Bob and I were having a conversation a couple of nights ago regarding things we're taking to Australia and going over the list.
He said, "Do we need a visa to go to Australia?"
"No," I replied, "all we need is a passport."
Then I got to thinking about it. I had ASSUMED we only needed a passport and I THOUGHT I had read online that we didn't need a visa. Just to be safe, I checked. We DO need a visa to go to Australia. Panic!!!
No need to panic. The Australian website couldn't be easier to understand. All we need is a tourist visa called an ETA. Apply online and it is almost instantaneously approved. All I needed was our passports and a credit card to pay for the two visas. I filled out the applications online and it took about 15 minutes start to finish. In fact, my credit card company called my cell phone to alert me I had an international charge pending on my card almost as soon as I hit the send button for the visa. I called the credit card company back immediately to let them know it's a good charge and to put it through.
The ETA tourist visa is electronically linked to your passport so no stamps or labels are needed. This is pretty high-tech stuff.
Whew! Without the visa, we would not have been able to fly out of Honolulu to Sydney. Thank you, Bob, for asking a very simple question. I'm glad the solution was just as simple.
Today I went to yet another hairdresser for a haircut and highlights. I asked the hairdresser if she had a sample book of hair colors. She showed me samples and I picked out a beautiful golden blonde color. We discussed that I wanted a golden blonde, not a white blonde or platinum and no strawberry blonde because any color with red in it turns orange on me.
When she got all done coloring my hair, I was stunned to see my hair is a medium to dark brown. It's the darkest my hair has ever been. I don't know where the communication about color went awry. I am not happy with this color. Bob says he likes it. Oh, well, when we get back from Australia I'll be looking for another hairdresser. Sigh. As another of my blogger friends says, " 'Tis life on the road."
Today was errands day. And tomorrow, I will run more errands and finish cleaning the 5er.
Bob took me out to dinner tonight which was very nice.
Travel Bug out.
