Your 17 days won't end in YSSY or OMDB. They have to show the line ending in your base with at least 5 days off. The company can only involuntarily extend you 3 days "to preserve the operation." About every other year I get an extra day out of them. Only once was it really flying, they had scheduled a flight New Year's Eve back to the U.S. It didn't go until the 1st so I got an extra day's pay. A few times they've been unable to show me legally back in my base in my original scheduled days so I'd get an extra day even though I was already home mowing the yard. It used to be under the old contract you could get the last part of one month and first part of the next and be out 34 days. The current contract allows you either accept that or they'll mash up the second month's schedule to give you a break.