Balancing acts... our boys need to be back at Uni early Feb (Pads is third year next year, and as they're not eligible for HECS it is a lot cheaper for them to finish undergrad in SA (they're in residence - 10 hours drive or 5 hours (if you're lucky) flight away.) Rhodes is an exceptional old-fashioned Uni and they're doing (cough) rather well. They have Visas too, and we hope they'll love Oz and move there. They are not staying here, postgrad. But to be vain, Australia is going to have put out its best, as they're very desirable migrants :-), even if I try to be dispassionate about it. Hey _I_'d like them close. But I think, given Pads results and field that quite a few places will want him and be bidding for him too. And James is heading in to Geology and Physics - geophysics as a goal. They're in demand.) The school holidays in SA tend be near the beginning of December, and go back at mid Jan. Blissful in may assumptions that all Southern Hemisphere places were alike... we assumed getting to Tas 31 December (cheap flights) would see holidays slowing down and by the time we'd sorted our lives (licences, getting a vehicle, maybe a caravan) holidays would be over and people would be broke and glad to sell off the caravan they never want to see again (until next year) and peak season rates would be heading out, and we could see a little of Tas with the boys before heading to island on the now empty ferry (as all the traffic would be going the other way). Oh boy, best laid plans... The schools go back in Feb. After our boys are both house-com and need to be back by the time the Tas schools do.
So: another fiendish plan in tatters.
<grin>
ReplyDeleteDon't forget that since each state in Oz is responsible for its own education system, there tends to be slightly different school holidays for its primary and secondary schools in each state. This causes many of the universities to have different academic year schedules as well, which further adds to a sense of chaos in Austrakian academic life, especially, if, for example, you want to try to schedule an intervasity event (one year I was involved in such an activity we discovered there was only one week during the academic year where every university had a non-teaching week, and needless to say, everybody wanted to schedule their IV evbents in that week).
So does that mean you'll be around Hobart for NYE? My sister and BIL and my other half and I will all be down in Bruny Island/Hobart for the few days around then, if you'd care to have lunch. And it's Taste of Tasmania/Salamanca Market that weekend, which should be fabulously good food and fun. Although I'll entirely understand if you want to curl up somewhere peaceful and sleep instead.
ReplyDeleteOur flight gets into Hobart on 1 Jan, at about 8am,so if you can still do lunch we are keen!! Although we may be a bit jetlagged, we would do our best to be human!!
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