Jet plane....

Ok... so I'm pretty set on going to Taiwan... for now.

BUT, my issue comes in with the timing.

Will I forever REGRET not going to the Great Barrier Reef if I leave Australia AGAIN without going to dive??

Here are some options:

Perth to Taipei: ~$400 (with luggage) TG

Perth to Cairns: $234 (with luggage) JS
Perth to Melbourne: ~$130 (w/luggage) TG

Melbourne to Cairns: ~110 (w/l) TG

Melbourne to Taipei: $680 (kayak- china eastern)

Cairns to Osaka/Tokyo: $400-$450 (with luggage)
Tokyo/Osaka to Taipei: ~$250

One factor is I need to get to a Taiwanese Embassy/consulate so I can apply for the long term visitor visa. So, I pay to go to Melbourne or Sydney or I pay to hop to another place from taiwan... so basically, either way, I'll have to pay for another couple flights. It comes down to where I want to see and what would be worth spending the money on. I've already DONE melbourne but I'd have somewhere to stay.... but I can look to Couchsurf in Japan and Cairns (the asian couchsurfing community is really big from what I hear!)

I'm currently thinking of MAYBE hopping straight to Cairns... doing some diving and then hopping over to Japan and going to the consulate/embassy there. I'll be JUST AFTER the cherry blossom festival (in the town of the airports... but I can go north to where they'd be blooming)... so maybe able to catch it?

All up its about 1000 worth of flights... but it'll be more than that with me having to go to Taiwain and then leave for a couple days anyways. BUT, I'll have more costs with the diving and travel in Japan.

I kinda like the idea of seeing a new place (a little of Japan) instead of going back to Melbourne to do it. And... its the same cost to fly to Japan and then on to Taiwan as it would be to fly back to Perth. This idea gets me really excited. First time I've been excited in a bit. It'll give me another month to save a bit of money... and some direction. (Diving the GBR which I've wanted to do, visit a new place at an awesome time of year, then on to find a job with the proper tourist visa that can be switched to a work visa!)

Does that make sense??

Perth --> Cairns --> Japan --> Taiwan

Thoughts????

<3