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Woman ends up in Sydney, Nova Scotia by mistake. She wanted Australia
Okay, listen up. If you are getting on an airplane and you get an inkling that something is not quite right, that perhaps you are off course, PAY ATTENTION to that feeling and double check.
If you want to head to Sydney, Australia but something seems amiss, ASK, for heaven's sake. Otherwise you could be like Monique Rozanes Torres Aguero who boarded an airplane in Buenos Aires, Argentina with visions of taking in the Syndney Opera House, perhaps, and trying out phrases like "G'day Mate," only to land in another city--another Sydney, a town in Nova Scotia that does not have one tourist attraction listed on its Web site, according to this article in the Sydney Morning Herald. It does have the largest Ceilidh Fiddle in the World, though.
Ms Torres Aguero's situation was not the first time this gaff has happened. Sydney, Nova Scotia, located on Cape Breton Island, has had other visitors unwittingly arrive at the airport expecting that they have landed Down Under.
Instead, there they are in an industrial, former coal mining town making the best of it since they are on vacation after all.
The problem that causes such errors is the drop down menu box that list airports with when you book on line. booking. Highlight the wrong airport and BAM, there you are one fine day in an unexpected place. This is kind of like Dorothy stepping out of the house in Munchkinland I would imagine.
There was a comment left on the post I wrote about a woman my mom met on a Greyhound bus who thought it only took one day to go from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Los Angeles, California. She thought she'd be in L.A. by morning.
The commenter told about one woman he met who was heading to Manchester, New Hampshire, or so she thought, but ended up in Manchester, England.
If you do ever end up in Sydney, Nova Scotia, by mistake or on purpose, it has a "beautiful island coastline" and you can use it as a springboard to a trip on the Cabot Trail, the trail followed by explorer John Cabot.
I hope there are some good restaurants at least and a decent hotel in Sydney, Nova Scotia. If you think about it, this travel story is a far better one to tell the grandkids later in life. Lots of people have the "my trip to Sydney, Australia" story. This other version gets you interviewed for a newspaper article.
Check out other troublemakers in the skies!
Filed under: Arts and Culture, History, Canada, Australia, Transportation, Airports
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 2)
Henry Sep 29th 2008 4:58PM
Sydney, NS is the nearest city to the Fortress of Louisburgh World Heritage Site. I hope they made the best of their mistake and visited there.
Joe Blow Sep 29th 2008 5:16PM
Hey, they can't even keep track of your luggage...so what makes you think they are going to keep track of you??? Airlines suck !!!
philip Sep 29th 2008 5:34PM
why is it necessary to SLAM Canada? a beautiful country with nice people? or bring in politics in this blog about an airport mix up? Thetraveler DID NOT CHECK HER MATERIAL and the gate agent screwed up letting her on the plane. Hope she got where she wanted to go. Travel enough and ANYTHING ca nhappen ANYWHERE, get alife people!
susan Oct 3rd 2008 12:45PM
Using a professional travel agent would have avoided this unfortunate problem. Live and learn.
Zaphod Sep 29th 2008 5:45PM
If you ever get a chace see the play "Valparaiso" This kind of thing happens to a man and he becomes famous for it. Then as his star fads he commits suicide on the "Oprah" show
conor Sep 29th 2008 6:20PM
When you purchase it ain't all that hard to read where you're headed to. If you act like an idiot then you deserve to get to and be stranded where ever you placed yourself. Take responsibility for your stupidity.
MikeW Sep 30th 2008 9:29AM
On the Pittsburgh to Los Angeles it would take about a day by bus from Pittsburgh Ca to L.A. Ca maybe the woman checked online and clicked the wrong Pittsburgh
KF Sep 29th 2008 6:53PM
Long before 9/11 boarding procedures got more intense and documented, my brother had a major traveling gaffe. He showed up at the airport on Guam for his 16 hour series of flights back to the US. He showed up, got in line, got on board, and his seat was taken. The attendants were confused, he was confused -- the seat had been given to both the guy sitting in it, and my brother as well. The flight was packed and Coach was full. Everyone was racing about trying to figure out how it happened. My brother was getting frustrated, and wouldn't take the later flight -- he had to get back for an event. He finally said "I don't care where you put me, but find a seat for me, even the jump seat -- NOW." They finally had no choice but to bump him up to first class, with apologies, and treated him well all the way home -- whereupon no one was there to pick him up at the airport. "Why are you here a day early?" we all asked. He was speechless and then he realized his flight was the NEXT DAY and no one, not my brother, the counter agent, the gate agent, or the attendants, picked up on the different date on the boarding materials. Ooops!!
Bala Sep 29th 2008 7:17PM
No, we dont blame Bush ~ palin for anything anymore, not even for the f**k up of this country, of the economy, of nothing. No use. The Repugnicans dont think that Bush had anything to do with the govt itself, and the rest of us kind of have to agree.
Lin Sep 29th 2008 7:26PM
OH WHA WHA WHA Just another reason we should use a travel agent. OH SHUT UP #10... it's called human error. It happens every day in life, whether buy a regular human being or a professional. Ever hear of people have the wrong leg operated on? Make the best of it, Canada is a beautiful place.
JPuzzleWhiz Sep 29th 2008 8:29PM
It is funny that I should read your mention of people having the wrong leg operated on--right AFTER I read an article about how doctors told a 71-year-old MAN he was PREGNANT!!! (It turned out to be due to an errant computer keystroke.)
sgt.pepper Sep 29th 2008 7:37PM
This is just too funny.That will be a hoilday she'll never forget.
D Sep 29th 2008 7:42PM
Wow, I would definately want to visit The Great Barrier Reef in Nova Scotia. They say it is Europe's largest living organism that can be viewed from outer space.
vic Sep 29th 2008 7:44PM
When did this article mention Bush or Obama? There are other forums to discuss your stupidity.
Charlie Sep 30th 2008 6:32AM
A friend worked in travel for a major travel agency and booked only trips for one large int'l co. One guy not only booked someone to Paris instead of Louisville(he said it sounded French), but also booked 26 managers from around the country on flights and a connecing train trip to an obscure train station in the Netherlands as he got the codes mixed up. They were supposed to go to a city in Illinois. It wasn't discovered until they began showing up for their flights, none of them had checked their tickets beforehand.
Preston Sep 29th 2008 7:52PM
40 years ago, I was Albany, N.Y., and asked a cabbie to take me to the "State House", meaning the State Capital building. He startled me when he said his brother owned it! Arguing that his brother could not possibly be the owner, as it is the place where all the people's business is conducted did not dissuade him a bit, so I said no matter just take me there. Just a couple of turn in the road and a few minutes away and he delivered me to his brother's neat little restaurant, identified by a large sign: The STEAK House!
By the way, if I were diverted from Sydney, Australia to Sydney, Nova Scotia I would not feel badly. Cape Breton Island is beautiful, the people are friendly, the country is clean, and I hope to visit there again soon.
JPuzzleWhiz Sep 29th 2008 8:37PM
This article brings to mind a piece I read in a Dear Abby column several years back entitled, "Welcome To Holland". It was about a married couple who boarded the wrong plane, and ended up in the Netherlands (Holland). Rather than bitch and moan about not spending their vacation in their intended destination, they were instead encourage to tour the country and see what Holland had to offer. To paraphrase a popular song lyric (my apologies), "If you can't tour in the land you want, honey, tour the land you're in".