Helmut's customs story just reminded me of something else. In 1992, I went
to Western Australia to collect shells. Just before I left home, I thought
I better take my abalone knife as well, and since my bag was quite tightly
packed with camping equipment, I tossed it in my hand luggage.
 
At the airport, they freaked out when they saw the knife, and took it from
me to be taken on board separately. An abalone knife is blunt at the top,
and you'd be hard-pressed to hurt anyone with it, but it nevertheless looks
pretty impressive.
 
It takes five hours to fly from Sydney to Perth, and when I finally got
there, I had to wait for an hour for the blimmin' knife to turn up!
 
I'm sure some of you have done this before
 
Patty
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