Oops! Flown to Sydney ... but the one in Canada

Joannes Rutten and grandson Nick, snapped by the Cape Breton Post ... and the two Sydneys.

When Dutchman Joannes Rutten and his grandson boarded a Sydney-bound flight last week, they were looking forward to a few weeks' rest and relaxation Down Under.

Instead they were left scratching their heads when their plane touched down on an island off the north-eastern coast of Canada.

Sydney, Australia, they soon discovered, is a long way from Sydney, Nova Scotia.

The 71-year-old and his grandson Nick, 15, had booked the trip through a travel agent in Holland two months ago and were planning to visit family in Wollongong and Tallong, near Marulan, the Illawarra-Mercury reported.

They set out from Amsterdam's Schiphol airport with Air Canada on Saturday, but headed west instead of east. They were ushered onto a suspiciously small connecting flight in Halifax, Canada, before they realised their plans had gone awry.

Air Canada organised free hotel rooms in the wrong Sydney until they could arrange flights on to Australia.

The hapless travellers finally arrived in Australia on Wednesday, five days after setting off from Amsterdam. And to top things off, Joannes' bags have now gone missing.

Joannes' cousin Yvonne Wallace, from Wollongong, said the ordeal had left the travellers exhausted.

"They were just relieved and very, very grateful to arrive," Mrs Wallace said.

"I think it was quite an adventure for the 15-year-old. They're not seasoned travellers. Joannes was absolutely exhausted when he arrived."

Air Canada customer service representative Clare MacDougall was working at J.A. Douglas McCurdy Airport in Sydney, Nova Scotia when she heard about the pair's predicament.

"I met the aircraft. When the aircraft door opened, the flight attendant said 'You're not going to believe it but we have two people who thought they were en route to Sydney, Australia," she told the Cape Breton Post in Canada.

"They arrived with no Canadian money - they had all Australian money."

Tourism Australia launched an overseas marketing campaign in 2006 with the slogan: So where the bloody hell are you?

And it seems the Ruttens are not the only tourists to answer: We're in Canada.

In August 2002, British tourists Raeoul Sebastian and Emma Nunn spent their holidays in Nova Scotia after thinking they were flying to Australia.

And last year, Monique Rozanes Torres Aguero from Argentina thought she was in Australia after landing in Nova Scotia.

She decided to stay for a holiday after befriending a local woman at the airport.

Mrs Wallace said the Ruttens were now recovering from their around-the-world adventure in Tallong, but would visit Wollongong in the coming week.

"We will do all the normal sight-seeing things, and we are thinking about taking them to the Blue Mountains

Illawarra Mercury