Final Update
and wondered what happened next.
Now I am back in Canberra, life is great, and has been for quite some time.
Inshallah.
But the real news is that after so much waiting and searching, and after a great deal of work by my supervisors and referees, I have finally secured a PhD scholarship at the ANU. I will be able to complete my research full-time over the next three years, pursuing the dream that has been in place since I was sixteen. The thesis will study "Self-Portraiture and War", which is a decidedly broad topic right now, but will be narrowed down in the coming months.
I have no real reason to continue adding news to this blog now that the Grand Tour is well and truly over, but I thought you would like to know this happy ending. For now.