IT was a sad day back in November when I took my almost-full passport to the post office in Sunbury and had the corners hacked off.
My beloved passport, which was issued in Perth when I was living in Western Australia, had been a loyal companion since 2002 but it was almost full so I faced facts and applied to get a new one issued for 2011.
I knew the post-office lady would cut the corner off my current document, that's what happened when I replaced my first passport with little L3312069 back in 2002, but I didn't expect her to hack off most of the front and back covers to remove all the important numbers and details.
The sensation was a little like having my long hair chopped when I was 13 and decided I was too grown up to continue carrying around the long ponytail that saw me through primary school.
But it was done, and just a few days later my shiny new passport arrived in an express bag ready to be filled with new stamps and visa...now I have the challenge of filling the pages of this new booklet so I don't look like a rookie traveller when I hand my passport over at check-in.