Perth. Some towns like Coober, Roxby , the Alice have sweeter water than some cities as they use desalinated artesian. Also much of South Australia uses Murray water (they will be in major trouble if the Qld farmers continue their huge escalation of their usage of Darling basin water). Some road-side stops have rain water tanks for drinking water & there has been no shortage of rain in the Oz deserts for 3 years now.
Top attractions
Honourable mentions
Itinerary so far