PP, the other way to revalidate your class rating is by simply doing a flight test with an examiner. Funnily enough, there is no minimum duration for that test, so if you are current you may well find that doing the exam is cheaper than the one hour with an instructor. And a lot cheaper if you add in the additional 7 hours you're lacking for the reval by experience anyway.
You could even consider letting the whole thing expire until you get back, and do the exam then. If your class rating is expired for less than five years, the exam for getting it renewed again is still pretty simple.
For a plain JAR-FCL PPL like you EASA is not going to make a big difference. From april 2012 onwards you will have to abide by EASA Part-FCL and EASA Part-MED but at your level they're virtually identical to the JAR regulations that are currently in the ANO. And when you eventually renew your PPL in 2015 it will say EASA instead of JAR.