21 Jan 2014. <AU> Bardon, Queensland —

Paid the £1,000 deposit on the campervan. Had a little trouble doing the international bank transfer — the form wasn't particularly user-friendly — but finally got it through!

14 Jan 2014. <AU> Bardon, Queensland —

A van similar to the one we're getting,

Found a suitable campervan by trolling the internet. Motorlands, a dealership near Preston in Lancashire has a 1997 Holdsworth Valentine Volkswagen Transporter 2.4 litre Diesel Left-hand drive manual transmission vehicle — a little older than we were looking for, but with only 70,000 miles on the clock — a reasonable mileage for a diesel — this looks pretty good. It's less than 6 metres long, so will be charged as a car for any tolls and ferry fares — bonus! Phoned Carl McCormack, and have started the process of buying the vehicle. (We'll post a photo of the actual van once we get to Preston!)

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!