December 18th, Arrived at Sydney Gateway Holiday Park and booked in until 26th of December, when we will be going up to The Entrance for New Year. It was great to see all the family again and spend a lot of our time looking after Jessica & Annaliese. They seem to be growing very fast and we can notice how much they have changed since we saw them last. We are constantly amazed how well they swim and easily make new friends, every time they visit with us.
December 25th, Christmas Day and we went to Greg & Dianne’s place for Christmas lunch. We enjoyed a wonderful meal with plenty to drink and great company. Santa was good to us all again this year, especially the girls, who assured us that they left a snack out for Santa and water for the Reindeers. We went back to our Caravan late afternoon to pack up ready to leave Sydney in the morning.
December 26th, We called around to Greg and Dianne’s place for a cuppa and to say our good-byes before travelling up to Dunleith Tourist Park , at The Entrance. We will be here to celebrate the New Year and pack up for our NZ Cruise on the 2nd January.
December 28th, We went to Flight Centre to pick up the Paperwork for our NZ Cruise, only to find that our contact was on holidays and nothing was in the file. This was the first day that Flight Centre was open after the Christmas. Then our new assistant could not contact the booking Agents so, I now have to come back to-morrow to pick up our documentation. Who said “Life was not meant to be easy”, so true.
December 29th, Finally picked up our Cruise tickets and Boarding Pass from Flight Centre and it was suggested that we should check with Immigration whether it would be necessary to have Val’s British Passport endorsed with a re-entry visa, to show permanent Australian residency. After talking to the Australian Immigration, they didn’t have a problem but suggested that I contact the New Zealand immigration to get their opinion. NZ Immigration said a re-entry visa would be required. I rang back The Australian Immigration Dept. and made an appointment for 11.30am, at their Parramatta Office, to-morrow.
December 30th, Went down to Parramatta and arrived an hour before our appointment time, at The Immigration Dep’t. We walked around the block and were amazed at the changes in Church Street and Paramatta Railway Station area. We were taken right on time by the Immigration Officer but time dragged on as they could not find a record of Val being granted permanent residency. Fortunately, Val had her original British Passport and although the stamp noting her arrival in Australia was blurred, a higher Supervisor deciphered the imprint to read “Entry into Australia” and approved the issue of a Visa endorsement. $260.00 later we left the Immigration Dep’t, very happy to be returning back to The Entrance with Val’s Passport all in order.
December 31st, Joan and Robert came down for lunch and brought our mail with them. We went over some of the key things they would need to know about our Van, so that they hopefully have an enjoyable Holiday at Dunlieth, while we are Cruising NZ. They left early afternoon to have New Year with their family. At 9pm we gathered with the Caravan Park crowd to watch the 9pm New Year Fireworks, being launched from a pontoon in the Lake just in front of our Caravan Park. They were very impressive for a local event and went for 20 minutes. We then went back to our Van and with a few Chardies, brought in the New Year watching the Sydney Bridge Fireworks.
January 1st, Today we relaxed and finished packing for our Cruise, Ready to leave for Sydney in the morning.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment