A Long Way To Go For An Exam and A Nigerian Musician

On Ethihad Airlines yesterday was an Egyptian guy who had come all the way from Egypt to Sydney for 3 days just to do an IT networking exam for Cisco Systems. He had previously come in January for the same exam and failed then but this time he was confident that he had passed. Apparently there are only a few places in the world where this exam can be done and Sydney is one of them. I came across another fellow a few months back who had come for the same exam so it seems like it is a regular occurrence.

Also on Ethihad was a British Airways cabin crew menber who had been here for a few months travelling around the country and also in Bali. She spoke very highly of Ethihad and their cabin service and, in fact, was considering a transfer to work for them instead. Ethihad is expanding rapidly and employing many new staff.

On a Qantas flight to London was a French guy who had come for a couple of weeks to visit his girlfriend in Cairns. She is Japanese and works in the tourism industry in Cairns. They had met in Melbourne during his previous visit to Australia. He is planning to come back in August for a longer stay with her and a working holiday.

I chatted to an English guy going home on BA who was here to work in oil refineries. His job entailed making sure that the oil storage tanks were cleared of any impurities such as sand.

Other travellers included a Welsh guy on a family visit to Melbourne and an older delightful English lady who visited her daughter in Canberra. Her last full day in Canberra was the coldest day there for 43 years - a maximum of only 4 degreees C.

My last interview was with a Nigerian musician who was part of a musical group which had just performed at the Opera House. They were only here for 4 days so he didn't get to see much of Sydney. Most of his time was taken up rehearsing and performing. They had performed in Australia a couple of times before. I forgot to ask him the name of the performing group.

Till next time.

Peter

Souvenirs Australia Warehouse

A Fish Conference and a New Niece

Last Saturday I chatted to a couple of American marine scientists who had been in Fremantle, Western Australia for a fish and marine life conference. It was some conference with over 1000 people attending from all over the world. After the conference they spent a week in the south western corner of W.A.

Travelling on QF5 was a Finnish couple who had come here for a family visit. The fellow was travelling on an Australian passport but his wife needed to spend time here to satisfy Australian permanent residency requirements. I also came across a young Finnish guy on Air China who had spent time with relatives in Manly (Sydney) and a couple of nights in the Blue Mountains.

On their way to Beijing was a couple who had come to Oz for a short stay to visit relatives in Port Macquarie and to see their new nephew who had been born just a week before.

I also spoke to a young Canadian guy who worked for a few months and did a campervan trip to the Centre and an Aussie guy who was back to spend time with his wife in Sydney. The Aussie was working in a military job in Kuwait and was travelling on a Turkish passport.

So yet another varied and intersting batch of travellers at Sydney Airport...

Till next time.

Peter

Souvenirs Australia Warehouse