Making Plans for the Return to Adelaide

 

David left for Adelaide on 16 December with the intent of finishing up the galley/fridge project in time for my return. Knowing him, he'll work day and night and still not have it finished when I return. He's a workaholic and a perfectionist, so I may have to take drastic measures when I get there to insure he balances work and play. With that in mind, I've begun getting ready for my return trip to Australia.

First, I had to get a new passport. It wasn't until a couple of weeks ago that I realized my current passport expires next summer, so it was time for renewal. Most countries, including Australia, require at least six months left on your passport. Additionally, Australia, unlike most countries, requires a visa in advance of arrival. The application is available on-line and unless you plan to stay for more than three months (like us), it's free (except there's a $20AUD service charge for processing). Though it can take up to a few weeks to process, both David and I got our approved one-year visas within 10 days of our application via return e-mail. It's totally electronic and pretty painless (except for the fee part).

I've booked my return flight from Boston to Adelaide for 4 January on United/Qantas via San Franciso and Sydney. Another positive about David's early return is that he can figure out all the things we didn't order and I have a couple of weeks to gather it all together for my return. I keep looking for positives since this holiday separation is the pits. When he called from LAX, he'd already thought of something I needed to bring with me.

Having worked out all the logistics, now comes the fun part. Though there's lots of work to be done on Cups, we all know that “all work and no play make a dull boy” and a cranky wife. So as Nine of Cups' social director, it's my job to seek out what Adelaide has to offer and make sure there's adequate time to see it all. Lonely Planet has just named Adelaide as one of the top 10 cities to visit in 2014. How fortuitous … that's where we'll be. So far the Cleland Wildlife Park, the Botanic Gardens, the South Australia Museum and the Art Gallery of South Australia top the list of “to-do's” in addition to our usual city exploration. Frog cakes and pie floaters also require investigation. Stay tuned … we're in for some fun … along with all the boat work.