OH SYDNEY YEAH UP IN CANADA HUH

I just finished reading this article and it reminded me of a conversation in Washington DC back in 2002.

SYDNEY (Reuters) – A Dutchman and his grandson boarded a flight to Sydney, looking forward to visiting sunny Australia, but ended up in a much chillier Sydney -- in Nova Scotia, Canada.

Joannes Rutten, 71, and his 15-year-old grandson Nick booked the trip through a Dutch travel agency with plans to visit family living in Wollongong and Tallong, south of Sydney, according to local newspaper the Illawarra Mercury.

They set out from Amsterdam's Schiphol airport with Air Canada on Saturday but instead of arriving to views of the Sydney Harbor Bridge and Opera House, they touched down at Sydney in Cape Breton Island, off Canada's north east coast -- more than 17,000 kms (10,000 miles) away from their intended destination.

Air Canada organized hotel rooms in the wrong Sydney, a former mining town with high unemployment and a population of about 26,000, until they could arrange flights on to the right Sydney, which boasts sun-kissed beaches and 4 million people.

They finally arrived in Australia on Wednesday.

"I think it was quite an adventure for the 15-year-old. They're not seasoned travelers. Joannes was absolutely exhausted when he arrived," Rutten's cousin, Yvonne Wallace, from Wollongong, told the newspaper.

Clare MacDougall, who works for Air Canada, was at Sydney Airport (Nova Scotia) to meet the aircraft.

"When the door opened, the flight attendant said: "You're not going to believe it but we have two people who thought they were en route to Sydney, Australia,"" she told the Cape Breton Post newspaper.

"They arrived with no Canadian money -- they had all Australian money."

No one from Air Canada was immediately available to comment.

It is not the first time travelers have mixed up the Sydneys.

In August 2002, British tourists Raeoul Sebastian and Emma Nunn from London spent their holiday in Nova Scotia after thinking they were flying to Australia.

Last year, Monique Rozanes Torres Aguero from Argentina flew into the wrong Sydney for her vacation but decided to stay after befriending a local woman at the airport, according to the Cape Breton Post

Jo (my ex) and I were on a trip across the states and found ourselves in line at a bank in DC. We noticed a plate of Oreos and a bottle of Pepsi on the sideboard near our line, they were obviously for the customers....

Jo: "Check THAT out, could you ever imagine them doing that back home"

Me: "Ha! No way"

Then a dude (D1) in front of us noticing our accents turns and says: "Hey where are you guys from?"

Jo: "Australia"

D1: "Oh okay, yeah over there in Europe?"

Me: "Er no you're probably thinking of Austria"

He looked at us all confused like. Then another dude (D2) who was standing behind us chips in....

D2 to D1: "Come on man, you know Australia"

D1 still looks confused

D2: "Man, Australia! Sydney Australia"

D1: "Oh oh yeah Sydney, up north, yeah I know Sydney, it's beautiful"

Now I had never heard of another Sydney and I had no idea what he was talking about, a Sydney up north? Canada? Do we sound Canadian? What the...

D2: "No man, come on Sydney Australia, the Olympics, Si...dah...nee"

D1: "Oh er yeah...the Olympics...okay yeah"

He still had no idea. Jo and I just stood there trying not to laugh too much. I wasn't that surprised that D1 didn't know Australia, I was more impressed that D2 did. I'd say 60-70% of the peeps we met in the US really knew hardly anything at all about Australia. So I can totally understand when the above stories happen. I never actually did get myself any of those free Oreos either, it's probably a good thing.

I think I prefer the Canadian version

Sydney - Cape Breton Island



Sydney Australia


.