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What are good buys for US citizens visiting Sydney
When visitors come from the U.S., what are good bargains? Electronics, Opals,
Camera's, Watches, Cigars, Sheepskins? Thanks. |
#2
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What are good buys for US citizens visiting Sydney
"Papertargets" wrote in message ... When visitors come from the U.S., what are good bargains? Electronics, Opals, Camera's, Watches, Cigars, Sheepskins? Thanks. Maybe opals and possibly sheepskins. The rest of this stuff would be cheaper in the US. Kangaroo skins are way cheaper here than in the USA - maybe US$30-40. There is almost nothing else I can think of which is significantly cheaper here than in the USA. This is not a shopping destination (at least, not for Americans, who enjoy the world's best shopping). |
#3
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What are good buys for US citizens visiting Sydney
"Papertargets" wrote in message ... When visitors come from the U.S., what are good bargains? Electronics, Opals, Camera's, Watches, Cigars, Sheepskins? Thanks. With the current exchange rate, just about anything! If you buy any goods which you are exporting back to US with you, ensure you get a "Tax Receipt" as you might get a refund of the 10% GST upon departure. See http://www.customs.gov.au/site/text_...=5&nav_id=1067 Geoff Lillico |
#4
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What are good buys for US citizens visiting Sydney
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#5
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What are good buys for US citizens visiting Sydney
rent also seems way cheaper than US
"Raffi Balmanoukian" a wrote in message news:BB94FBC2.1C102%walkabout@TAKEOUTTHETRASHTOREP LY.ns.sympatico.ca... in article , Peter Webb at wrote on 9/22/03 12:27 AM: "Papertargets" wrote in message ... When visitors come from the U.S., what are good bargains? Electronics, Opals, Camera's, Watches, Cigars, Sheepskins? Thanks. Maybe opals and possibly sheepskins. The rest of this stuff would be cheaper in the US. Kangaroo skins are way cheaper here than in the USA - maybe US$30-40. There is almost nothing else I can think of which is significantly cheaper here than in the USA. This is not a shopping destination (at least, not for Americans, who enjoy the world's best shopping). Aussie booze; you can also get Cuban cigars in some specialty shops but they're the earth. |
#6
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What are good buys for US citizens visiting Sydney
Yeah rent is cheaper.
So is food, a lot of services (eg dentristry) and public transport. Try taking any of these back to the USA ... flying back home with $2 T-bone steaks in your luggage is hardly the best in "bargain shopping". "4000 psi" wrote in message news:l2Qbb.1381$La.469@fed1read02... rent also seems way cheaper than US "Raffi Balmanoukian" a wrote in message news:BB94FBC2.1C102%walkabout@TAKEOUTTHETRASHTOREP LY.ns.sympatico.ca... in article , Peter Webb at wrote on 9/22/03 12:27 AM: "Papertargets" wrote in message ... When visitors come from the U.S., what are good bargains? Electronics, Opals, Camera's, Watches, Cigars, Sheepskins? Thanks. Maybe opals and possibly sheepskins. The rest of this stuff would be cheaper in the US. Kangaroo skins are way cheaper here than in the USA - maybe US$30-40. There is almost nothing else I can think of which is significantly cheaper here than in the USA. This is not a shopping destination (at least, not for Americans, who enjoy the world's best shopping). Aussie booze; you can also get Cuban cigars in some specialty shops but they're the earth. |
#7
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What are good buys for US citizens visiting Sydney
$2 T-bones?! ... i am leaving for OZ tomorrow!!! )
"Peter Webb" wrote in message u... Yeah rent is cheaper. So is food, a lot of services (eg dentristry) and public transport. Try taking any of these back to the USA ... flying back home with $2 T-bone steaks in your luggage is hardly the best in "bargain shopping". "4000 psi" wrote in message news:l2Qbb.1381$La.469@fed1read02... rent also seems way cheaper than US "Raffi Balmanoukian" a wrote in message news:BB94FBC2.1C102%walkabout@TAKEOUTTHETRASHTOREP LY.ns.sympatico.ca... in article , Peter Webb at wrote on 9/22/03 12:27 AM: "Papertargets" wrote in message ... When visitors come from the U.S., what are good bargains? Electronics, Opals, Camera's, Watches, Cigars, Sheepskins? Thanks. Maybe opals and possibly sheepskins. The rest of this stuff would be cheaper in the US. Kangaroo skins are way cheaper here than in the USA - maybe US$30-40. There is almost nothing else I can think of which is significantly cheaper here than in the USA. This is not a shopping destination (at least, not for Americans, who enjoy the world's best shopping). Aussie booze; you can also get Cuban cigars in some specialty shops but they're the earth. |
#8
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What are buys for US citizens visiting Sydney-How About 60,000 Sheep the Aussies Are Torturing?
(Papertargets) wrote in message ...
When visitors come from the U.S., what are good bargains? Electronics, Opals, Camera's, Watches, Cigars, Sheepskins? Thanks. Sheepskins? Well the Aussies might torture 60,000 sheep to amuse you. http://www.theage.com.au/articles/20...082991895.html 60,000 Dying Sheep onboard a national shame for sick Aussies By Michelle Grattan September 24, 2003 The MV Cormo Express has become the Tampa of the live sheep export trade. Unable to land at their destination of Saudi Arabia, more than 50,000 Australian sheep, loaded in early August, yesterday remained in search of a third country to take them for money, or free. Their sorry tale - seven weeks on the sea so far, rather than a fortnight's trip - has raised fresh questions about Australia's billion-dollar live animal export industry, which regularly causes thousands of deaths and inflicts suffering that would not be tolerated onshore. In the face of this, what does Agriculture Minister Warren Truss say? He quotes the on-board vet, saying the sheep - apart from about 3800 that have died - have put on weight. As the RSPCA's Hugh Wirth says, it makes it sound like they're "enjoying some Mediterranean cruise". They might be getting heavier, but it is not because they're living comfortably or normally. The Government refused to say where the ship was - until the media found it near Dubai - claiming publicity doesn't help the hunt for a country to take them. advertisement advertisement Nor did it want to give mortality figures, fearing it would get locked into running a daily death watch. Releasing figures was left to the ship's owners. Truss has also condemned "unsympathetic reporting of the issues. For commentators, reporters or animal liberation activists to paint the situation in any way that is likely to undermine the confidence of potential buyers is not helpful to the welfare of the sheep." Is he serious? Is he really saying yet another cruel disaster in the livestock export industry should be hushed up? It is not as though this is an isolated incident, as shown by a glance through the October 2002 report from Truss's Independent Reference Group on the trade. Truss asked for more advice from this group - which had recommended a much tighter regime more than two years before - after a spate of bad incidents. The mortality rates during seven voyages last year - all but one to the Middle East - we February, MV Norvantes (bound for Jakarta) 99 cattle (8.5 per cent); June, MV Becrux 880 cattle (44 per cent) and 1418 sheep (2 per cent); July, MV Corriedale Express 6119 sheep (11 per cent); July, MV Al Messilah 2173 sheep (3 per cent); July, MV Al Shuwaikh 5800 sheep (7 per cent); July, Cormo Express 1064 (2 per cent); and September, Al Shuwaikh 2304 sheep (4 per cent). The group saw these as "evidence of systematic failures within the whole live animal export program". It pointed particularly to shipments originating from Portland, where the animals were poorly prepared for voyages. It also said that while some reforms had been made since its February 2000 recommendations, neither industry nor the regulators had been ready for the "cultural change" required. In other words, a lot of feet had been dragged. When the sheep arrived, Saudi officials claimed scabby mouth (against which sheep are now twice vaccinated) was above the accepted limit - a conclusion rejected by the Australian vet. Tempting as it might be to look for a political motive, there is no evidence of this. The Saudis have a record of turning away shiploads. The live sheep trade to Saudi Arabia resumed only in 2000 after more than a decade's suspension by Australia; this had followed shipments being refused on health grounds. The great concern, on the Government's part, is that if there is too much hoo-ha over these sheep, the whole trade will be put in jeopardy. It is worth $200 million to Australia in exports to Saudi Arabia. It's the risk of a dangerous backlash that's prompted the Government to intervene in a private transaction, frantically searching for a destination, even though the sheep, with a Saudi owner, are no longer Australian sheep but Saudi refugees. Already exports to Saudi Arabia have been suspended until this is sorted out. The Government couldn't afford the spectacle of further ships drifting about. There are now two issues: what should be done with these animals? And, is this trade too inhumane to be pursued? Wirth argues that the Government won't be able to find a port for the sheep and it's impractical to bring them home, so they should be progressively put down. But the Australian Veterinary Association, in a rather harrowing news release yesterday, said mass slaughter could be "an animal welfare and environmental disaster". "There will be thousands of litres of blood", it said; animal rights groups "have not considered that the sheep may have to watch the slaughter, nor have they considered the welfare of the people who would have to carry this out". Both the Government and the industry argue against putting down the sheep, still hopeful a destination can be found. The Government doesn't want the sheep repatriated, because it's a long voyage and there are quarantine difficulties; the ship's owners have canvassed the possibility of returning them to Fremantle, although they'd much prefer to offload them regionally. Greens senator Bob Brown yesterday called for the ship to be ordered back at once, saying any quarantine problems are Truss's. Meanwhile Australian authorities are trying to continue negotiations with the Pakistanis, despite their saying they won't take the sheep. Animal rights advocate Peter Singer, who calls for euthanasia in this case, insists the entire live trade is a "disgrace" that should be stopped. "It's a terrible ordeal for the animals at the best of times. They have a nightmare voyage, and then they get treated brutally after they land, as if they were just sacks of wheat rather than living, feeling animals. Every year or two, there is another major scandal . . . The federal minister says that he will implement reforms, but then . . . the same thing, or something worse, happens again." The RSPCA opposes the live export industry, but Wirth recognises that neither side of politics will end it. But he wants much more control over it. So does the Australian public. Even if Truss can solve the Cormo Express problem quickly, what has happened in this and many other instances should weigh on our conscience. Print this article Email to a friend Top Search all Fairfax archives (*Fee for full article) |
#10
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What are buys for US citizens visiting Sydney-How About 60,000 Sheep the Aussies Are Torturing?
Rainer Wolfcastle wrote:
The great concern, on the Government's part, is that if there is too much hoo-ha over these sheep, the whole trade will be put in jeopardy. It is worth $200 million to Australia in exports to Saudi Arabia. What I don't get is why the Saudis can't just send an imam, a knife, and a large block of ice over to Australia and avoid this whole nonsense. miguel -- Hit The Road! Photos and tales from around the world: http://travel.u.nu Site remodeled 10-Sept-2003: Hundreds of new photos, easier navigation. |
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