Souvenirs - Trust issue begins.

Usually I'll come home with some souvenirs for my family, friends and colleagues. So for my Gold Coast trip, I bought snacks and key chains for them. I'm sure everyone would have received the 'Australia' koala or kangaroo key chains a million times, but I would still get it again as I appreciate all the hardwork/ extra effort that the rest have to put in so that I could enjoy my holidays. Imagine your colleagues slogging over the extra work load while you're away enjoying. Least I could do is to appreciate.

First day of my trip, I went outlet shopping at Harbour Town and there's a souvenir shop. Price was reasonable to me so I bought all the souvenirs I needed there. Anyway, everything was Made in China. Get over and done with, I thought. But actually, when I explored Surfer's Paradise the next day, I realised I have paid 30% - 40% more for those souvenirs hahahahahaha! Go to the shop at Surfer's with the megaphone for lowest priced souvenirs. Lesson learnt.

I tried looking for Made in Australia souvenirs, but I didn't manage to find them at Harbour Town. Continued hunting at Surfer's and that's when I started having trust issue with souvenirs.

I sure I can fly with this.

Cute plushies, those with 'Australia' printed, embroidered, tagged... Flip around, Made in China. Some are Designed in Australia, Made in China. No difference.

And I thought I would be safe with 'Hand-Crafted'. Those boomerangs. Look at the fine prints, 'Hand-Crafted in Indonesia'. 

Frankly, I was looking for Made in Australia souvenir for a friend.

And I saw this. AUSTRALIAN GOLD. I was thinking, awesome. Nothing can go wrong. However, I flipped the packaging, Made in China! 

Tell me, how to resolve this trust issue?! That is why I bought more snacks as souvenirs. 

Australia produces large amount of dairy products. Therefore, chocolates are a safe bet. I bought a carton of Tim-Tam back. There's only 6 in a carton though. Weighed about 2 kg only. Great choice as it's not too taxing on my baggage limit.

Anyway, after shopping in numerous souvenir shops, to be fair, I found out that most of them have a section of Australian-produced souvenirs like plushies, opal key chains, opal book marks etc. But usually they are located deeper into the shop. I need to shop wiser next time in souvenir shops. 

I also managed to get kangaroo fur key chains from the local market directly from the guy who made it. Rest assure, I've also asked about its source. They were from the butchery. Kangaroo meat is common in Australia and thus by-products need not be obtained through poaching. If otherwise, I would not have bought them. Kudos.