Traveller letters: First peanut butter, now Vegemite is being confiscated by airline security

The Siberia of her imagination was mine too and she enabled mine also to morph "into an emerald wilderness quivering with sedge and lit by a watery sun."

Her extraordinary description of "Death on the Tundra" enabled an animal lover to understand and empathise with the reindeer herders' needs and celebrate that the only bits discarded are done so for a reason. Her evocation of journeying to Siberia, Siberia post-Stalin and life as the Nenets know it was both awesome and inspirational.

K. Buckeridge, Mosman, NSW

MALCOLM THE MAGNIFICENT

Bouquets for the federal government's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). My wife, following the death of her mother who was tragically killed overseas in a hit and run, needed new passports for herself and an infant urgently.

Leaving at 5am to beat the traffic and locate parking, the Brisbane office of DFAT and interviewer Malcolm received her sympathetically, with genuine concern and empathy.

In three hours my wife and daughter had their passports and were primed for the 5am flight the next day. In what I thought was an impossible task, our family is deeply appreciative and a large part of our suffering has been eased by DFAT's courtesy and professionalism.

Ray Armstrong, Tweed Heads South, NSW

Actually John F. Gibson (Traveller letters, May 12), smearing peanut butter "on someone or something" might truly constitute a "deadly force" as you sarcastically put it.

If my granddaughter, who is highly allergic to peanuts, were to sit next to you on a flight while you eat your jar of crunchy peanut butter then touch shared armrests, the consequences could be devastating. Surely you've heard how common – and dangerous – peanut allergies are. I'm pretty sure you can find other snacks for your in-flight nutrition.

Thanks for your vigilance, Sydney Airport.

Jill Rosenberg, Caulfield South, VIC

Unfortunately peanut butter is one of the gels listed in the government's idea of things you cannot carry unless you only have "containers of 100 millilitres (volume), 100 grams (weight) or less".

Worse, however, perhaps was the Swiss woman at Geneva Airport who was not allowed to take her half empty tube of the Swiss national food enhancer Thomy Mustard. The argument raged for about 10 minutes and luckily was, for no good reason, in three languages just to confuse the attentive audience.

J. Mackay, Bargara, QLD

MONKEY BUSINESS

Oh Nina Karnikowski, I read your piece, "Shape and sound of water" (Traveller, May 12) with tears in my eyes. Bittersweet memories of a long-ago trip with my youngest brother, and my first sighting of "the smoke that thunders".

Running across the bridge in my bright yellow raincoat and slipping over the moss-covered track, I suddenly came face to face with a huge baboon. We seemed to look at each other for ages and then he ran past me to my immense relief.

Thanks for the memories and best wishes to you and your husband.

Rhoda Silber, Manly, NSW

VIETNAM UNEASE

Having just returned from a visit to Vietnam, I'd like to highlight the confusion regarding visa applications. Two in our group sent their passports to the Vietnamese Embassy in Canberra. One of us used the Australian government's Smartraveller website and the link "Vietnamese National Web Portal of Immigration" while I searched for the Vietnam Embassy website within Australia.

After paying registered post both ways, the passports mailed to the embassy were returned within a week at a cost of $A99 per visa. The Australian online application (vietnamembassy.org.au) also cost $A99 and a printed visa was mailed to me in three days.

However, the site linked from Smartraveller.gov.au is the official website within Vietnam where a visa costs $US25. After processing her application and concerned at the price difference, my companion called the Vietnamese Embassy in Canberra and was advised that she would be required to pay the visa cost difference, of between $A100-$A300 upon arrival. Worried about additional unknown charges, she chose to reapply using the Australian online portal and paid $A99.

Visa scams abound, therefore one would (naively) assume the Smartraveller website would be current, directing applicants to the most efficient and cost-effective portal for visa applications.

Kay Douglas, Hawthorn, VIC

BEASTLY BEHAVIOUR

It was heartening to read John Dunphy's concern in his letter "Creature Discomfort" (Traveller letters, May 5). Animal welfare in many parts of Asia seems simply not to be a priority and will remain that way until people speak up.

Our tourist dollars can be powerful and I agree, rather than shun these destinations, go, travel to them and use the opportunities to bring attention to improving the plight of animals.

Sonya Hayden, Hawthorn East, VIC

IT AIN'T NOTHING

Ross Dryan (Traveller, May 12) suggests that in Australia "one can travel 1000 kilometres and see nothing". I could not disagree more. I've travelled fairly extensively throughout this country and I find the landscape endlessly fascinating and ever-changing. Sometimes in subtle ways, but invariably there will be so much more to be learned about the beauty of this diverse continent.

Liz Riordan, Newtown, VIC

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