And soon, it will begin again...
For those of you who don't yet know, I
will be heading O/S again in about a month. After being back in Oz
for 8 months, I am itching to get out and about again. Where to you
ask? Israel!! The fact that it was never on my list of countries to
visit actually makes it more exciting. It is now time for Didi to
show me around her hood, and time for me to meet all of her friends
and family!
Didi flies out tomorrow, bound for Tel
Aviv after 9 months away from home. As you can imagine (while of
course she is sad to be leaving me), she is damn excited about
going home! I have another month of work here in Melbourne until I
can free myself, so won't be joining her until late August. Our plan
is 3 months together there, travelling, holidaying, visiting friends
and family, and of course, attending Didi's sisters' wedding. While
we would both love to continue our journey elsewhere after Israel, we
will be coming back to Australia together in late November. My hope
is that I will have some work lined up in Melbourne, and can start to
recoup the cost of some of these plane fares.....
And to top our travel plans off, Didi
was yesterday granted “Temporary Permanent Australian Resident”
status. 24 hours before her flight out. Talk about cutting it fine!
Finally, we have negotiated the maze of paperwork and required
documents, and jumped through all of the hoops our illustrious Dept
of Immigration and Citizenship asked of us... FINALLY!! So, now Didi
will actually be allowed to re-enter Australia with me in November..
So, with 3 months to kill in a country
no bigger than Victoria, you can be sure that I will be keeping this
journal up to date. I have recruited a new eeePC for this journey
(smaller, better, faster!) and will endeavour to fill it with stories
and pics. I am looking forward to so many aspects of this trip –
the countryside, the cities, the atmosphere, the food (oh the food!),
the melting pot of religion and culture, and of course Didi's friends
and family... I want to be going now!!
But, unfortunately, that's it for now.
Expect a bit more from me over the coming months though - the next
entry will be from downtown Petah Tikva..
Love to all,
Simon...
