08 Jan 2014. <AU> Bardon, Queensland —

Installed European maps on the Garmin. Now have full coverage for the British Isles, Western and Eastern Europe, and Turkey!

07 Jan 2014. <AU> Ashgrove, Queensland —

Bit the bullet, went up to Flight Centre, and booked two one-way tickets to London via Dubai, flying with Emirates. We fly out on April 13.

03 Jan 2014. <AU> Bardon, Queensland —

We received a reply to our email from the British High Commission, saying 'We do normally recommend that you have a return ticket when to travel to the UK as a visitor.   However, if you do not have one, you are going to need to satisfy the Immigration Officer on arrival that you only intend to visit the UK for a maximum of six months in any one year period.   Having no return ticket, or an open dated one can cause issues.    I cannot say how an Immigration  Officer at the border will view your intended trip, but the onus will be on you to satisfy them that you are genuine visitors.

'I realise that renting a campervan and travelling around Australia for six months to a year is not uncommon here, it is not necessarily viewed the same way in the UK.    If you have concerns,  you may wish to consider applying for a one or two year multiple entry visa (depending on your intended time away) and provide a planned itinerary, expected costs, evidence of funds and a full explanation of what you intend to do.     If you are retired you should provide evidence, and if you are using this as part of your long service leave, or an agreed break from work, you should also provide evidence of this to show you intend to return.'

We are sure that we have ample documentation of our intentions, so will go over on one-way tickets. At worst, we can simply buy a return ticket when we're over there, but odds are that we will get through without any trouble. We'll find out on April 14!

14 Dec 2013. <AU> Bardon, Queensland —

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!

13 Dec 2013. <AU> Bardon, Queensland —

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!

10 Dec 2013. <AU> Bardon, Queensland

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 ...

Lilly with her father Tristan

Ashwyn with his parents Gemma and Jonathan

7 Dec 2013. <AU> Bardon, Queensland —

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!