Australia- Part 1- Visa = Fail.

After digging out our long lost and nearly forgotten winter clothes and skis out of the bomb shelter, and then looking at them with wild fascination trying to remember a time when fleece and wool were appropriate, we managed to pack up our ski bag and find enough warm clothes to last us a week in winter, and we were off to Australia.... or so we thought.

After a busy day at work for both of us and a mad dash to the airport, we waited in long crazy lines at Emirates airlines, arrived at the ticket counter and of course explained a few times that the large black bag was in fact skis, not golf clubs, and thought we were all set... only to be confronted with the following problem.

Turns out you need a visa to enter Australia....

Ticket Counter Woman: And where are your visas?
D&E: We dont have visas, we dont need them
Ticket Counter Woman: Yes, you do
D&E: No. We don't. We're Amerrrriicaaaan citizens. (smugly satisfied at the superiority of our nationality)
Ticket Counter Woman: (baffled by aforementioned smugness) You. need. a. visa.

That's right, at this point, I am in full fledged panic mode. A Visa? To Australia? Are you serious? I thought our nations were friends? I don't need a visa to enter Malaysia but I have to have one to enter Oz? You must be mad.

D&E: *Sadly, forlornly looking at the well packed ski clothes with visions of snow and kangaroos swirling down the drain of defeat.*

To be honest, I didn't even consider the possibility that we needed visas so didn't even bother to google the matter until we were sweating bullets at the counter waiting for our fate to be decided by an unfriendly airport staffer. But, as google confirmed- even Americans need visa's to enter Australia.

The ticket counter woman finally returned with a grim look on her face and reported that we did in fact need visas.... *long dramatic pause*... but they could be purchased for S$50 each from the airline. What is funnier than the fact that she could have just told us this 10 minutes prior and saved me an ulcer, is that she looked at us as if we might actually refuse to pay S$100 for the ability to continue with our trip. Yes lady, after spending thousands of dollars on airfare, rental cars and hotels- and hours of planning and even more hours of giddy anticipation, we are going to pack up and go home instead of forking over S$100. Please. Little did she know she could have extorted more money out of our snow-deprived-selves and turned herself a tidy little profit.

So, S$100 lighter, we were off to Australia (by way of the bar, were a few Tiger beers were obligatorily pounded before boarding).

In a saving grace move for Emirates air, once we boarded, we were treated to multiple beers by the flight attendant, who must have sensed our deep exhaustion and need for hops-induced slumber.

And when we woke up... we were in Oz!