the unglamorous truth about long road trips in australia that nobody mentions in the highlight reels.
done two long drives now, Sydney to Cairns and Melbourne to Perth. not complaining, both were worth it, but there's a version of "australian road trip" that gets posted online and a version that actually happens, and they're pretty different.
the version online: golden hour shots, empty highways, spontaneous wild camping under stars, and the other part that actually happens: you're tired, it's 6pm, you need a shower, your back hurts, you want somewhere to park that isn't a servo, and "spontaneous wild camping" in most of eastern australia means either a fine or a genuinely sketchy situation.
what actually works as infrastructure is a network you can rely on for powered sites, hot showers, and a camp kitchen when you've had enough of your own cooking. not glamorous, but extremely functional.
I am not saying that you should not do some wild camping because there are many great places where you can go, but for the transit between those places, which you will visit for an extended period of time, you'll always be more comfortable paying $30-40 for a powered spot.