1,182km is just short of 750 miles, and that's how far away Perth was. That's a long way by anyone's standards, and it meant a whole day in the car. It was still dark when we set off, and we knew it would be dark in Perth when we got home.
There's not much of a story to tell about the drive. Long, straight, boring roads. Meekathara, the only significant place on the road home, was as grim a place as we'd been warned, and apart from watching a roadtrain refuel, there wasn't a whole lot to see. The hours passed and with none of Tina's egg sandwiches we had to make do with Pot Noodles made with a flask of hot water. A couple of Tim Tams each helped them down.
It was raining when we got back to Perth and we crawled through the rush hour traffic with sore bums and aching hips, and eventually pulled up onto our driveway at about 7pm.
It had been the sort of journey where you say "I think we'll fly next time," but in truth, it's the sort of journey you have to do at least once when living in Australia. Driving such a huge distance is an experience, and life is always more complete when you've had a few of those.