Some people have asked about prices in Central Australia and also about real estate along our path.
Fuel was usually within 15 cents of $1.30. In fact when we went through Canberra we paid more for fuel than we would until we were in the Southern Flinders Ranges in South Australia. At central Australian Roadhouses it was generally around $1.60 with the exception of on the Lasseter Highway to Uluru where it was over $1.80. We only twice paid $1.60. Overall for us it was not a big consideration.
Accommodation was good value in most places but gone are the days of good, cheap roadside motor-inns and motels. Some accommodation types don't allow children (dorms, back-packers at the rock) and genrally we paid the same amount ($80 - $120) and depending on where we were we either got average, good or great value for our money. Certainly in Alice Springs the choices were great and the prices very competitive.
Food and restaurants were mostly good quality but generally more expensive than in the South East of Australia. A notable exception was the BP in town at Bordertown, SA and whilst there were probably more, that one stood out. Erldunda roadhouse was good value and Threeways had a great menu (savoury mince for breakfast wins me over every time!).
Housing was the other thing we took note of as we travelled North. It amazes me that people need to pay $800,000 for a large family house in parts of our capital cities when in towns along the Murray Rv and in country NSW, Victoria and SA you can buy a similar house for as little as $145,000. I know wages and employment challenges exist in these towns but it does make me wonder what people could achieve through a location change.
 

Happy Australia Day from Singapore!! For some reason the time stamp on the website remains based on USA so until I work that one out, please don't comment on me getting the date for Australia Day wrong!!
It seems fitting to summarise the Australian leg of our trip, being that it is Australia Day and that there are lots of gaps in the blogging so far!
I have already mentioned how great it was to catch up with friends, some we hadn't seen for years. Thanks to those who fed us, dined with us, drank with us and accommodated us - it has all added to our enjoyment so far.
To a lot of people, driving through Australia can seem daunting - great distances, varied opinions on the "interest level" of the geography and extremes of heat make it appear as a less than inviting way to spend your Christmas / New Year (summer) holidays. For those unsure of whether they can do it, you need only answer one simple question: for how many hours can you make a game of "eye spy" interesting. If it is less than one hour consider travelling by air or investing in an in-car home entertainment sytem inclusive of video games. If you can manage two hours then probably you can travel as far as a car can take you in one day - but then you might need two days of rest to gain the courage to attempt it again! If two to three hours is your limit than you sound ready for a long, long journey with your loved ones! "Eye spy" and variations of it entertained us for hours for the last 4 long travel days. We also invented games where we would speculate what strange roadside objects and developments were used for - it just doesn't make sense (and is no fun) for power lines to be used for carrying power between places - much better that they are used as a perch for birds in a land void of trees, thus limiting the chance of "birdstrike" whilst hurtling along the Territories highways at speeds approaching Mach 2. 
 Of course in regard to "eye spy", if you can manage to enjoy a game for more than three hours, then you are probably reading this from prison and dream of being somewhere that the letter "B" can represent more than the objects "brick" or "bar"!!?? Maybe it is a "ball"??  
Summer in Australia is a good time for flies as well as heat, dust and tropical storms, depending on where you are standing. At Edith Falls near Katherine (great recommendation - thanks Liv, you should do some time as a travel agent!), the dust was kicked up by the wind that was itself generated bythe beating of the flies' wings..........no, seriously, the decision by Australian flies to meet at Edith Falls on the same day we would be there was one that we consider to have been malicious and unnecessary. Despite assurances that it is lovely in Winter, Molly will never-ever go again! Plus the swimming holes were closed so no escape.
The places we really didn't like were very few - our reasons were varied but in simple terms, towns need more going for them than tourists and opals (hint, hint). Whilst we liked Darwin we would think long and hard about living there and I am confident I would live in the centre before the top end. Of course before people go getting all "Lynyrd Skynyrd " on me, just as Neill Young was not from Alabama, I am not from the Territory and haven't lived there so my opinion may count for very little! I do have a NT drivers licence though??!!:-)

 

I must admit to having had some terrific ideas to add to this Blog, as well as some great stories to tell but so far I have been barely able to upload photos and update the Where's Molly Blog so this part of the site has been neglected.
There are three things that I want to point out before leaving Australia:
1. We wish we saw more of our friends more often as everyone we have caught up with has made the trip that little bit more exciting. The tyranny of distance should not be an excuse for not keeping in touch and we are amongst the worst offenders.
2. It has been great to re-establish communications with old friends who have sent emails and comments despite point 1!!!!!
3. The first couple of donations have been a real boost for us and we are honoured that people have supported CMRI through here. In addition to Bev and now Gina and family, we have also received our first challenge!! Looks like Molly will be sending lots of postcards as Allison and family are going to donate $10 for every one they receive from a different country - thank you so much to you and especially to Izaac, Izabel, Hannah and Heidi for challenging us!!!!

Yesterday was the "breakout". We left Melbourne, left Victoria and headed off without any real committments. Sure we will see people along the way from here but the last week (which curiously enough was also the first week) was always about seeing a few people that we wanted to see before setting off.
So Molly had a sleepover in Melbourne's East before we then hosted her friend Olivia to a sleepover with us - she now knows NOT to share a single bed with Molly; blanket hog and a kicker and groper of some renown!
Molly was very fortunate that her Uncle Graeme downloaded the entire 10 series of Friends to her iPod. I think in 12 months time we will all be very grateful! During the longer drives Molly likes to tune out and watch a few episodes. I find it hilarious as I can dip my rear view mirror and watch her giggling in complete isolation ofanything going on around her!
Catching up with friends was great and we are looking forward to being forwarded an address to look up in St Petersburgh on behalf of one "young" lady. We never knew we were friends with the now defunct Russian aristocracy! Great dinners in Melbourne as well as drinks and farm visits to old friends have reminded us how travel can be so much more than just doing new things!
At this point it is all very surreal, not working for a year I am sure I can get used to but my big fear is that it will all pass so quickly! We are still coming to terms with Blogging and keeping in touch. Lots of old friends have been emailing us and at times I wonder if we should also be using something like Facebook but to be honest I think we would become overwhelmed. So for now it is the website and emails.
 I note we have had our first donation, anonymous on the web but I can use this forum to say a huge thankyou to our dear friend Beverley - we feel like we can achieve great things for others courtesy of your thoughtfulness and generosity! As Paul Kelly the singer/songwriter once penned; From Little Things, Big Things Grow.
On the Where's Molly Blog you may see that Burra leaves a good impression on me - I love the town for some reason. Anyway, Breaker Morant was filmed there and actually has some relevance to what we are doing. In the movie Bryan Brown pleads to 'Breaker' Morant by using his name, Harry (though his name was actually Henry, he was called Harry). The accent and tone of Bryan Brown in the movie always appealed to me as the "classic Aussie" and was a strong influence on me when we chose a name for our Harry.
I've been a font of information tonight eh!!???? 

After too much of everything over Christmas and New Year, we set off on Sunday 03 January 2010. The excitment of what lay ahead meant that the farewell wasn't too emotional - we know our house and the dog, Mojo, will be in good hands with my Mum and brother looking after them.
Our first stop was Canberra where we checked out the National Gallery and the "Masterpieces from Paris" exhibition. It was amazing to see original works from Van Gogh, Gauguin and Monet and to know that in the next 12 months we could get the opportunity to see them again in their normal home in Paris.
We spent a day with good friends, fitted in some Ten Pin bowling and headed off over the roof of Australia.
As we went through the Kosciosko National Park in the NSW Snowy Mountains we managed to have lunch with some Kangaroos and on a day that had seen temperatures in the low 30's, we hit a storm and saw the temperature drop to 17 degrees celsius.
As we headed further along the Murray River, that afternoon the temperatures at Echuca were back in the 30's and we had a swim before exploring what is a terrific Australian town.