I declared that I had once taken panadol.

Last time we came through we had muesli bars, jam, lollies, panadol etc and declared it all, waved through and away we went.

Last trip, I said, "the usual Canadian stuff..." to which he raised an eyebrow, and I replied, "You know, Frank's Hot Sauce and decent maple syrup."

Next trip back, hubby has put in a request to bring back that packaged Lipton noodle soup (Dorothy knows what I'm talking about). Get to declare that one too.

Last time back, our flight from Auckland arrived the same time as one from Bali. I recall they gave the Bali folks more than a cursory check and were busy rifling through their bags and holding up all the plant-based souvenirs (woven baskets and mats) for closer inspection...never mind what other interesting things they found.

When my mother was here last year, she apparently made a point of launching into a long lecture with the young fellow questioning her about why tinned pumpkin makes for better pies (I disagree, but she's from a time when canned food ruled the world and so she brought three huge tins of the stuff in her luggage because apparently I need it). The AQIS worker replied, "But we do have pumpkins here in Australia," to which she intoned, "But you haven't got them in cans, that's the problem."

He let her through with her stash. I swear those folks working at AQIS must have the best "guess how my day went" stories.

I never bother declaring food - not that I bring much back, maybe the odd bar of chocolate or crisps in my hand luggage or whatever.

When I came back from trekking in south america I delcared that and they cleaned my walking boots until they were spotless for me

You really should declare ANY food. If they decide to xray or search your stuff and find it then you will almost certainly be fined, plus there will be a note on your records to check you carefully in future. Yes its a pain, but tjcking tbat box is less hassle than being caught.

>>Dont you watch border patrol/control/police.... Or whatever that crap show is that I dont watch?????<<

Compulsive viewing!

I just love it when a Chinese is asked if it's *her* bag - "Yes", whether she packed it - "Yes" - if everything in it is hers - "Yes", if anyone has put anything in it - "No".

Then the bag's opened, full of rotting food, insects, vegetables etc.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" she says - and suddenly doesn't understand English.

Last trip I brought back about 10 boxes of Crystal Light singles, 2 big bottles of Kraft blue cheese dressing, 2 bottles of Frank's, some Swiss Chalet sauce powder packets, a jar of bacon marmalade, a box of Skor bars and 3 Burnt Almond bars. I was seriously hoping they didn't confiscate my salad dressing or bacon marmalade but when they asked what food I had and I started rattling it all off the guy just rolled his eyes and waved me through before I could say I had the salad dressing or bacon.

I've given my sister a list of stuff to bring me when she comes in November. More Frank's, more Crystal Light, some Coffee Crisp and definitely more Skor bars.

laser pointers and weapons are a big no no

theres a similar show UK Border Force. they are on the lookout for fake students and lorry clandestines from calais.

We declared all our things when we came in. I have no idea what happened that day but a load of flights came in at once and the declare line was about 4 times longer than the nothing to declare. I was grumbling to myself the whole way through the queue about people bringing stuff in just to get in the 'shorter' queue. :-o

If you don't declare something and don't get caught it's worth it. If you do get caught, your definition of "worth it" may be different to others...

Cheers

LG

He isn't asking if he should declare, he's asking if its worth deliberately bringing something to declare as that queue may well be shorter than the 'nothing to declare' queue.

Correct!!
But like I say I arrive from Singapore at 6.25am so can't see the airport being very busy anyway.