Austrailian Smuggles Asian Fish In Her Dress

by Jonathon Morgan on

Usually, the residents’ line at customs is a fairly straightforward experience. While non-residents are grilled about their plans, their luggage, etc, those returning home do little more than flash their passport to customs officers as they breeze through to baggage claim.

But when customs officers hear “flipping noises,” chances are, they’ll suspect something fishy.

That’s what happened with Sharon Naismith, a 45 year-old Australian woman who was caught in June 2005 at a Melbourne airport, trying to smuggle 15 Asian fish into the country. She’d constructed an apron of 15 water-filled plastic bags, which she concealed under her dress. Officers found 14 catfish, and one very rare Asian arowana, reportedly worth tens of thousands of dollars.

She was sentenced today to 9 months of community service, pleading guilty to a charge of attempting to import regulated wildlife.

No news on whether or not the fish made it home safely.

Mad Max Film Locations

by Neil Woodburn on

Long before Crocodile Dundee introduced the country of Australia into the homes of people world wide, there was Mad Max.

Everything I knew about Australia as a kid came from Mad Max and now, apparently, I’ve discovered I may have gotten it all wrong. I should have figured this out much earlier; the film doesn’t even have any kangaroos in it for God’s sake. Nonetheless, the movie introduced me to a far off land which I’ve been dying to visit ever since. And, when I do go, I will be sure to pay homage to the trail blazed before me by Mad Max.

Unfortunately, the Aussies haven’t capitalized on their connection with Hollywood as much as their neighbors, the Kiwis, have. There is something like 10,000 Lord of the Rings tours throughout New Zealand. But Australia doesn’t have a single Mad Max tour as far as I can tell. There is a pretty decent website, however, which points fans in the right direction. MadMaxMovies.com pinpoints a number of the locations from Mad Max, Mad Max 2, and Mad Max beyond Thunderdome (certainly the worst of the three movies).

So gas up the Interceptor, load up on ammo, and go check it out.

Valentine’s Idea: Visit A Rose Garden

by Willy Volk on

Valentine’s Day is a special day, when we take the time to slow down, look around us, and appreciate the loved ones in our lives. Maybe, in addition, we also want to stop and smell the roses — literally. There are rose gardens — beautiful, vast, eye-popping rose gardens — the world over. And what could express your unending love more dramatically than a tour through one of these olfactory wonderlands? Here are five of the planet’s most beautiful rose gardens, just waiting for you to come a-calling. Warning: I don’t think they’ll let you snip a souvenir for yourself!

  1. Australia’s National Rose Garden is located on the banks of the Macquarie River at the historic Woolmers Estate in Longford, Tasmania. With varieties dating back to the 18th Century, the roses are available for viewing every day except Christmas.
  2. Hertfordshire, England’s Royal National Rose Society boasts more than 30,000 roses. A major program of bulb plantings has extended the garden season, so that visitors can enjoy the feast of color and beauty from Spring through late Summer. When its current renovation is complete, the Garden will feature an exhibit that demonstrates the History of the Rose.
  3. The Gardens of the American Rose Center, located just outside Shreveport, Louisiana, is the world’s largest rose garden. Five dollars gains you entry into this stunning, stunning, scented scene.
  4. Zakir Hussain Rose Garden is Asia’s largest rose garden. Located in Chandigarh, India, it is spread over 30 acres and features over 1600 different species of roses. If you can hold off your amorous tour until late February, you can participate in the Rose Festival, during which 20,000 people visit the garden.
  5. Though it may not be the biggest, Atlanta’s Carter Center features a beautiful rose garden overlooking the city. Grab a bottle of bubbly, and enjoy the best place in the city to watch the sunset.

Know of another beautiful rose garden? Share your knowledge with us!

Aussies Drinking Toilet Water?!?!

by Neil Woodburn on

“Don’t drink the water,” is the biggest cliché in travel advice; in third world countries, must of us follow this advice as though it were law.

The next time I visit Queensland, Australia, however, I’m going to think twice about drinking the water despite the fact that Australia is hardly a pauper nation. The reason for this hesitation is a recent decision by the local government of Queensland to begin recycling sewage water into drinking water.

In other words, that which you’ve drank before, you will drink again–after, of course, it’s passed through your body, the Australian sewer system, a purification plant, water pipelines, and then finally out of your faucet and into your glass. A perfect cycle of nature!

The controversial decision comes in the midst of a drought which has dangerously depleted the region’s water levels. Faced with a growing population and decreasing water supplies, the Queensland government is hoping to remedy the situation by next year with the introduction of the recycled waste water.

Of course, this won’t affect most Australians I know as they only drink beer, not water. That doesn’t mean we can’t start calling them potty-mouth, however.

Gnomesville Massacre

by Neil Woodburn on

We posted a few months ago about how gnomes have somehow become the mascot of the travel world. From the “traveling gnome” legend, to the icon of Travelocity, the ubiquitous short, stout fellow seems to be popping up everywhere we turn.

And so it is with a heavy heart that we must report to our dear readers about a recent tragic event in which dozens of our beloved little travel buddies were horribly butchered.

The gnome-cide occurred in a forest just south of Perth, Australia where a gaggle of gnomes one-thousand strong were attacked by vandals who crushed and beheaded the peaceful, cherub creatures like some gigantic, roaring Godzilla laying waste to Japan.

While gnomes have been routinely set freed by the Front for the Liberation of Gnomes, this is the first case of wholesale slaughter amongst the tight-knit community. Has the FLG changed tactics? Was the act in retaliation for some unknown gnome discretions of the past? Perhaps a controversial laison with the human world? Or was it just some drunken teenagers with golf clubs?

No one knows the answer. But what we do know is that the gallant survivors, out of respect for their fallen comrades, have remained stoically on duty since the massacre, little shovels in hand, red hats askew, and tiny little midget tears glistening on their plaster faces. The earth may have lost its most loyal guardians, but heaven has gained some pint-sized angels.