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AIBU?

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Original poster

To think it only polite to give a gift to DS's hosts on the other side of the planet?

41 replies

PurpleLostPrincess · 13/02/2011 20:28

DS (16) is going to Australia for 2 weeks with his best friend and their family. They are staying with his best friends auntie and my Mum suggested today that we should get a gift from DS to say thank you for having him. I think it's a great idea but I haven't got a clue what we could send - it would have to be reasonably small and fit easily in a suitcase full of clothes. I'm thinking around £10-£20 budget. I don't know these people so would have no idea what on earth to buy!! Yikes!!!! Confused

I only have a couple of days - can't believe this hasn't crossed my mind before! Therefore am posting in AIBU as I know it will get a quick response!

TIA Smile

OP posts:
Serendippy · 13/02/2011 20:33

Can you send him with the cash and he can get pizza or something one night for everyone? That way he fronts up a meal which I always think is a nice thing to do, especially at 16.

Or, if she has ever lived over here, send over some English delights like Marmite, Cadburys and the like.

BeeMyBaby · 13/02/2011 20:34

nothing in the food line in case customs nab it.

agedknees · 13/02/2011 20:34

Do not take food into Australia. It will be confiscated and you may be fined.

Is best friends aunty originally from England?

WimpleOfTheBallet · 13/02/2011 20:36

What about a nice English magazine and some Amazon vouchers?

WimpleOfTheBallet · 13/02/2011 20:37

I suggested the mag as I once took some Brit and French mgs to Oz with me and my MILS friends went mad over them..they loved Marie Claire Idees...and Cheshire Life!

echt · 13/02/2011 20:39

You CAN take food into Australia, but it must be sealed, i.e. as it was at purchase, so Marmite but not a sealed bag of carrots. You must declare the food items at customs.

agedknees · 13/02/2011 20:40

When I lived in Oz I really missed British magazines.

And British TV. How about a DVD. Can you ask best friends mum what his aunty likes. Aussie TV is pants.

MsKLo · 13/02/2011 20:41

Great idea from serendippy

Magazines good too
A nice cookbook?
Some nice smells from somewhere like Lush?

agedknees · 13/02/2011 20:42

echt, when I attempted to take a sealed container of baby formula into Oz it was opened by customs and their hands went into the jar.

Naturally I binned it after that.

That was a while ago. Have the rules changed?

WimpleOfTheBallet · 13/02/2011 21:04

Really aged? I took tins in with me and they just nodded at them and let us through! This was 5 years ago.

Original poster
PurpleLostPrincess · 13/02/2011 21:53

Brilliant, some fabulous ideas here! I'm friends with his best friends Mum so I'll ask her what her sister misses most (yes, she is English and has lived there for about 7 years). I think I'll go with the magazines or smellies, or perhaps a sealed jar of marmite if she's a lover.

Once again, mn to the rescue - much appreciated! Smile

OP posts:
amistillsexy · 13/02/2011 22:00

If sealed jars/packets are allowed, how about English Breakfast tea, strawberry jam, and a recipe for scones or muffins?

Or this book is a fantastic collection of proper British recipes.

MsKLo · 13/02/2011 22:01

Lush smells are soooo lush!

iscream · 13/02/2011 22:01

I like nice tea towels. www.teatowelshop.co.uk/

MsKLo · 13/02/2011 22:03

I love that book amistillsexy!

And have you tried the 'baking made easy' book - it's brilliant too!

iscream · 13/02/2011 22:14

Oh, I like that book too.

onceamai · 13/02/2011 22:16

Really british smellies such as Crabtree and Evelyn

rightpissedoff · 13/02/2011 22:17

send a present, doesn't matter what. ..souvenir of england or something.. honeslty -- I've hosted and you don't care, you get some crap but it's really the thought that counts

also give a bit of money so that the child can buy flowers or teeny gift on the last day

it means a lot

PavlovtheCat · 13/02/2011 22:19

a jamie oliver cookbook might go down well. I say that as my MIL in USA (english) adores him and all his 'pukka' cooking!

sunnydelight · 13/02/2011 22:19

Lush stuff smells so strongly; does your DS want all his clothes to smell of it for two weeks? (you can get it here too anyway). If she is English I have only two words for you - English chocolate! (Do make sure you get your son to tick the box declaring it on his landing card though).

Carrotsandcelery · 13/02/2011 22:20

My friends in Oz miss Cadbury's chocolate and British crisps if that is any help at all.

lurkerspeaks · 13/02/2011 22:31

English or Scottish.

I've been buying lots of stuff from the textile designer Gillian kyle if it is the latter. She has a whole range of textiles emblazoned with Scottish food icons: tunnock tea cakes, pan bread and cremola foam included.

Carrotsandcelery · 13/02/2011 22:33

If they are Scottish then something lovely from the Ness range would probably go down very nicely.

QuintessentialShadows · 13/02/2011 22:37

oh dont get Lush, it smells cheap and horrible.

Go down to your local visitor attaction and get some nice Lavender Soaps, Lavender hand lotion, some nice melanine trays for serving tea.

Dont send tea. You brits dont know it, but you have a really poor selection of tea in the shops, much less than pretty much every where else in the world. All you have is twinnings earl grey, PG tips and typhoon. (speaking as somebody who lived in the uk for 17 years)
And dont send jam either, it will look SO patronizing.

Also, I agree with Crabtree & Evelyn. Also Occitane, or Neals Yard, or The Sanctuary, and Molton Brown are good ideas.

butternut234 · 13/02/2011 22:44

Definitely Neals Yard or Sanctuary stuff or similar- something you can't get here in Oz (and we have Lush. Crabtree & Evelyn shops...).

Def not tea and jam!!!!