Posts in the category "Tourist of Oz".

If I spat on the plane while in Singapore…

… would they throw me in jail?

That wasn’t one of the questions I asked when I went to the travel agency this morning. I did ask about the Bunch o’ PapersTM (now I know which one of them is The Ticket — it’s not the one saying “Receipt Duplicate Copy”) and also got a Visa because I couldn’t find a way to get one through the website. So, now I have the Visa — or actually an Electronic Travel Authority. I was also given a cool plastic pouch where I can keep all the important documents.

I did ask if I needed any extra vaccinations because the plane stops in Singapore (I guess some countries require vaccinations etc. if one changes planes there…? I don’t know!). There are no mandatory vaccinations to take before being allowed to enter Australia.

Next step: Travel insurance
I’d only bought luggage insurance via the website (because there was a checkbox for it!) and hadn’t thought about getting an insurance for myself. (Who cares about me as long as my clothes and books are safe!) So, now I’ve got a bill I can pay if I want to and I’ll get the insurance in the mail. The price isn’t awful. Sounds good to me.

For the whole story, see category Tourist of Oz.

Confusion

I received an envelope from the travel agency today and it contained a lot of papers. White papers, yellow papers, important looking papers, for-my-information papers…

I’m all confused about which papers I actually need to take with me on the trip and will the people at the airports really believe that they are official papers. They don’t look very official. I was expecting a wonderfully thick booklet of all the different plane tickets I’d need (well, only 2 and 2) but now I only have a receipt, an itinerary, electronic ticket/receipt/itinerary, and I printed an eTicket Receipt Duplicate Copy which sounds very shady.

I think I’ll go to the travel agency on Thursday to get my head screwed on straight and get all these papers sorted out — I should be able to get the Visa through them so I get two birds with one stone. Now that I think about it, maybe I get more official papers after check-in.

I really wanted a thick plane ticket booklet that I could laminate or frame…

Tickets – check

I just bought the tickets! They should arrive in the mail in about a week.

I’m going to go via Frankfurt (both to and from). And what they didn’t tell me on the site, also Singapore, apparently. I guess it’s just a intermediate landing.

  • Helsinki – Frankfurt: 2.5 h
  • 4.5-hour wait in Frankfurt
  • Frankfurt – Singapore: 12 h
  • 1.5-hour wait in Singapore
  • Singapore – Sydney: 7.5 h

I’ll stay in Sydney for 18 days.

  • Sydney – Singapore: 8 h
  • 1.5-hour wait in Singapore
  • Singapore – Frankfurt: 13 h
  • 5.5-hour wait in Frankfurt
  • Frankfurt – Singapore: 2.5 h

In total: 28 h + 30.5 h. They better let me have a book in my hand luggage!

When I was paying the tickets I noticed that my balance was a bit tight… after the wad of money (or should I say a whole lotta ones and zeros, binarily speaking) had been removed from my account I was left with 12,66 €. Whoopsie. :mrgreen: Payday isn’t until October 10th so I had to take some money from my saving’s account (especially as I’ve been planning to buy the phone next week).

This’ll be my longest holiday in a looong time. I don’t think I’ll go to work right the next day even though I’ll arrive in Finland early afternoon (which can change of course).

Next step: ETA/Visa

For the whole story, see category Tourist of Oz.

Officially invited

This arrived yesterday:

Invitation

I wanted to scan it for keeps because I’m RSVPing (although I cannot use the envelope that was provided — I bet they wouldn’t accept an Australian stamp in a Finnish post office, them crooks :laugh: ).

For the whole story, see category Tourist of Oz.

Passport – check

On Tuesday morning I went to pick up my passport. Luckily this time I didn’t have to queue at all (I went to the police station at 8:30 am). The lady asked me for my current passport that needed to be cancelled. I stared at her a bit and said I didn’t have a passport (I did have a 1-year passport in 1997). She still insisted, “it expires in January”. I said again I didn’t have a passport. Then she noticed that the paper that was attached to my passport had a wrong, but very similar, name. She apologised and said “I’m glad I didn’t rough you up more.” :D

My photo is still bad but it isn’t as noticeable under the plastic. This time I don’t look like I’ve escaped from prison as I did on my first passport.

Next step: ETA (Electronic Travel Authority) and plane tickets…

For the whole story, see category Tourist of Oz.

One step closer to kangaroos

Today I went to the police station to apply for a passport; it took a bit over half an hour to queue! I guess it’s not much, but I kept glancing at the clock because the office was closing at 4:15. I wonder if they would’ve kicked everyone out at 4:15…

I had to ask what to fill in the field “church or population register”. Was I supposed to answer either “church” or “register”, was I supposed to specify my religious affiliation (Evangelical Lutheran — it’s by birth and I haven’t bothered to leave/resign/whatever) or write down the specific church area I belong to. The clerk wrote down the church area.

When it was time to pay, the clerk swiped my card in the machine — nothing. Swiped again and again and again — nothing. My heart was racing by now and I chuckled nervously. When they ‘ho-hummed’ I was afraid there was something seriously wrong but luckily it eventually worked. Phew. I laughed and said “I wonder how that card will work abroad…” I’ll have to look into that. Darn chip cards.

The passport will be ready in about two weeks (exciting!). I hope my picture won’t be as bad as it was on the actual photo. And I hope I won’t have an extra mole on my face! (There’s a black dot in my student ID photo.)

Next step is a Visa (or ETA) I guess… (Jeez, Tourist Visa costs a lot! ETA it is.) Why does everything have to be so ambiguous? “The ETAs available on this site are not for: (…) students.” I am a student but I’m not going there to study so I hope I’m eligible. Or maybe it’s not available for students because students are unreliable and broke? :razz:

For the whole story, see category Tourist of Oz.

Land down under

This time next year I will be in Australia.

It’s weird to know that already but not be able to do much about it really. There are no flight schedules available yet and I have to double check how much information I’ll need for a visa application (possibly flight details). Hopefully I’m eligible for an ETA because I don’t want to mail (!!!) my precious passport to Berlin! I do have to get a new one — and photos for it, uhh — so there’s something to keep me occupied.

Yesterday I was browsing a little, checking the prices (ouch), flight times (gosh), and places where I’d need to change planes (yikes). It’s going to be wonderful, though, no matter the cost. I’ll be in Sydney for about 3 weeks. First for a friend’s wedding, then a week dog-sitting while the happy couple is on a honeymoon, and then a week doing touristy things.

I haven’t travelled abroad properly before. I was 4 days in Berlin with a school group (teacher + 4 students including myself) and “of course” I’ve been to Stockholm, Sweden quite a few times thanks to a childhood (onwards) friend and her mother’s job. Now, in addition to going very far I’ll be going by myself which is going to be stressful but I hope I’ll get back home in one piece (and I hope my luggage will, too).

For the whole story, see category Tourist of Oz.