No turning back!

Money has been transferred ticket has been paied for, now there is no turning back!

So I finally have booked my flight for Sidney, Australia. The plane leaves from Norway on September 5th, and it takes about 22hours (only airtravel time), 30 hours with traveling time, give or take delays and other unforeseen events. The trip takes me to Berlin and further on to Abu Dhabi before I reach my final destination; Sidney.
I'm starting to look forward to the trip, even though I'm not very excited about 22hours in air. The reason for this is that I'm having trouble sleeping in planes, cars, buses and trains. So no sleep for me on the flight down under.

I've used the Kilroy travel agency to book my flight and arrange for an introduction with the Work and Travel in Australia.

I have found some more things that I would like to do while away. I'm going to learn how to sail a sailboat.
And continue my gliders license, if possible. I've recently finished the aerodynamics exam and are missing a couple of more exams and flight hours.

Don't know what a glider is? (Check out www.nthf.no)
I'm currently flying in the NTHF club located in Trondheim/Oppdal, Norway. The website is http://www.nthf.no check it out!

VISA Granted, time to plan ahead.

After getting my new passport and applying for the Work and Travel VISA, it took around 16 hours from the application was sent till I received the notification that my VISA had been granted. That is effectiveness for you right there! What still remains is the ticket to Australia, and I hope that I can book it this weekend

In the meantime I have started to make a note of some of the things I would want to do while in Australia.
Some of them are probably standard when traveling to Australia.
The list is as follows;
- Snorkel at The Great Barrier Reef
- Learn or try to learn how to Surf
- Travel to New Zealand (in case I get homesick)
- Skydive
- Continue flying Gliders
- Travel The Great Ocean Road - Perhaps by bike
- Work at a ranch
- Holding a Koala

I guess the list will be longer as I come closer to travel, and as I get down there and learn what other things could be cool to do/see.

Prepearing for the trip - part2

So preparations are well on their way for this year of mine away "Down under."

So I got my leave of absence from work, and are due to hopefully travel to Australia sometime in September. There are still some things that need to be arranged before I can "calm down" and start to fully enjoy the fact that I'm going away to the other side of the earth.

So remaining things are;
- Get a new passport
- Apply for my VISA
- Book my flight to Sydney
- See if I can get some place to stay
- See if there are some work when I arrive, though that is not exactly priority number one.

Some useful links.
Australian Work and Travel VISA
Renting in Australia
Jobs in Australia

So I'm in the process of subletting my appartment, since I don't want to sell it. I would like to have it when I come back to Norway. My car on the other hand, guess that one has to go!

More to come...

Preparing for the trip

It's time for a change.

So I found out a little while ago that there is something called Work and Travel Visa to different countries. So I started the research and had a few options; Australia, New Zealand and Canada.

Canada is a paradise in the winter, however it's required with an interview before you travel to get a secure job on a resort for 4-6 months. I wanted a warmer climate and something more to explore than just skiing. I've heard that New Zealand is more like the Norwegian country, that is in scenery. So my choice ended up being Australia.

Why Australia?
I'm going away for a year, and there is much to explore in Australia. All the people I have talked to, that have been to Australia, recommend it and are very pleased that they have traveled there.
I can also visit other countries while in Australia, so visiting New Zealand shouldn't be a big problem.

Now I only need to get a leave of absence from work. That worked out very well.

Next thing to do is get my vaccination in order and apply for the Work and Travel VISA, I hope that will work out as well. When the VISA approved I just need to book a plane and head "Down under"

I'm both terrified and excited at the same time! I don't have a clue as to what to expect.