HEADING EAST →
0km
SWAN VIEW
Perth, Western Australia
31.9°S 116.0°E
Packed the car at dawn. The road stretched out ahead—thousands of kilometres of unknown waiting. Left behind the familiar. Drove towards... something.
EXPEDITION ARCHIVE • PREVIEW EDITION
A ROUND TRIP ACROSS THE AUSTRALIAN OUTBACK
THE ROAD
6,859.5 kilometres. 32 stops. Out across the Nullarbor to Port Lincoln, and back via the Eyre Peninsula, Esperance and Israelite Bay.
Every leg pointed me to Jesus—His compassion, His strength in wilderness places, His invitation to follow even when the road is straight and silent, and His promise to return and make all things new.
PROLOGUE
RUNNING AWAY
“This is part of the journey to find out who I am. Am I the sum of all the experiences? Am I the sum of two sets of parents? Who am I?”
FIELD DISPATCH • THE NIGHT I LEFT
The urgency—that's what I felt that night I left on my road trip. The urgency to run. To get away. To not look back, but to look forward. Just around that corner. Just over that ridge. Just around that other corner. Just a little further, and then I can rest.
But it was never enough. When that ridge came, when that curve in the road came, it still wasn't enough. I had to keep going and going.
It was getting late. I had to stop and adjust my spotlight. I looked up, and I saw the blinding light—yes, that's the only way to describe it. I looked up and I saw the stars like I had never seen them before. I was in a dark-sky area, and the stars were so bright it was like looking into another dimension. So bright you could almost read by them.
Up to this point, I hadn't even stopped to consider what the night sky would look like. But because I had to adjust that spotlight, that's when I took a deep breath. I looked at my surroundings, looked at the pitch darkness, and then looked up to see the heavens aglow with stars.
But my restlessness, my exhaustion, my fear, my insistence on running as far and as fast as I could gripped me yet again. I couldn't wait to push my foot on that accelerator—not to break the speed limit, but just to keep the momentum going.
Finally, I could drive no more. I pulled over on the side of the road, right into some bushes looking for camouflage. Strangely enough, I know that doesn't make sense, but that's how it felt: I had to hide away because of this inconvenient need to sleep.
Even so, after a short nap, I was energized enough to keep going. I finally made it to my first destination.
I wouldn't really find peace on this journey right away. I didn't find it in Norseman. I didn't find it in the roadhouses. But I found it when I crossed the border.
The funny thing was, my original idea was only to go to the Western Australia / South Australia border. That was it. I wasn't going to go any further. But then I thought to myself: If I'm going to be there, I might as well go and see the Great Australian Bight. And if I'm going to do that, well, I might as well see the Nullarbor Roadhouse. And if I'm going to do that, well...
And that's how I explored the great outdoors, the great outback, the great silence, the great expanse, the great peace, the great confusion, the great expanse of questions.
The harder and faster I ran—hoping to run to God, to find myself, to hear His voice—the more it seemed that I was running away from Him. It didn't seem to matter how hard I tried; I couldn't run away from myself. I couldn't run away from my sin, my mistakes, my habits, my fears, my guilt.
I was saying: “Brian, if only you just pray a little more. If only you keep a diary. If only you look up.” But no matter where I went, I kept bumping into my inner self, my inner fears, and that inner voice that says: You're not good enough. You're too weak. You're just going to sin, and be sinful, and be angry, and be stuck in the past—stuck with unforgiveness, stuck with the shame.
However, God had other ideas.
He showed me that in the storm, in the howling winds when the tent was almost ripped and blown away, He was there to comfort me, to help me sleep, to help me find peace.
This journey that I'm going to share with you is huge, massive, and complex. It will be study guides, videos, and resources that you can use to help you on your own journey to run away from everything that would separate you from God.
This is the journey of Running TO God—and to a new life where you can find blessed assurance, where you can find peace, where you can find strength, and where you can find your true identity in Christ. This is my journey. It is also your journey. And I invite you to join me now.
→ OUTBOUND
Swan View → Toodyay → Dowerin → Koorda → Bencubbin → Mukinbudin → Boondi Rock → Coolgardie → Norseman → Caiguna → Madura Roadhouse → Madura Caves → Eucla → Border Village → Nullarbor → Mexican Hat → Ceduna → Port Lincoln
← RETURN (VIA COAST)
Port Lincoln → Coffin Bay → Colton Bakehouse → Talia Caves → Venus Bay → Penong → Cactus Beach → Point Sinclair → Port Le Hunte → Norseman → Esperance → Pink Lake →Israelite Bay → Swan View
6,859.5 KM TOTAL • 32 STOPS
85km
TOODYAY
Avon Valley
31.6°S 116.5°E
Historic town nestled in the Avon Valley. The first taste of country WA. Rolling hills and heritage buildings.
155km
DOWERIN
Wheatbelt
31.2°S 117.0°E
Deep into wheat country now. Golden paddocks stretching to the horizon. The landscape starting to open up.
215km
KOORDA
Wheatbelt
30.8°S 117.5°E
Small farming community. The kind of place where everyone waves as you drive past.
270km
BENCUBBIN
Wheatbelt
30.8°S 117.9°E
Grain silos towering over the main street. This is the heart of WA's wheat belt.
340km
MUKINBUDIN
Wheatbelt
30.9°S 118.2°E
The edge of the wheatbelt. Beyond here, the landscape starts to change. Getting further from everything familiar.
420km
BOONDI ROCK
Outback WA
31.2°S 119.1°E
Ancient granite outcrop rising from the red earth. A sacred place. Stopped here to stretch the legs and feel the silence.
560km
COOLGARDIE
Goldfields
31.2°S 121.2°E
Ghost of the gold rush. Once home to 15,000 people chasing dreams. Now a quiet reminder that nothing lasts forever.
720km
NORSEMAN
Gateway to the Nullarbor
32.2°S 121.8°E
Last real town before the crossing. Filled the tank, checked the tyres, bought enough water for a small army. The servo owner asked where I was headed. "East," I said. He just nodded.
"The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you."
— Deuteronomy 31:8
930km
CAIGUNA ROADHOUSE
Start of the 90 Mile Straight
32.3°S 125.5°E
146.6 kilometres without a single turn coming up. The longest straight road in Australia. Fuel, coffee, deep breath.
1,090km
MADURA ROADHOUSE
Nullarbor
31.9°S 127.0°E
Perched on the edge of the Madura Pass. The views here are something else. The endless plain stretching out below.
1,120km
MADURA CAVES
FIELD LOGMadura Pass Karst, Nullarbor WA
31.9°S 127.1°E
Camped up on the high lookout above Madura Roadhouse before dawn, then headed east down the track in the freezing morning air. Crawled through a small limestone overhang on hands and knees into a 15-foot vaulted cavern, waiting for the sunrise to send a shaft of light cutting through the ceiling opening.
"I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth."
— Psalm 121:1–2 (ESV)
1,180km
EUCLA
Nullarbor
31.7°S 128.9°E
Old telegraph station slowly being swallowed by sand dunes. Time moves differently out here.
1,200km
BORDER VILLAGE
WA/SA Border
31.0°S 129.0°E
Crossed into South Australia. Changed the clock forward. Somehow felt like more than just a timezone change.
1,400km
NULLARBOR ROADHOUSE
The Heart of Nowhere
31.4°S 130.9°E
Met a grey nomad couple who'd been on the road for three years. "You're not running from something," the old man said. "You're running to something. I can see it in your eyes."
"Be still and know that I am God."
— Psalm 46:10
1,500km
MEXICAN HAT
FIELD LOGBunda Cliffs Lookout, SA
31.0°S 129.5°E
Named for the remarkable offshore limestone formation that resembles a sombrero floating in azure waters. Off-track tracks lead past stone cairns directly to the cliff edge, where 100-metre drops meet the roar of the Southern Ocean.
"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands."
— Psalm 19:1
1,850km
SCOTTS POINT
FIELD LOGFowlers Bay Coast, SA
31.9°S 132.4°E
Off-road coastal tracks overlooking the wild Southern Ocean. Flying the drone over the eastern cliffs revealed a massive natural collapse amphitheatre carved by pounding surf. A reminder that in the wildest wasteland, God carves out hidden sanctuaries.
"He made a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland."
— Isaiah 43:19
2,100km
CEDUNA
South Australia
32.1°S 133.7°E
End of the Nullarbor. Civilisation returns. A real shower, a real bed. But somehow I missed the silence already.
TURNAROUND POINT
3,430km
PORT LINCOLN
Eyre Peninsula, SA
34.7°S 135.9°E
The turnaround point. Parked the car, walked to the water, sat down. I waited for a lightning bolt or a sudden feeling that all my brokenness was healed. None came. The road cannot cure you. But in that stillness, I realized Jesus never asked for my perfection—He just asked me to stop running.
"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."
— 2 Corinthians 12:9
← THE LONG WAY HOME
3,450km
COFFIN BAY
Eyre Peninsula
34.6°S 135.5°E
Famous for its oysters. Peaceful waters and rugged coastline. A quiet start to the journey home.
★
3,500km
COLTON BAKEHOUSE
The Biggest Temptation
34.3°S 135.4°E
The pies. The pastries. The smell of fresh bread. Nearly didn't leave. Some temptations are worth giving in to.
3,580km
TALIA CAVES
Eyre Peninsula
33.9°S 134.8°E
Sea caves carved by the relentless pounding of Southern Ocean waves. The raw power of water breaking against stone.
3,650km
VENUS BAY
Eyre Peninsula
33.2°S 134.7°E
Pristine beaches, crystal clear water. Named by Matthew Flinders. Felt like discovering something ancient.
3,850km
PENONG
Eyre Highway
31.3°S 132.9°E
Windmill museum town. The gateway to some of Australia's best surf beaches.
3,880km
CACTUS BEACH
Point Sinclair
31.5°S 132.5°E
World-famous surf break. Even if you don't surf, the raw power of those waves is humbling.
3,900km
POINT SINCLAIR
Great Australian Bight
31.5°S 132.4°E
Remote headland jutting into the Southern Ocean. The kind of place that makes you feel very small and very alive.
3,920km
PORT LE HUNTE JETTY
Historic Jetty
31.5°S 132.4°E
Old timber jetty reaching out into the bay. Sunset here was something else. Sat on the edge with feet dangling, watching the light fade.
5,500km
NORSEMAN RETURN
Back in WA
32.2°S 121.8°E
Back at the gateway. But this time, instead of heading straight home, turned south. There was more to see.
5,700km
ESPERANCE
South Coast, WA
33.9°S 121.9°E
White sand beaches that look like they belong in the Caribbean. Lucky Bay, where kangaroos laze on the sand. A reminder that beauty often hides in unexpected places.
"The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it."
— Psalm 24:1
5,750km
PINK LAKE
Esperance
33.8°S 121.8°E
A lake that glows pink. Something about algae and salt, but the science doesn't capture the magic of it.
5,970km
ISRAELITE BAY
The Edge of Nowhere
33.6°S 123.9°E
The road turned to dirt. Then to sand. Then to almost nothing. An abandoned telegraph station. Complete isolation. Out here, at the edge of everything, the journey finally made sense.
6,859km
SWAN VIEW RETURN
Perth, Western Australia
31.9°S 116.0°E
Back where I started. But not the same person who left. 6,859.5 kilometres later, the road had done its work. The journey was over. The transformation was just beginning.
CONTINUE
GATHER AROUND THE FIRE
Every stop had a story. Some were told at roadhouses. Others came out under the stars.
CAMPFIRE TALES