Welcome to Perth, Australia's prank that made the rounds on the web
Flights resume with some frequency, and there are those who take the opportunity to give and treat themselves to a good laugh. È [...]
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Flights resume with some frequency, and some people take the opportunity to give and treat themselves to a good laugh. That's when it happened in Australia, where a few Sydney-bound passenger will have come a-knock looking outside from their porthole. What many people could see, in fact, is a giant white sign camping on a private structure: "Welcome to Perth". Someone must surely have squinted, with a confused expression. Here is everything the author of the joke, which went viral, hoped would happen.
Welcome to Perth
The owner of the warehouse on which the giant white sign was made is also the author of the prank. His name is Brad Heasman, who in a short time found himself managing great popularity. In fact, his story quickly went viral thanks to some in-flight shots taken by curious and amused passengers.
A stroke of genius that prompted "Traveller" to investigate, locate the author and interview him. The man explained the inspiration for the gesture as follows, "Our facility is located directly below the flight path and we always see a large number of planes above us. That's how it occurred to me to get a good paddle. Why not?"
A golden opportunity to prank, potentially, thousands of passengers. A job well done, for which he also invested some money. In fact, he hired a local company of painters, Speedy Painters, requesting from them a giant sign, "Welcome to Perth."
Heasman explained that he had worked with the company before and that the company's owner simply loved the idea. It was a meeting of pranksters, resulting in an epic prank. The same paint that is used for road signs on asphalt was exploited for the lettering. A way to make sure it was clearly noticed from above.
Welcome to Cleveland
The idea of exploiting one's position on a famous air route is not totally new. In fact, Brad Heasman explained that he was inspired by an identical prank developed in the United States. L'artist Mark Gubbins decided to mock passengers heading to Milwaukee by painting the roof of his own house with an inscription: "Welcome to Cleveland". It was 1978.
So history repeats itself, but this time there are social media to gather the amused reactions of many passengers: "I'm just the kind of person who can get some sleep, just five minutes, before landing. This writing woke me up suddenly, leaving me confused and scared. Bravo." Another commented instead, "I remember seeing that writing. I had a heart attack because I was just coming from Perth."
Flying to Australia
With summer advancing and vacation cravings, some people may be seriously considering the possibility of Treat yourself to a dream trip to Australia. What, to date, is the situation on the other side of the world?
This land has not been exempt from Covid-19, with just over 30 thousand registered cases and 5.2 million vaccines administered out of a population just over 25 million. The government allows everyone to get their dose free of charge, even travelers on temporary visas, as long as there is availability.
As of today, it is possible to apply for the eVisitor Australia visa, dedicated to business and tourist travel. However, the entry ban. This means that the requests are currently left pending. Even if they are processed, it will be necessary to wait before the next trip. It is valid for one year, so requesting it now in anticipation of a future trip could be convenient in terms of the waiting list.
While it is true that entry into the country is prohibited, it should be noted that there are three exceptions:
- Australian residents (citizenship or permanent visa)
- immediate family members of Australian citizens or permanent residents
- People of New Zealand nationality who reside in Australia and those who have been in New Zealand at least 14 days before traveling to Australia
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