This is where the planning began – for our very own Crocodile Dundee; the adventures in Australia along with the backdrop of two world cup games – India-Pak and India-SA. It was sometime in June-2014 when we figured out that we need something like 15 days to make a meaningful visit to Australia. That’s when we blocked our tickets. We chose Cathay as they would allow us some refund with a penalty in case we do not travel. Also, they were the only airline which flew into Cairns direct. As always, we did not want the services of any travel agent. Vimal, Madhu, Arpita and I booked our tickets. The planning began.

We only had one person who gave us insights as to what Australia would be like. It came from Pooja Jaiswal who had grown up close to Sydney. Umpteen messages, detailed planning, frequent phone calls. By the time it was November-2014, it was really hotting up. We had just finished our Amritsar food trip. We love to plan our next holiday as soon as one is done and we were now on job with Australia Feb 2015.

Arpita and I were clear. This was our holiday, which meant no kids. Approvals were sought well in advance with family that our kids will be at home in Bangalore and they had willingly agreed. The hotels were all blocked. Internal flight tickets were booked. Rental cars were booked. All by early December-2015. Now came the tough part. Getting leave at work for me and at school for Arpita. For me it was relatively easy. I had given them a heads-up. That I m off for 18 days. It was more like I was not giving them a choice. It was accepted. For Arpita though, it turned out to be that much easy as well. While applying for Visa, she had to take a letter from school. She did it and required to meet Dr. KP to get the permission.

Only thing that now remained was to secure match tickets. We had already got two for India-Pak and four for India-SA. We needed two more for the first game. We did pull all stops but the last resort was ‘Dekhi Jayegii’. We had one extra day in Adelaide, the venue for India-Pak just in case we needed to do some Jugaad for tickets. As luck would have it, ICC travel did release some tickets couple of weeks before our travel. These were on premium but what the heck. We bought them. And, now, we were well and truly set to enjoy this Crocodile Dundee.

Arpita had taken care of the kids in the two weeks prior to travel.

Getting them used to being without mommy and daddy. Getting ready on time. Making sure they were to a certain extent independent. That was possible with Mahika. With Samaira though, it was training the maid to do the needful. It was sensibly planned and well executed.