And they're off

So we didn't QUITE make it as far as planned, but we are at least well and truly out of Sydney (happy sigh).

We had been planning to get to Nyngan with a quick stop along the way to say hello to my parents, but it seemed that the closer we got to the farm, the stronger the urge was to stop for the night. With all the map/camping/touring/4-w-driving books that were immediately brought out on our arrival to discuss possible routes and stops, I doubt that we could have escaped even if we wanted to :)

Ryan at least had a good time tearing up the driveway. Despite his cautious speed of just under 10km/hr AND the fact that he engaged 4WD just to be on the safe side, he still managed to travel down the majority of the road sideways. (To explain: my parent's driveway is a 1km long dirt track that doesn't really cope all that well when it rains)(I was trying to be helpful by suggesting that he could go faster if he wanted and that there was only one tree he could hit should he actually spin off the road)(didn't seem to help that much...)

(As I'm writing this - managed to spark a family debate regarding the condition of the road. My parent's maintaining that it really wasn't all that muddy. The endpoint of all of this was a second drive to the mailbox and the conclusion that "your Mum would make a better rally driver" than Ryan)

Anyway, the plan is to try and get from the farm to Broken Hill in one hit tomorrow (should take somewhere around 8hrs or so). After Cobar, it will be uncharted territory for both of us. Still can't quite believe that we are actually on our way to Darwin. The final closing of the doors in Blacktown, the groaningly-full truck, the slowly expanding horizon and the steadily increasing number of roadkills along the way would suggest that we are, in fact, officially off on what promises to be quite an adventure.