CAMPSITE # 52 - Ned's Place - Sandringham, VIC

I know, I know, Tom's family back in England will cringe when they see this photo but believe me, it was all for a good cause.
We realised we had been waiting for nearly six months for news of Tom's permanent residency application. And while it worked out to be a great excuse, it meant that he couldn't work during the time that he was on his bridging visa. We knew this when we left for the trip and figured we would take the plunge and just keep our fingers super crossed and pray that he wasn't denied and therefore needing to leave the country within 28days... kinda hard to do a trip around Australia together without him if you know what I mean.

Immigration advised us that it would take a predicted six months until we heard from them with their decision. As we were quickly approaching the six month mark, we figured it was best to give them a call. While Tom was talking to them on the phone, I was eagerly trying to figure out the meanings of the "Yes, I have", "No, didn't" "Oh really" "Oh, OK, interesting"... come on Tommy thumbs up or thumbs down??? But like most men, my darling Tommy struggles to do two things at one time. It wasn't until he hung up the phone that he advised me "They've already made their decision. They sent through the decision via email on the 8TH OF OCTOBER LAST YEAR!!!" All of this time, we could have known. From all of the advise we were given, we were waiting for something via snail mail, we never expected to get it by email and so were never diligent in checking for new mail.
As the excitement of finding out sunk in, I quickly realised that he could infact have been denied and therefore have been in the country illegally for the last 5 months. Tom was given some details to access the decision online and we sat there ... with all of these emotions running through us. As we read through the page "Name" "DOB" "Passport Number" yeah, yeah, yeah get to the good stuff, together we read "Permanent Residency Status" ... "Effective". That little word had no idea how much it meant. We were officially off the hook and thankfully, Tommy was not getting deported. He was allowed to enter and exit Australia as frequently as he likes.

And, I'm still trying to figure out if it was a good thing that we can now work. Yay, work. The one thing I miss most about being on the road.... working to make somebody else more money. (Please ensure that you read this in an extremely monotone and uninspired tone).

Permanent Residency could not have come at a better time for us both with Australia Day & our two year anniversary due to be celebrated all on the same day. Last year for our one year anniversary, we wined and dined at the amazing & exclusive fine dining seafood restaurant in Brisbane called Lure. This year, as we are retired and on a budget, we celebrated our anniversary in a food court indulging in a cheesecake for Tom, a muffin for me and two coffees... and it was lovely. I kept teasing Tom that he's lowering the bar a bit but of course we're so much happier being on the road doing what we're doing and that lovely little anniversary morning tea, while it may have been with a bunch of fast food junkies, was a real treat. 

We figured, given recent news, Australia day officially deserved even more reason to celebrate & drink beer. We caught up with Ned & Tren, two friends we made in Eden NSW when we were stuck there for 10 days waiting on a Toyota part. Ned & Tren live in Melbourne and they very kindly invited us to join them for a bike ride & fish and chips by the beautiful Half Moon Bay and off then to celebrate Australia Day at a friend's barbie in Brighton. 

We had an absolute cracking time... and it just proved that this is what travelling is all about. Meeting great people that you will keep in touch with for years to come and creating some rather random and exciting stories to tell.