Fashion Design from Thailand and a New Army Graduate

I had another short shift at the airport this weekend but everyone I spoke to was very friendly and told interesting tales about their visit.

The first people I made contact with were a group of Thais. Two of the women in the group had been in Sydney for a month to train students in fashion design. While their English was limited (and my Thai language skills even more limited) we managed to have a good chat. They had enjoyed their time in Sydney - especially the shopping outings!

Also travelling on Thai was a young Polish girl who is studying tourism in Sydney and was going back to Poland for a sad and unexpected trip home - her father had just died and she was returning for his funeral.

Travelling to London on Qantas was a friendly young Italian backpacker who had spent 4 months in Australia and had seen much of the country, including a stint with some friends in a campervan in the Northern Territory. On the same flight was an Aussie who lives in England and was home for a short visit to attend the army graduation of his son in Wagga and visit relatives in Brisbane.

On a flight back to Christchurch was a very friendly 70's couple who had come to Sydney for a short visit, mainly to see the live musical 'Chicago' which they really enjoyed. They were originally from England and had settled in New Zealand 53 years ago. The husband told me the story of why he chose to go to New Zealand rather than Australia. At the time there was a ten pounds passage fee to emigrate to Australia whereas it was a free passage from England to New Zealand. This was what made up his mind and he originally went for one year to see how he liked it. His wife followed when he decided on a longer stay.

Till next time.

Peter

Souvenirs Australia Warehouse

Bondi For A Day And School In Hobart

I did a shorter shift this week at the airport so didn't get to chat to as many visitors as normal but still came across quite an interesting and varied bunch.

There was lovely older Scottish lady travelling home on Qantas who had been here to visit relatives in Cessnock in the Hunter Valley and also sampled and bought wine at 2 wineries. She said that they had been living in Australia now for 45 years and loved the Hunter Valley area.

I chatted to a guy from the Netherlands who was just in transit for the day from NZ. He went to see friends in Bondi and also spent some time at the beach, all within the space of the few hours that he had here. There was also a group of 3 English guys who had just spent 5 days in Sydney after coming from NZ. This included a very big last night in town from which I think they were still suffering!!

Another fellow from the Netherlands that I met had been here training crane operators that work over water in Newcastle Harbour. Others I talked to included a young Irish woman living in Singapore and a Thai male in Sydney for just 2 days on business.

The youngest traveller I came across was a young Thai student- around 15 or 16 years old - who is studying at High School in Hobart. He was travelling alone back home to Bangkok for a family visit. What a contrast it would be between home in huge, chaotic, bustling Bangkok and the much quieter and peaceful surrounds of Tasmania.

Till next week.

Peter

Souvenirs Australia Warehouse

Family Visits, Marriages to Aussies & A Cooking Show

Plenty of visitors on their way home this week after family visits. They included a Danish woman here to see her daughter who had married an Aussie and an English couple visiting family in the Camden area.

One English woman was here for the wedding of her daughter in Sydney. The wedding reception on Sydney Harbour was actually filmed for an upcoming episode of the Masterchef cooking show. She has another daughter already married to an Aussie and living here so I guess she will be making many more visits 'Down Under'.

I also chatted to an Aussie who has been living in Sri Lanka for over a year and was just home on a short visit to see family in Canberra. There was also a German guy here on business for 2 weeks, a friendly French lady who travelled around the country with a friend and a Canadian backpacker on his way to Rome who had just loved his few months stay in Australia.

I'm often surprised at how adventurous some of our visitors are and their willingness and ability to be able to easily drive cars or campervans around a rather different country to their own. This week I spoke to a young Swiss couple who drove a campervan all the way from Perth to Darwin.

Till next time.

Peter

Souvenirs Australia Warehouse

Business Travellers and a New Teacher for Wollongong

I didn't get a chance to do my update last week so this one covers some of the interesting travellers I've met over the last 2 weekends.

I've come across quite a few business travellers including a Canadian male who spent 2 weeks in Canberra, German and Swedish businessmen here for just a few days. There was also a New Zealander here for just 1 night for her own company conference in Coogee. Great spot to have a conference! Go homing on Singapore Airlines was a young Syrian lady who lives in the United Arab Emirates. She was here for a week of work training.

There have been quite a few holidaymakers lately who have travelled around Oz in rental campervans. They seem to be generally quite comfortable driving in Australia. One Irish guy I came across had shared a campervan right across the Nullarbor to Perth from Sydney. He had also spent 6 months working in Sydney.

On a flight to Beijing was a friendly Californian who had spent 3 weeks in Australia and was off to China for the second 3 weeks of his holiday. I imagine it will be quite a contrast to his last 3 weeks here. He had done an Oz Experience bus trip up the East Coast and also camped in a tent at Uluru.

Travelling on Qantas back to London was an English woman who had spent time in Sydney and with friends in Wollongong and really enjoyed her stay. She mentioned that she will be back to work later in the year and had already lined up a teaching job in Wollongong.

Other visitors of note were an English couple who visited relatives in Brisbane who were soon taking up Australian citizenship and 2 young French brothers who visited another brother of theirs in Brisbane.

Till next time.

Peter

Souvenirs Australia Warehouse

Northern NSW and Growing Tomatos

Flying home to Europe on Malaysia Airlines this week were two people who had spent all their stay in the Northern Tablelands area of NSW. The first was a Swedish woman who came to visit her daughter who was living in Walcha, a small country town in the area. She alos visited three other towns in the area - Gunnedah, Armidale and Coonabaraban. Coonabaraban is most famous for its large radio telescope.

The other was a Dutch guy who stayed in Guyra on business. Guyra is quite a small town and not one that would welcome too many international business visitors so I asked him about his line of work. He is a technical person who was underseeing the operation of tomato processing and packing equipment. The machinery was custom made for the tomato firm and he told me that they process 60000kg of tomatos per day for delivery to Coles supermarkets along the east coast of Australia. I had not realised that Guyra is a major tomato growing area.

I came across quite a few travellers here on family visits, one sadly for a funeral and a British backpacker who did the common backpacker route down the Queensland coast - Cairns, Magnetic Island, Airlie Beach, Whitsundays, Rainbow Beach, Fraser Island, Noosa and then Brisbane.

Travelling home on Qantas was a friendly Singapore family - parents and a teenage daughter. The father was very inquisitive about what I did and told me that he was a businessman involved in trading various products. On Emirates was a Thai student going home after a 3 month homestay and doing a general English course.

Till next week.

Cheers
Peter

Souvenirs Australia Warehouse

A Friendly Frenchman, A Helicopter Pilot And An Aussie Wine Enthusiast

I was fortunate to again chat with a very varied and mostly friendly bunch of people this last weekend.

My first encounter was with a friendly 60ish French fellow who had been on a short group tour around the country - over two weeks he visited Melbourne, Sydney, Alice Springs, Darwin and Cairns. His English was a little limited but from what I could gather he enjoyed his stay.

On another flight back to Europe was an New Zealander living in England who flies helicopters for a living. He had travelled to Oz for a for a stay of only 4 days - 3 days with family in Bondi and 1 day on business in Maitland. This reminded me of something else I must do one day - take a flight in a helicopter!

Heading home to Malaysia was a Malaysian family group who had just had a holiday in Sydney and the wineries in the Hunter Valley. The older family member I spoke to really raved about the high quality of the wines from boutique wineries that they visited. They had purchased plenty of wine to enjoy when they arrived back home.

On China Airlines was a friendly young Taiwanese couple who had spent time in Sydney and with a friend in Canberra. They were very happy to chat and answer my questions despite their very limited English. I also came across an English couple heading back to Auckland where they now live after a stay in Sydney. They had been to Sydney numerous times and commented that they knew Sydney so well that they are able to show other visiting friends around the city.

Till next week.

Peter

Souvenirs Australia Warehouse

One Method of Car Disposal and a Unique Place to Sleep

I met a couple of Dutch travellers flying home on Malaysia Airlines yesterday. One was a backpacker who had done an interesting camping tour from Alice Springs to Adelaide. The other one also had some interesting stories to tell. He had stayed for the first 2 weeks in a luxury hotel in Sydney and then, in sharp contrast, travelled around the country on a very tight budget. He used a car he had bought in Sydney for A$1800 and stayed in backpacker hostels. When he flew out of Cairns to join his flight home in Sydney, he just gave away the car for free to another traveller he had met there. The car had gone well for his travels and had not needed any repairs or manintenance.

Also heading home to Scandinavia at the weekend was a young Norwegian backpacker who had also had quite an adventure on the East Coast. She had rented a car with some other fellow travellers and also was on a tight budget. They slept in the car on 2 occasions including 3 consecutive nights at one location. However she had also spent 4 nights in a much more unusual location - an airport hangar! They had gone skydiving and somehow managed to be allowed to sleep next to the planes.

On a flight home to Christchurch was a friendly Chinese family with a very cute 8 year old daughter who was happy to answer all my survey questions (on behalf of her mum) to the best of her ability. They had been on holidays in Sydney.

Other visitors of note that I came across included:-

* An Egyptian lady here to visit her son. She had already been to Australia many times.

* An older English couple on a round the world journey who travelled by rental car in Tasmania and travelled by train from Melbourne to Adelaide and the Ghan train from Adelaide to Alice Springs. They were heading to Honolulu and then Las Vegas before going home.

* An American who had done Melbourne, Kangaroo Island (SA) and Cairns all in 6 days. He was on his way to visit a friend in New Zealand while the rest of his family spent some more time in the Cairns area.

Till next week.

Peter

Souvenirs Australia Warehouse