Custom Officials discovered approximately 10.5 ounces of ecstasy tablets hidden inside a Mr. Potato Head toy that was sent to Australia from Ireland.

When the Australian Custom officials opened the parcel they were greeted with the smiling face of this popular children’s toy. However when they removed the back panel of the toy they found the ecstasy tablets contained in a plastic bag.

Officials turned the matter over to federal police. No arrests have been made at this time as the case is still under investigation. The maximum penalty for importing drugs to Australia is life imprisonment.

“Whilst this is one of the more unusual concealments that we have seen in recent times, people need to be aware that Customs officers are alert to unusual and often outlandish methods of concealment,” Customs Director Post Karen Williams said.

My wife and I have been thinking of taking a vacation. Not just any vacation - a trip to Australia. We’ve always wanted to go and we think that we will finally do it sometime next year.

In preparation we’ve started doing a little research into how much flights will cost, the price of accommodation, and of course what we’ll do when we are finally in Australia. We aren’t even sure exactly which part of Australia we’d like to go to but I’d like to see Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne as well as much wildlife as possible.

I think we’d probably go to Melbourne first so I’ll have to look up some Melbourne Hotels. You might already know that my wife is a gardener so I’m sure she’ll want to visit the botanic gardens while we are in Melbourne.

Hey I just took a moment to see if I could find any Cheap Melbourne Hotels and I found a site that not only lists all types of hotels, but it also talks a little bit about the city of Melbourne and says that it’s fairly easy to travel between Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane using a discount airline. That’s good to know. This site might have just saved us money on Accommodation in Melbourne and airfare from one part of Australia to another! Cool.

Obviously we still have a lot of research to do before we can fully begin to plan our trip. As I said it would be nice to go to the Botanical gardens, maybe a zoo or two, and to see the sights within the City of Melbourne and any other places we go in Australia. I’m sure it’ll be an experience that we won’t forget.

One of these days we’re going to go on an extended holiday to Australia. I think I’ve wanted to go to Australia ever since I was a young child.

I’d want to spend some time in the Outback but I’d also want to spend time in Sydney and Brisbane. I’m sure there will be a whole itinerary by the time we actually are ready to go on our holiday but for now those three places have made the short list.

We’ll want to keep expenses down while we’re in Australia so I’ve been looking for Hotels in Brisbane and other locations that aren’t too expensive. Luckily I found a site that lists Cheap Hotels in Brisbane
. I’m going to bookmark that site as it looks like it has the lowest prices anywhere!

I’m pretty sure that it will be at least five years before we get to go on this dream trip so we have lots of time to plan.

We’re both animals lovers - going to our zoo here in Toronto regularly to see all the different animals of the world, so when we do go to Australia we’ll have to go on some sight seeing adventures that include getting a look at the local flora and fauna.

If you’ve been to Australia I’d love to hear about your trip and if you have any suggestions of place that are “must see” do let me know.

Can’t leave it behind …

Di Yerbury, retired vice Chancellor of Australia’s Macquarie University is battling with her successor over her past spending habits. Her successor was so incensed that she seized 1000 pieces of art that Yerbury had tried to take with her as she left.

Yerbury states that many of the works she tried to remove were her own personal property that she had on display. The art work included a painting of a womans derrière that she said she posed for 31 years earlier, and this past February she even offered to have the then-wife of the painter testify that the posterior is indeed Yerbury’s.

In another turn of events …

A former pastor and Southern Baptist leader, Lonnie Latham, who had for years preached against homosexuality, was arrested outside a hotel in Oklahoma city in 2006. He was charged with soliciting a lewd encounter with a man. Rather than apologize, Latham demanded a trial to proclaim is constitutional right to engage in consensual sex with an adult male. In March he was acquitted.