So much to do, so little time

We celebrate the fourth anniversary of our departure from Sydney less than six months from now. It's hard to believe how swiftly time has passed. There's now a hard stop looming for our time in London. Our work permit expires in December 2010, barely 18-month away. Once we leave, we'll probably never come back for an extended period. Long-term decision making starts to get a little complex. For example, do I renew a magazine subscription for more than a year? Do we book a quick weekend in Milan on the off chance we're never in Italy again?

To help me plan, I've started drafting a list of things I'd like to do and places I'd like to see before we're done with London. The aim is to squeeze as much of this in as possible, particularly those Northern Hemisphere activities that become too costly to justify once you factor in hotels and airfares from Australia. This was the rationale behind my weekend detour to the Space & Rocket Centre Museum in February.

What else is on my list? A space shuttle launch (Florida is much closer and cheaper from London than Australia will ever be). A cruise along the Dalmatian coast, including a stop in Dubrovnik. A tour of Auschwitz. Chocolate sampling in Bruges. The Iron Bridge in Telford and the Llangollen canal aqueduct. A football match at Wembley Stadium. A trip to Athens and the Greek Islands. My list goes on for pages.

At least two items are planned and ready to go. The first is our forthcoming Easter weekend in Southern Spain, followed second, by a road tour of Devon and Cornwall in early-May. We've locked in an itinerary for both vacations and booked hotels. Our Cornwall timeline is packed with activities. I've booked us on a tour of the original Concorde factory, complete with a wander through the aircraft itself. We're also staying a night at the Land's End Hotel, right on the southernmost tip of England.

With so much in the works, I had to stop for a moment and reflect on all we've already seen and done. This blog is particularly handy. I'm reminded of the Great Flood of 2006, the Easter weekend in Venice(2007) or Easter in Iceland (2008). It's easy to forget how incredible our time in the UK has been thus far. We've now got another 18 months left to load the blog with as many new photos and adventures as we can. Keep reading!