I am never sure which is worse– the security routine or the duty free rigmarole. Departing Sydney now requires anything that might be a cream or gel or liquid to be packaged in a small plastic bag – if you wish to take it on board that is. Even your toothpaste. And the quantity allowed is minuscule. Not too much of a problem for most male passengers I suspect, but I stood in line watching two women trying to decide which perfumes they were going to have to discard. It was actually a choice between perfumes, hand gels and moisturisers and other bathroom bits and pieces they had with them. Used to years of travelling with that sort of support no doubt. Now constrained. Reluctantly they made their choices, discarded the rest and then moved to the scanner portals and X-rays.
No matter as it turns out since the body scanner portal is followed very closely by the entrance to the duty free gauntlet. When departing Sydney you have no choice but to walk a linoleum road through a forest of air brushed celebrity faces (OK, so that is not so bad) and endure a blizzard of conflicting scents and perfumes, all swirling around you in an attempt to induce a headache before you board your plane. And a billion litres of liquid, and all the gels andmoisturisers your little heart desires. I think it is worth checking out– I bet the security company confiscating potions and gels is a sister company of the duty free company. Come on, it happens in India, why can’t it happen here?
Thanks for reading. This blog is an opportunity for me to capture some of the diversity of my writing interests. My muse tend to appear on my shoulder as I board an international flight although not all of my writing is inspired by travel and foreign places. These blogs have been the basis of a novel (Flowers of Baghdad) but there are a few other writing projects in progress besides. Please feel free to leave a comment. Or two.
I am never sure which is worse – the security routine or the duty free rigmarole. Departing 
