Have to go back to do one last thing for dad

[VivaOZ]

As some of you know we lost my father-in-law last week. One of his last wishes was to be cremated and taken out to sea at Sodwana Bay. Because we could not be there for his last days or for the service we have decided to go back to say our last farewells.

Now I am wondering about a couple of things as I never even thought that we will go back for a visit.

First, both our drivers licenses have expired, will we be able to drive on our Oz ones?

If you go on PR visa do you need to notify anyone here and if you flight via Singapore do we need some sort of Visa or something?

Any special precautions on taking stuff in to SA, like food ect.

Any advise will be welcomed because this will be a first for us and we do not know how to go about it.

Thank you

Wilma

[Beukes Familie]

Hi Wilma

Not able to help with any of the information, just wanted to wish you good luck.

Regards

Petro

[thehulls]

God speed, Wilma. Not sure on the rest but will be praying for you all.

xx

[Eva]

So sad for you that you have to go back for this.... Pretty sure you can drive in RSA on your Australian license. When you leave Australia the time you are away is added to how long it takes before you can apply for citizenship, but I guess it is all recorded when you go through the airport, never heard of anyone notifying the authorities that they are leaving the country for X amount of time. All the best. Eva

[EricaC]

Hi Wilma and family

In our thoughts and prayers, hope all goes well!!

Erica

[Tex]

As some of you know we lost my father-in-law last week. One of his last wishes was to be cremated and taken out to sea at Sodwana Bay. Because we could not be there for his last days or for the service we have decided to go back to say our last farewells.

Now I am wondering about a couple of things as I never even thought that we will go back for a visit.

(1) First, both our drivers licenses have expired, will we be able to drive on our Oz ones?

(2) If you go on PR visa do you need to notify anyone here and if you flight via Singapore do we need some sort of Visa or something?

(3) Any special precautions on taking stuff in to SA, like food ect.

Wilma

Hi Wilma, sorry about your Father In Law. My mum died in February in Jo'burg, so I know how it feels to grieve from afar.

To answer your questions:

(1) My drivers license also has expired. I was in SA last month, and simply got an international drivers license from the AAA here in Houston to cover my driving in SA. No sweat - just have both your Aussie license and the international one with you when you drive in SA.

(2) Not sure about this one, except that you might want to make sure your SA passports will still be valid for way more than 6 months by the time you plan to return to Australia.

(3) Generally food items are prohibited & must be declared when you pass through customs. Just note though that you will not be asked to fill in any forms (I mean ANY forms) before landing in SA. Its not that they don't give a hoot what you bring in now, just that they have stopped asking visitors to list their goods because the completed customs forms were somehow (yeah...right...) finding their way to the thieves who were then following people from the airport and robbing them after they had arrived at their homes etc.

All the best,

Tex

[Wannago]

We have been thru Singapore several times on a SA passport and have never needed a visa. You are only there for a few hours. I also know people who have been there and gone into town for the day. But it is best to check with the airline or a travel agency.

[Jill]

Hi, Sorry you are going back understand such sad circumstances. My son flew to SA via singapore and didn't need a visa, so I think you will be okay.

Good luck with everything, Jill

[MarcK]

No visa needed for Singapore.

Australian drivers licence sufficient for driving in SA - but check with car hire companies as some may require international drivers licence. Usually they are happy as long as drivers licence is in Englisg language (and can be read).

Sorry to hear about your loss. My thoughts are with you!

[on our merry way]

God speed

I lost my mother inlaw this past friday and its not easy saying goodbuy.

I dont know why u worry this is south africa baby your licence is R50-R100 bill depending on your offense

[VivaOZ]

Thanks for the responses. There is one more thing that has come up and I really do not know if this is going to be possible.

Hubby is inheriting one of dads guns. Will there be any why to bring it to Oz. We will not be using it, it is just a of huge sentimental value. Does anyone have advise on that?

Just for interest sake, spoke to mom last night and she started the proses of the will and estate ect. All the people that she got to see wants a 3-4 % commision on what the estate is worth!!! In order for her to pay that she will have to sell something, isn't that a ripoff.

Anyway, thanks again for all the advise. I discovered this forum too late to help with our proses but it is really helping me cope now, knowing there are people who is willing to support a total stranger.

[VivaOZ]

Just thought of another question. I hope there is someone on this forum that works for a travel agency or maybe SAA (if I am lucky)

Mom and Dad already booked and payed their tickets to come visit in Des. Mom phoned to cancel dad's ticket and she was imformed that she is going to loose about R4000 on his ticket. I think this is a lot of nonsense as it is circumstanse out of anyones control. Will it be worth fighting or is this normal for them to rip off people like this? Any advise will be greatly appreciated.