Flying the nest

I have just welcomed back Miss 12 and Miss 14 from a trip to Queensland.

The main reason for their visit to Queensland was to attend a Girl Guide Jamboree. However since they were in the state, they stayed on for an extra few days after the Jamboree to spend time with my extended family.

The girls flew to Queensland with the rest of the WA Girl Guide contingent, but coming home they traveled by themselves. I wouldn't say they were experienced travelers, but Miss 14 has been on a previous Girl Guide jamboree and also to Singapore on a soccer tour (I never did get her to write that blog post!). And they have both flown a couple of times with me.

So I was a little nervous but not too worried. Turns out the mistakes were mostly mine.

The things I should have done .......

Make sure they take their ID. Double check. Then check again. Miss 12 did not take her student ID despite my many reminders. Luckily I had sent the medicare card with Miss 14.

Make sure you order any special meals. My mistake. Fortunately the airline attendants took pity on my vegetarian child and fed her lots of crackers and an apple. She didn't like the vegetarian meal on the trip there so she was happy.

Check the details for pick up carefully. Very carefully. I had the times and everything correct for the girls' midnight pickup, but then their flight came in early. I was running late but should have been there on time, except I had the wrong terminal. Luckily the two are right next door within walking distance. Definitely a(nother) rookie mistake.

I was also very impressed that somehow Qantas gave me an update on the flight times. I haven't exactly worked out how they did it as it wasn't an email or a text, but rather some sort of internet update. It was pretty awesome.

The girls had a great time and are busily planning their next trip and how they are going to pay for it. The travel bug has bitten!

Save travels and happy adventuring.

Cath xx

Checklist

We leave for Bali in 3.5 sleeps. 

Miss 12 and I are firmly of the opinion that as we will be too excited to sleep much on Saturday night, and because we will be getting up at 4am, that Saturday night only counts as half a sleep. Therefore, it is 3.5 sleeps and not 4 sleeps.

I was about to make a final check of things to do before I leave, so I thought I may as well write a blog post. This will save me from writing it on post-it note and promptly losing it, plus I thought some of you might have useful tips?

This week

• Locate passports. (Do NOT leave this until the last minute. Seriously. Trust me on this one).

• Copy passport (2 copies to be left with responsible people, 1 copy to be in bag away from actual passport).

• Pack bags.

• Argue with children about what is actually necessary and what is not.

• Weigh bags.

• Make sure you have appropriate weight for your checked in baggage.

• Take out travel insurance (I have actually already done this, but it is so important).

• Double check immunisations (Even thought that should really be done a few months beforehand. I did this soon after we booked the trip).

• Confirm hotel bookings.

• Print tickets/insurance/bookings.

• Email copies of tickets/insurance/books to responsible and contactable people.

• Make arrangements for pets/house/mail.

• Leave instructions and key for pet-sitters.

• Buy appropriate food etc for pets.

• Assure anxious children that the pets will not get totally overweight with pet-sitters. 

• Let bank know that account will be accessed overseas.

• Get $US for entry visa.

• Exchange enough money for the first few days.

• Pack a Bali First Aid Kit (the girls' Dad made me promise to do this one).

• Advise people that I won't be contactable on phone (or get global roaming, but I am planning on the first option).

• Mentally deal with the fact that work goals will not be as finished as will like, and move on.

• Effect good handover to colleagues.

• Put on "out of office" and put work out of my mind, guilt free.

The day before

• Do the dishes and make sure there is no wet laundry.

• Book taxi.

• Check in.

• Write list of things to do last minute as we leave the house.

• Set alarm.

Ok so the list looks pretty massive, but it's not really. It has been a good brainstorming exercise, and I am feeling a lot more organised than I usually do when I am throwing things in a suitcase the day I leave to go somewhere. 

The girls have been well brought up in Girl Guides. They don't go anywhere without a kit list; if one is not provided, or if the quality is not good enough, they write their own. I haven't seen their lists for this trip, but I will see if they will let me share. 

In the meantime, can you think of anything I have forgotten to do? What is your last minute routine before you go away?

Happy adventuring,

Cath xx

The road to happiness

Road trip 1 of 4 has happened. (In case you were worried after my last post, I have called the other people I am planning on visiting over the next few weekends. Our planned trips have the last official green light!)

This trip was just me. I drove out to Dalwallinu: a tiny town in the wheat belt of Western Australia.

I have a confession to make. I actually don't like driving particularly, although I do like going places, I don't love the actual part where I have to be behind the wheel. If I have the choice I am happy to be the passenger.

This weekend just gone was just what I needed though. It was a 6 hour 'round trip. The scenery was beautiful. The traffic conditions were perfect (by perfect I mean virtually no traffic, just enough random cars to reassure you that if something does go wrong that you will be found).

I watched the growing rain clouds.

Rain on the horizon: very important in farming land.

I took photos of random things (check out @philosophy_minors on Instagram or @PhilosophyMinor on Twitter or #krisangels).

Dragon? Dinosaur? Lizard?

I stopped for so-bad-its-good roadhouse food.

Chicken cheese sausage, and a crab still. 

I enjoyed my accidental detours to Northam on the way there and Toodyay on the way back.

Northam Town Hall

I listed to an audiobook.

The picture just doesn't do the colour justice.

I recharged my soul.


I also thought of some tips to share with you (ok they pretty obvious ones, but worth thinking about):

• Fill up on fuel before you leave. 
• Keep an eye on the fuel gauge; nothing spoils the serenity of driving a country road like anxiously watching the fuel gauge and hoping you'll make it to the next stop.
• You may not get mobile reception.
• Stop. Stretch. 
• Make sure you have water with you.
• Let people know your ETA. 

I learned new lessons this weekend:

• Multi-tasking is great, but buying a mirror at the beginning of a road trip may not be the best idea. 
• If you listen to an audio book with Scottish accents for over six hours, you may begin to hear Scottish accents in your dreams.

The next two trips will be with the girls. I am not expecting the same level of serenity, but I am expecting them to be fun! I actually have a photo challenge for the girls to try next weekend on the way to Boddington, I will let you know how that goes.

Happy adventuring!

Cath xx

It's not for the faint hearted

Over the last few months I have embarked on the challenge of obtaining Miss 14 a passport. I think I have mentioned before that she went to Singapore (note to self, I must get her to do a blog post!), so we finally bit the bullet and approached her biological father to change her surname legally and sign her passport forms. Believe it or not, this was the easy bit. Potentially because I delegated that bit to my parents.

Actually correctly completing the passport form correctly and obtaining all the documents, was much, much harder than I imagined.

Me to the Post Office staff (after my third or fourth trip in there): "I have three degrees and this may literally the hardest thing I have ever done". They told me that have words to this effect on a regular basis when it comes to people getting children's passports.

So to make your life a little easier, please find below some of the ways I stuffed up. Hopefully I can help someone else from making the same mistakes.

• My first adult passport was issued after Miss 14 was born so I needed a copy of my full birth certificate.
• I didn't have (ok, I couldn't find) a copy of my birth certificate, so I had to order one interstate.
• My surname has changed since Miss 14 was born, so needed my divorce certificate.
• I somehow got pen on the passport photo.
• The guarantor dated and wrote on the photos but forgot to sign them.
• The date below one of the signatures was not in the correct DD/MM/YYYY format*.

*this was not me, so I took the risk and they ended up accepting it. I am very grateful to Australia Post for pointing it out though. In my case it made more sense to see if they would accept it rather then trying to get the form completed again by Miss 14's biological father.

These things all sound little, but it made the process quite long.

It is also important to note that there is a expiration date of the validity of a signature. Check with Australia Post when picking up the form if you are like me and for whatever reason you know there may be a delay in lodging it once signed.

Most importantly, don't take my word for it. Check out the official website,  read the instructions carefully, and listen to the lovely staff at Australia Post. Despite my dramas, all the staff I dealt with where helpful, professional, and really patient.

I am happy to report I also now have Miss 15's passport, and only have Miss 11's to go! See I can do this!

Cath xx

Eyes, and ears, and mouth, and tummy

Road tripping to a few of the country towns within a couple of hours of Perth is something I do on a regular basis, thanks to being lucky enough to have three of my closest friends in country destinations.

Road trips, even short ones, require some thought though.

For me the essentials are ....

Drinks

Water is always a good idea. For starters it really annoys me when I forget water and I then have to buy it. Caffeine is a must for me. Driving makes me sleepy, even though I am very conscious about taking regular wake-up stops.

Entertainment

When the girls are with me they like to listen to music. However for me road trips mean a good chance to listen to an audio book, or a radio dramatisation. My family has done this since we were tiny. When we were little audio versions of "Faulty Towers" was a family favourite.

A friend

You don't need to have someone with you, but good bush sense says let someone know when you are leaving, when you expect to arrive, and the route you are planning on taking. Some of the country roads can be pretty isolated, and there are lots of spots without mobile reception. I suggest a telling friend who can talk rather than of the stuffed toy variety (sorry Kris!).

Finally, don't forget to check that you have enough petrol to get to your planned destination, and that you monitor your fuel on the way. One of my favourite parts of road trips is getting totally un-nutritious but oh-so-yummy fried food from a roadhouse. However the food does not taste as good when you've been anxiously watching the fuel gauge and desperately hoping that you make it to an open petrol station. 

What are your best road tripping tips?

Cath xx

4 Travel Apps You Need To Take With You

So you've booked your trip, hotel is sorted and you are on you're way. Here are four apps we think you should take along for the ride!

ShowtheLoo

 

Priorities first. Right? Have you ever been caught out busting to go? And no idea where to go? Now we are ladies here, if we were men….well they enjoy some certain conveniences. Having said that, these two blokes didn’t find it convenient and I think they both need this app

Just open the app, ensure your location services are enabled in your settings, and it will show you the directions to your nearest toilets.

It also has an ‘I’m busting’ button to show you the closest.

The app is also useful with other information about the rest room facilities, such as disabled access, male/female/unisex toilets, if there is a toilet fee and more.

 

Trip Adviser

It goes without saying, I think this app is well known, but still worth mentioning. Use it as a two way street. Consider the reviews, but don’t forget to leave reviews too.

This app is useful in finding a hotel, looking for a bite to eat or finding something to do in a new city.

 

Geocaching

This is a bit of a curveball I’m throwing in. But bare with me.

Have you ever been to a new city and really wished you had a local to show you the nooks and crannies. Someone that might know the more obscure gems that Trip Advisor and your favourite travel blog don’t know about.

Try Geocaching.

Cachers, usually a local or at least someone who has experienced the area, will hide a cache (think small, like film canister size, containing a treasure, but not always, and a pen and mini-notebook), record it's coordinates on the geocache website. Sometimes they record clues, or a few facts about the area.

Using the app which has a gps and compass in it, you find the treasure. And sometimes these treasures are hidden in locations that are off the beaten track. It's an awesome way to really see a new place.

 

Location Specific Apps

So this is not a single app, but more a recommendation to see if there is an app for the town you are staying in. They usually have information on weather, places to stay, things to do and helpful tips.

If you think of Trip Adviser as a really big encyclopaedia, then these apps are lonely travel planet guides on a particular city.

Yes I’m 35. Yes when I went to school we didn’t have the Internet, computers ect. But my analogy still holds!

Some for WA include: Perth Travel Companion, The Margaret River Guide, Pemberton, Little Miss Bali.

 

Disclaimer: all these apps were available at time of publishing this post. I use a iPhone, and all these apps are available on this OS.

What apps do you swear by?

Any recommendations?

 

xxLela

 

 

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