With my daughters currently residing in Australia, once we began to put meat on the bones of this venture it was always a case of at what juncture would we visit the lamb chops, not whether.
Still suffering from jet lag, we made our way to Sydney airport by shuttle bus last Monday and boarded the midday flight to Melbourne, a short hop of just 90 minutes.
The countryside below looked parched, flat and uninteresting but my thoughts were really on the impending reunion - despite being very close to my girls and maintaining as great a contact as possible via Facebook and Skype, such lengthy spells apart result in apprehension:
What if they've forgotten me?
What if they've changed, for the worse?
What if they're miffed about our self-indulgent gap year?
Of course, time, distance and/or machinations have never weakened our bond thus far and this was as evident as ever as we emerged down an escalator and we all caught the first glimpse of each other.
The girls were holding a home-made sign with our names on it but that, our bags and our dignity were all forgotten as we rushed forward and hugged each other tightly, tears rolling down our faces and involuntary sobs of joy emanating from all parties.
I struggle to convey just how wonderful a moment this was but several interested onlookers at Tullamarine airport would testify in my favour should you doubt me when I say it was magical.
After a few photos, a couple taken by a kindly chap who was positively beaming at the sight of our reunion, we collected our luggage from the carousel and made for downtown Melbourne by taxi.
En route we gabbled excitedly and took stock of each other:
Jasmine - taller, lighter-haired, eloquent as ever;
India - blonder than last year, ever tactile, hyper-excited to see us;
Dad - (according to both girls) haggard and looking like the bloated offspring of Rasputin and Courtney Love.
We stayed in a 4-bed hostel dormitory which, although perhaps not the most salubrious accommodation, did afford us the opportunity to sleep in bunks in the same room, thereby maximising our time together.
After exchanging christmas gifts in our room we went out, walking into the Melbourne central business district (city centre to you and me) and it was immediately apparent that this is another lovely place: clean streets, lovely parks and satisfied looking people conducting their business under clear skies and blazing sunshine.
Melbourne regularly tops polls searching for the world's most liveable city, though I think most people would agree that they'd rather live in Kabul surrounded by loved ones than be lonely in Nirvana so it's all relative.
The girls showed us one or two of the sights but what impressed me most was the constant flow of cyclists on super-slick road bikes down by the Yarra river and the dotting of public 'barbies' every few hundred yards.
What a glorious nation!
A couple of hours on the beast in beautiful sunshine followed by a sausage sarnie - Ripper!
We walked past the Rod Laver Arena where the Aussie Open was taking place, the footy stadium where the girls had recently seen Lady Gaga and Nicki Minaj concerts and finally through the botanic gardens, another foliaceous beaut and a really lovely and well-kept space.
Eating out was a sobering experience for the amount of folding money I needed to part with in order to facilitate it.
After nine months of looking after number one (and Mrs One) and often dining for a 'Lady Godiva' or less, a bill of 80 dabs for dinner was much harder to digest than the delicious coconut curry I'd ordered.
On Tuesday we went out to the suburb in which the girls live to see their true home turf.
We took a modern and clean train out to Glen Waverly and saw where the girls work, met their colleagues, saw their school, the house they're living in and around 16 million Chinamen.
It was incredible how many Asians and Asian shops there were, Glen Waverly patently a real Oriental enclave meaning Jasmine and India stick out like a knife and fork in a drawer full of chopsticks.
Nevertheless, I felt a whole lot better for having seen where they're living and like the king of the world simply for being in their company again.
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