Believe it or not, we're less than 90 days away from our departure for Sydney. Of course, to complicate matters, we're adding new challenges into our life - we're trying to orchestrate a move from Charlotte, NC to Portland, OR, sell our house in Charlotte, and buy a new home in Portland. Trying to make all that work and take advantage of the tax credit for new home ownership, etc. is just about enough to make my head spin!
Our 9 year old daughter is having second thoughts - she has decided that flying for nearly 24 hours might not be so bad after all, so now she's asking to join us. I have to gently remind her that she still has school in May, so she won't be traveling around the world. Instead, I've promised her a trip to Canada once we relocate to the Pacific Northwest - hope that assuages her, but I fear she will find Canada (despite its beauty) to pale in comparison once she sees our photos from Sydney...
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Finally got with the program...
Well - on December 31 I finally did what I've been trying to do for months - submit my expired passport for renewal and get a fresh one.
On January 10 (yes - only 10 days after applying for renewal) the US government issued my new passport and mailed it to me. Whoever said that the government is slow about everything obviously hasn't worked with whomever processed my passport renewal! So I've got my passport, and now I'm ready to go - except for this little thing called a visa. When I went to England years ago, they didn't require me to have a Visa, unless it was issued by my bank, and I was heartily encouraged to bring that one so I could spend all my money in their country.
Apparently Australia requires one visa (a tourist visa for visiting) and encourages the bank issued Visa for spending money!
We've decided that we're going to stay in the CBD (That's Central Business District for those of us that are acronym challenged) in Sydney, and use that as our central jumping off point. We have day trips planned to the Blue Mountains and the beach - maybe Manly Beach and maybe Bondi Beach...Should be fun.
Other than that, we're still trying to firm up specifics for what to see. Since Australia was once a penal colony, I want to go see some of the old prisons/barracks/etc. My wife says she's game for that - I only hope she doesn't threaten to take me to some scrapbooking shop while we're there. She can buy paper in the US just as well as in the land down under, right?
Signing off for now - I'll try to post again in a few days or when something noteworthy happens :)
On January 10 (yes - only 10 days after applying for renewal) the US government issued my new passport and mailed it to me. Whoever said that the government is slow about everything obviously hasn't worked with whomever processed my passport renewal! So I've got my passport, and now I'm ready to go - except for this little thing called a visa. When I went to England years ago, they didn't require me to have a Visa, unless it was issued by my bank, and I was heartily encouraged to bring that one so I could spend all my money in their country.
Apparently Australia requires one visa (a tourist visa for visiting) and encourages the bank issued Visa for spending money!
We've decided that we're going to stay in the CBD (That's Central Business District for those of us that are acronym challenged) in Sydney, and use that as our central jumping off point. We have day trips planned to the Blue Mountains and the beach - maybe Manly Beach and maybe Bondi Beach...Should be fun.
Other than that, we're still trying to firm up specifics for what to see. Since Australia was once a penal colony, I want to go see some of the old prisons/barracks/etc. My wife says she's game for that - I only hope she doesn't threaten to take me to some scrapbooking shop while we're there. She can buy paper in the US just as well as in the land down under, right?
Signing off for now - I'll try to post again in a few days or when something noteworthy happens :)
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