Will you mount the solar panels on the van roof?

In 4 or 5 months you will have some ‘we should have’ experiences, but as you infer, the trip is a recce to ‘suss out where you want to go back to for longer stays’. I reckon you could spend years doing the same trip & still go back a second time to see what you missed, just depends on how much you want to slow down & ‘smell the roses’. I lost count of all the little tracks I would have liked to check out if we’d had a 4wd, & those are just the ones accessed from the ‘main drag’!

Enjoy all the dreaming & planning, it’s a big part of it, but be aware of how addictive the ‘on the road’ lifestyle is. We planned our 18 months on the road for 5 years, & had a fantastic time & now live for when the travel can be a lifestyle & not just a trip. I know folk who have done multiple ‘laps’, folk who have traversed all of the iconic tracks, & folk who have spent years travelling & have yet to cross a state border. What they all have in common is, like you, they wish they had started years earlier, as well as also having the desire to continue for as long as they can. None regret ‘getting out there’.
I often think of a couple in their 80’s who we met at a lakeside bush camp at Lake Elphinstone in Qld.They were travelling on the government pension, in a Subaru Outback with two kayaks on top, & towing a tiny ‘L’il Nipper’ van. From Tassie. 6 months out of every 12. They would move on once a fortnight as their pension allowed the purchase of a small amount of fuel. They were having a ball. I asked them whether they ever got bored. "No dear- we did the lap & all the big ticket items years ago, but now we just enjoy being on the road because of all the friendship & camaraderie it brings us, better than staying home in front of the telly. When we are at home the time away gives us something to look forward to, a reason to keep on keeping on”. I thought they were a great model to aspire to. Although slowing down to their extent was imposed by their financial constraints, the contentment & happiness which accompanied it was what was most inspiring. It takes far more learning (& time) to achieve that than most realise.