Australia

I finalized my Australian aspirations after a long chat with my good friend Tung. I am going over to hang out with him and do whatever it is people do in Australia... hopefully something involving throwing boomerangs at koalas. Fingers crossed. The 13-day trip will be my victory lap after finishing 2 years of continuous bowing and rice eating.



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I'll be spending the majority of my time in Melbourne, although I wouldn't mind seeing some outback. Everything is so far apart though that I would probably need to take another plane... decisions, decisions.

US-Australia relations are pretty solid with both a defense treaty and a free trade agreement currently in effect. Things being so rosy and all, I figured I would just be able to walk up to immigration and wave the ol' passport around a few times and walk right in like I always do. Australia is playing hardball however. I have to fill out some internet forms(ETA) and pay a $20 fee just to apply for entry. Not cool mates, not cool.

So I'll continue my ritual of buying the Lonely Planet guide, checking the wikitravel page, and reading the heck out of both to get a good idea of what I want to do over there. I'll keep you posted.