Went up to Gympie to visit an old friend, Mary (aka Nerida) Murphy. Took advantage of this to try out Garmin on an intracity run. It worked like a charm!
Saturday, 14 December 2013
Friday, 13 December 2013
Not exactly trip-related, but just couldn't resist showing you this little visitor, a sacred kingfisher who stunned himself by flying into our back window. I wouldn't have picked him up, but a group of crested pigeons were showing just a little too much interest. It took him over half an hour before he recovered enough to fly off!
Tuesday, 10 December 2013
We sent an email to the British High Commission in Canberra, asking for advice regarding visa and ticketing requirements. Might be useful to publish its contents:
'As we understand it, as Australian citizens travelling with Australian passports, we need no special visas to visit the UK for less than 6 months. This is our plan, but the way we are hoping to do it complicates matters.
'Normally, the possession of a return flight ticket would be sufficient evidence of our intent to return home before the 6-month visitor limit.
'What we wish to do is somewhat different. We hope to arrive in the UK in mid-April, buy a campervan, registering it with the address of some close friends in Lochcarron, Scotland. We would then travel about the UK for a few months before crossing to the continent, travelling there until we approach the Shengen 90-day limit, at which time we would move further, into the Balkans and across to Turkey (where we plan to winter), then back into the Shengen area for a further couple of months, then back to the UK, across to Ireland, then back to the UK where we plan to sell the van and return to Australia.
'We were going to purchase return air tickets, and revise the return date as the time neared. It looks as if we would need to revise this return at least twice, each time incurring a fee. Moreover, the longest return date available at the moment is in October, which puts us bang in one of the more expensive times to fly. It would be more economic (and leave us more to spend in the UK) if we could simply buy one-way tickets at the time we need them -- we will have the funds available to do so at all times. Would this option cause difficulty for us entering the UK when we first arrive? We won't have any time constraints, so I would not consider having to present for explanatory interviews to be a problem, if this were to prove necessary, but I would be very concerned if there was any chance of us being turned back at the border.
'The fact that we have family here in Australia, including two very new grandchildren, is a further guarantee that we have no intent of outstaying our welcome in the UK.'
... and here are the two grandchildren in question ...
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| Lilly with her father Tristan |
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| Ashwyn with his parents Gemma and Jonathan |
Saturday, 7 December 2013
Ordered a Garmin Nüvi 2797 7" GPS from the Good Guys in Brisbane - their price was well under everybody else's. Will be able to install European maps on a Sandisk memory card for use on our trip. Chose the 7" over the 5" model after seeing the screen size in action — that extra 2 inches makes a big difference! Will be able to try it out and get used to it while driving around Brisbane and out into the country — don't want to be having teething troubles when we get to Europe!
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