At long last… the 5th of May, 2022 has arrived, the borders are open, we’re doubled vaxxed and boosted, the car and van are ready, the house is packed and we’re off.

The BoM said it would be raining this morning but instead we were treated to a glorious Royalla morning with fog enveloping the hills and the sun beginning to climb over the saddle under grey puffy clouds… A beautiful way to remember our home as we prepared to leave.

We still had a few hours of final packing and cleaning to go as well as a final check of tire pressures on the car and van, van packing and a last shower in the house before hitting the road to go.

Showered, packed, checked and aching from head-to-toe after a week of lifting, toting, pushing, pulling, scrubbing, sweeping and vacuuming it was time to close up the house for the last time and become nomads. But not before a quick toast. We had two miniature bottles of apple schnapps that have been with us since we were in Austria in 1991… In true Austrian fashion we upended them hands free in a final toast to our house and a nod to the start of our Australian odyssey. To be honest though… the schnapps had not improved with age.

All fueled up and provisioned, another quick selfie in front of the cruiser and it was farewell to Royalla at 1:00pm on Thursday, 5th May 2022. First stop Bombala, south of Cooma. It was a fairly uneventful drive with a brief stop at the Bredbo Pie Shop for a late lunch. Not the best pie and sausage roll we’ve ever had but filled the hole and provided an opportunity to pause and realise that we were finally starting the Big Trip of the Grand Tour…

Bombala beckons…