Progress + first post

This is the first real post of this Eric in Oz blog, which will be my way of saying g'day to everyone staying behind. I will post in both English and Dutch. The latter posts will be marked with the tag 'Nederlands', so they'll be easy to find.

My progress so far:
* I have applied for a visa, but the status is stuck on 'Application received - processing commenced' and has been for a week now. If nothing has changed on Monday, I will call, errr, someone. Don't know who, but I'll find out.
* I have just mailed my itinerary to the bureau I'm travelling with. I can change the dates at any time, but there is a first version for now.
* There is a lot I still need to do. A few examples: translate my CV, make a list of things to take with me, get travel insurance, get a letter from the doctor and a lot of other big and small things to arrange.

This is the first version of my trip:
1) Fly from Amsterdam to Sydney with a 24-hour stopover in Singapore (includes a hotel bed and a tour of the city)
2) The large question mark that is most of my trip. I'll probably stay in Sydney for a while, explore the east coast and the outback. Darwin and thereabouts don't interest me much, but who knows.
3) I'll fly to New Zealand to remain there for a few weeks.
4) After that, I have about a week to say goodbye to Sydney and Australia before flying back, but not before...
5) A stopover in Hong Kong. I will stay there for a couple of days before flying back to Amsterdam.

All in all I will be gone from mid-February to mid-August. Six months, four countries. I'm looking forward to it.