A Conference, A Large Family Group Aussie Holiday and More

I've only been working one day a week lately at the airport but still managing to catch up with lots of interesting visitors.

This week I spoke to 2 passengers on the Taipei flight who had both been attending a large academic conference at a Sydney university. Also on the same flight was a Filipino/Taiwanese student on her way home after spending the year studying here.

On a flight to Hong Kong I spoke to a young member of a large family group of 9 who were here for a one week holiday in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra. Between them they spent about A$2500 per day on accomodation & food and drinks alone so they certainly helped our economy. s

Heading back to London where she is now living was an Aussie woman who had come back home for a short stay mainly to do gardening work at her house in Nowra, NSW.

Other visitors of note this week were a Fijian guy here for a week on business, an American guy here on business who I had also come across on his previous trip 'Down Under' and a friendly couple from Pennsylvania, USA who had just spent 2 weeks in Oz and 2 weeks in New Zealand and had a great time.

Till next time.

Peter

Souvenirs Australia Warehouse

Uranium Mining, Stranded Thai students and Filipino and Indian Family Visits

On the flight to Manila this week was a Filipino guy who had spent some months working in the uranium mines at Roxby Downs in South Australia. His work cycle was a continuous 2 weeks on and then 1 week off in Adelaide. While the money was good it's not something that I think that I could do for any length of time. He was not expecting to be back again for a few months as BHP have already scaled down mining activities due to the global economic downturn.

I came across some Thai students in transit in Sydney from New Zealand and finally on their way home to Bangkok. They had spent an extra unplanned week or so in Wellington after their studies for the year were over due to the airport closure in Bangkok. So they were very happy to be home within a few hours.

I also chatted to a friendly Vietnamese student who was travelling back to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) via Kuala Lumpur after completing his computing studies. His English was great and he was able to give me some tips on travelling in Vietnam for when I finally get to do my long awaited holiday there.

Other interesting visitors on their way home this week were a Swedish family who had travelled down the East Coast, a middle aged female Dutch backpacker, a Saudi who had been doing a TESOL (Teaching of English as a Second Language) course and some Filipinos and an Indian couple here for family visits.

As always, till next week.

Peter

Souvenirs Australia Warehouse

International Students Going Home, A Scientist and a Contiki Tourer

At this time of year I come across many international students who are studying in Australia and are on their way home for their end of year break. One of these was a student at ANU who was staying at a residential college on campus just down the road from the one I used to live in a very long time ago - way back in the 70's. Brought back some pleasant memories. :)-

I also talked to a scientist who had been here doing some research in collaboration with Adelaide University. He did tell me his field of interest but it now escapes my mind, I'm afraid.

Then there was the young English girl who had just done a Contiki tour from Cairns to Sydney and a German sister and brother who took a campervan down the Queensland coast. Talking to some of these people certainly contunies to whet my appetite for all the parts of Australia I should hurry up and go and see!

Others on their way out of the country included a guy who had attended a friends wedding in the Kangaroo Valley area in NSW, a conference attendee at Sydney University and a middle aged UK couple who were disappointed about missing their Bangkok stopover on the way home due to the airport closure and political turmoil in Bangkok. They did have a good Aussie stay though.

Till next time.

Peter

Souvenirs Australia Warehouse

2 Days of Advenure, A Domain Name Conference & A Midwife

This week I chatted to a Sri Lankan guy who had been working in Tonga for a few weeks and had a 2 day stay in Sydney (which was all he could have on a transit visa for Australia) which he filled with action packed adventure activities including power boating and a Bridge Climb. He was not your average laid back tourist.

I also came across an American who had attended a Domain Name conference on the Gold Coast. As domain name investment is another field of interest for me, we had an interesting discussion.

Family visitors included a woman from the UK who was visiting her daughter who is now working as a midwife in Townsville. They travelled together down the Queensland coast, Daydream Island and to Sydney.

Another conference attendee was an English lady who had attended a risk management conference in Perth. Quite topical in the current financial environment.

Other interviewees of note included a Singapore student studying Maths/Finance in Sydney who was going home for his end of year holiday break, a UK woman here for her nieces wedding in the gardens at Parliament House in Canberra and a young Fench girl who had been working here for 10 months.

Till next week. Take care.

Peter

Souvenirs Australia Warehouse

From Horticulturalists to Futures Traders and, Of Course, Another Wedding

I met a friendly older couple from the US who had just completed a horticulture tour of our East Coast visiting botanic and other public gardens as well as many private gardens. The gentleman was in his 80's and he and his wife had done horticulture tours of many other countries already. Japan and possibly China were next in their sight to explore.

In sharp contrast to the above was a chat I had with a US futures and commodities trader who had been in Sydney to run training courses. It was good to get his persepctive on the current doom and gloom in financial markets.

A group of Contiki tour participants was on a flight home this week to the USA. They had done a trip up the Queensland coast and while they had a pretty good time, it seems it may have been a bit rushed and tried to cover too many stops in the 2 weeks they had here.

Other visitors of note on their way out of the country included a Dutch couple who had seen a lot of our continent, others here for family visits and a couple who did a campervan journey from Townsville to Brisbane.

And of course, as I have struck continually over the last few weeks, yet another couple here to attend a wedding in Sydney. Spring must be the season for weddings.

Till next time.

Peter

Souvenirs Australia Warehouse

Rave Review for Jenolan Caves, the Horse Show Pub in Tassie and Yet More Weddings!

On Saturday I spoke to an Indian gentleman here with his wife to visit their daughter and son-in-law in Sydney. While they were taken to the Gold Coast and Brisbane which they enjoyed, his most positive comments were about Jenolan Caves. He described it as an amazing natural wonder that should be better promoted to international visitors.

I also came across a middle aged American guy who was here as a tourist with his father. They had spent time on our mainland, then over to NZ and back for a week in Tasmania. They enjoyed the week driving around Tassie and he made very favourable remarks about the meals to be had at the Horse Shoe pub in Cambridge. So it would probably pay to check them out next time you're down on the Apple Isle.

It certainly seems to be wedding season for overseas visitors in Australia. I met yet another young lady and her aunt who were here for not one, but two weddings. The brother and sister had timed both their weddings one week apart so a large family group from the UK could attend. One wedding was in Canberra and the other in the Hunter Valley.

Other travellers I spoke to this week included a young female Japanese backpacker who travelled here on her own for 2 weeks in Sydney, an English backpacker here for a year with a working holiday stint of a few months in Melbourne and an older group of family and friends from Singapore for a one week package holiday in Melbourne and Sydney.

Hearing about the adventuires of overseas visitors to our country continues to whet my appetite for my own trip around as much as possible of our huge country.

Till next week.

Peter

Souvenirs Australia Warehouse

An Israeli Surfer and Another Wedding

Talked to an Israeli guy this week on his way back home via Tokyo. He had spent some time here on work then had a few days in Fiji and had given himself a spare day on his way through to spend surfing at Bondi Beach. I don't come across that many Israeli travellers and I don't think I've met an Israeli surfer before.

On the Jetstar flight to Bali I came across an English couple who had rented out a house on the Gold Coast for their wedding. All went well and they had quite a few guests come out from England to attend as well as Aussie relatives and friends. And of course they were looking forward to their Bali honeymoon.

Other interesting visitors this week included a middle aged couple from Hawaii who had really enjoyed their stay here and a Thai lady who had recently married an Aussie and had been staying in the small town of Griffith, NSW. What a change from the hustle and bustle of Bangkok to the quiet country life in Griffith!!

Till next time.

Peter

Souvenirs Australia Warehouse