To Tocumwal

The bottle of champaign was actually drunk with our friends as that day we heard the money of the sale of the house was in our bank. This really had to be celebrated and gave us a relaxed feeling.

Brilliant blog !

Ah, i wondered what the Champagne was for, that was a good idea !

About the fruit/fly bins ..... why did you have to throw that produce away ?
The homeowners in that area would have eaten those products so why couldn't you too - what a very odd thing ?

Am I right in thinking that you cant take produce from one county to the next because of spreading disease to crops.Great blog.

Mavis, I don't know if this counts for every country, I know it is like that in Australia and New Zealand for instance. Overseas visitors to Australia cannot bring plants, eggs, nuts, any food or animals etc. They can however declare whatever they carry with them at the quarantene office and it will be up to these people to decide wheather you can bring it into the country or not. If you do not declare goods, you could be up for a huge fine.
But I think you mean interstate in this case, as we moved interstate. It is correct, in some states quarantene on fruit and vegetables and some plants and seeds do apply and it is just like you said: to stop the spread of diseases to crops. Especially in WA, which is fairly disease free, you have to stop at the border so an officer can examine your car/truck. In other states they are preventing the spread of fruitfly by stopping fruit etc. crossing the border.
So Louise, you may understand we had to throw our tomato into the bin before crossing the border, because if you do not eat it at the border, you could bring fruitfly to the neighbouring state, in case the maggots of the fruitfly are in the fruit. In NSW and South Australia there was no border, only bins. You could be stopped any time after crossing by an officer and be in grave trouble if you'd carried fruit bought in the other state. You get plenty of warnings and also it is outlined in the state maps, which each traveller usually has on board. Louise, the home owners in that area would have bought their fruit in the supermarkets etc. in that state and not across the border. You are not supposed to move fruit and vegetables ( I have a picture of the whole list ) interstate and most people adhere to the advice. Now we were once fruitgrowers ourselves and know all too well the risks of contaminated fruit brought into our state. And you can't always see it from the outside, which grubs laid which eggs in the fruit, you see. Not an odd thing, really, considering the millions of dollars involved in a lost crop due to disease.

Interesting.
I wonder then if America has the same routine, because they wouldn't want disease spread about that vast continent either would they ?

Another very interesting blog, full of interesting facts. I didn't know that about the fruit-flies.

I'm shocked! My granny packed my case with haggis & shortbread when we went to Australia!!

Louise, I am not familiar with America, but we do have friends here at GOY who live in the States and in Brazil. America is a much "older" continent and 300 years ago people didn't worry about those things. So probably all possible diseases and plagues are already in the country. They did stupid things here too when the first settlers came, like blackberries, cape spinach, rabbits, foxes and even cane toads, who all have gone crazy now and we are left with the eradication programs.
Madperth, your granny wouldn't have known and if they don't warn people about it in travel agencies, nobody will. But everyone about to enter the country will get a quarantene card to fill in, either on the plane or on board the ship. These cards will be read by the officers when you go through customs. It's always best to declare, then you can keep the safe goods anyway. I've taken food in, like hot chilli paste, chocolates, biscuits, and always declared them and was allowed to keep them. They warn for wood, feathers, bone, leather, food, plants, seeds and the likes as people bring souvenirs from some countries which do not prepare or clean their wood or leather enough. Australia has been free of foot and mouth, only because of their strict measures. I don't know what haggis is Madperth, but the shortbread would be fine, provided it is in its original packaging.
BTW we do have lovely shortbread too, lol.

Haggis is a Scottish "delicacy" (yuk!!) Made from all sorts of horrors, & traditionally wrapped in a sheep's stomach!! it's literally offal!!

Madperth that would have been a BIG no no. But as you see, some things some times slip through the net. Hopefully it was all eaten and nothing thrown out. Yes, I would say yuk too, grrr.

As I was only 9 & ****scared of my gran, it got done! But I certainly wouldn't do it now!! Its disgusting stuff, even if it IS supposed to be the national dish of Scotland!!