State fair, Aussie style

A love of snow brought a pack of Aussies from their homes in Sydney to Canada. The lure of the fair brought them even farther north, however.

Back home in Sydney, Evan Gee, 21, and brothers Adam Palmano, 21, and David Palmano, 23, enjoy a life many Alaskans find foreign. When the surf is right, nothing beats grabbing a board and heading to the ocean for the three Aussies. But they also enjoy snow, and when it comes to 'boarding, it's a passion that took them thousands of miles from home."

"We've got a place to snowboard about five hours away from us at home," said David Palmano. "We take a week's holiday once a winter and go there."

Because of the limited opportunities to snowboard, and largely because of their sense of youthfulness and ambition, the three Aussies traveled to Canada in early May, where the three of them got the opportunity to snowboard in Whistler, British Columbia -- a skier's and snowboarder's heaven.

The plan was to work during the summer and make enough money so they could snowboard all winter. A note reminding Gee, buried in his organizer, to "ring Alaska" held just the ticket they needed to put some cash away.

"We came all the way from Whistler to go to Fairbanks to sell funnel cakes," Gee said. "And we didn't know what a funnel cake was, mate."

A friend of Gee's had worked with Aunt Linda's Funnel Cakes a few years ago while she was doing a similar tour of the world. She gave Gee Aunt Linda's phone number, and told him to ring her if they needed work. A few phone calls from Whistler to Wasilla, and the Aussies were on a bus ride and then a ferry.

Upon their arrival in Seward, they had no idea how they were going to get to Fairbanks in a timely manner. But not having a plan is exactly their plan.

"Everything has worked out beautifully," Adam Palmano said. "If we had a plan we had to follow, you know it wouldn't have worked out like it has."

As they were talking to a man from Pennsylvania right after getting off the ferry, they came to learn he was traveling alone and was headed to Fairbanks. In addition to himself and all of his gear, the three Aussies crammed themselves and all of their gear into a Honda Accord.

"We couldn't have fit one more thing in the car," David Palmano said.

They worked the Tanana Valley State Fair in Fairbanks, where their accents and personable nature led to them making more money than they expected. After seeing other workers at other booths putting out tip jars with sayings like "Starving college student" on them, they got their own idea. Their tip jar read "Beer fund. Aussies are thirsty." It worked like a charm.

"We were just being honest, mate," David Palmano said.

While in Fairbanks, the three men networked with other vendors, and lined up a week's worth of work in Palmer, helping set up booths. They also picked potatoes on a Palmer farm for a few days before the Alaska State Fair started Thursday.

After the fair, they are hoping to take down booths for a week or so, and then they will start thinking about how they are going to get back to Canada.

In a three-week span, they have seen all of Southeast Alaska by ferry, from Seward to Fairbanks on the road system, and spent two weeks in Wasilla and Palmer. They have seen more of Alaska than many residents have.

"The people are so friendly," Gee said. "Everywhere we go, people have been friendly."

And inquisitive. Just for the record, they say they put prawns, not shrimp, on the barbie, and no, they don't eat kangaroo steaks. And yes, if you ask them nicely, they will just talk to you, so you can hear their accents.

During their three weeks in Alaska, they have been asked just about every ridiculous question about Australia -- and those questions come from a group of people that get asked about igloos and the Iditarod every time they go on vacation to the Lower 48.

The Aussies are trying to line up a house to return to in Rosalind, Alberta, near Calgary, where they will spend this winter on the slopes, riding their snowboards and enjoying their year spent traveling the world.

One advantage they have is that their American dollars go a lot farther than their Australian dollars do once they get back to Canada.

While they are having a fun time visiting Canada and America, they think of home every now and then.

The brothers set their mother up with a computer, and they have been e-mailing her whenever possible, to let her know they are doing fine in North America. Gee also e-mails home regularly.

Using prepaid phone cards, they "ring" their home country about every two weeks, as well.