I rang the office to book the tours, as I try and given them as much business as I can where they can make some money. I had done all my homework (you can’t take the travel agent out of me) and I was all priced and informationed up when I rang Ellen. We looked at the airfares to see what the cost came in at and I hate to say it, 90% of the flights were cheaper for me to book than Ellen. Being an ex-travel agent I know that time is money and I don’t mind paying the booking fee and a little more if the price is close, but when it is more than $100-$150 per ticket and I had 10 tickets to book, that adds up and I have to draw the line and that is what happened in this case. So while Ellen booked the tours, a few flights and pre and post accommodation and accommodation in Phuket, I was madly booking 15 flights, travel insurance and accommodation at the Hilton for 4 nights in Phuket for the wedding that Ellen could do but was more expensive. I feel bad as I hated it when people did that to me as an agent, but I must say I did understand if it was a massive amount of difference and I had done a lot of the ground work, but I know how frustrated Ellen was feeling when we were checking everything. I was using my visa card to pay for everything and I had 4 more flights and insurance to go when my card was declined. I was waiting for this to happen with all the action that it was getting I just knew that ANZ would stop the card and check the purchases before they would let anything else go through and low and behold the phone rang 4 minutes later from Ellen stating that ANZ had just called about a matter on my credit card. So I phoned the fraud department back, got my card reinstated and then continued on my merry way charging the last of my 15 flights. Talk about booking things last minute and now I just hope that when I get to Addis now that Zeme doesn’t say its ok for me to stay now, I would just die-but I am just fooling myself that this will be the case. SO I am now all 100% booked and paid up until 03rd January 2013. With it only being August it does sound like a long time, but I know that time will just fly by and I am now back into my travelling way of thinking and looking forward to being on the road again and I really can’t complain if this is my alternative, I just wish I was somewhere else and I mean that in the nicest possible way.
I also had to go through all my passwords and online bank account/Travelex accounts to make sure they were all in ship shape order. Lucky I did as I had to reset 2 passwords as I couldn’t remember what they were but if I had any issues I would be able to ring them while I was still in Oz and get it all sorted. Shelly and I also lodged my tax return for the 2011/2012 year. I was lucky that I had earned below the threshold which in turn meant I didn’t have to pay the Medicare levy which in turn meant I didn’t have to pay the tax man any money, but I also didn’t get any money back either. Oh well it is better than having to pay anything and I am keeping the Tax people happy. Looking at the new rules they are implementing for the next financial year it looks like I won’t even have to lodge a return at all next year if I am out of the country again for a long period of time, which will be even better, but we will wait and see.
My god-daughters were starting to find it hard that I would be gone in 2 sleeps. Tessie more than Zoe this time around. She was in inconsolable tears on Monday night and no matter what was said to her to try and get her calmed down she just cried harder saying that ‘she didn’t want Aunty Bernie to leave’. I decided to buy the girls a small gift in a way of saying thanks for having me in their home. I bought them both a letter G Pandora bead which stands for God-mother/God daughter so when they have a sad day and they miss me they could look at that bead and know that I am thinking of them. This seemed to put a smile on their dials and with the promise that we would be seeing each other again in Phuket in 46 days it was the best that Shelly and I could do to try and make the goodbye as painless as possible. In exchange the girls did some goodbye cards that were just the sweetest and I have packed them in my travel diary so when I have a sad day I can read them and know that they are missing me too.
My last night in Brisbane was spent with the Elkin family and Shelly cooked my most favorite thing for dinner – Quiche!!!! It is the best thing in the whole world; washed down with a cold champagne I couldn’t think of a better way to spend my last hours in Australia. The neighbors popped over for a glass of bubbles and a goodbye and with a few phone calls from people the time had come to leave what I now call home and to hit the road and further explore this wonderful planet we have. I am truly blessed with the people I have in my life, all over the world, and the love, support and words of encouragement I receive on a daily basis just reiterates just how lucky I am. So I thank every single one of you who call me a friend and who are in my life, I am eternally grateful.
Everything will be all right in the end
If it’s not all right
Then it’s not yet the end……………
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