Yes, we were tourists, and in that capacity we performed one of the tourist's primary, socially mandated functions: we sought out and purchased souvenirs to bring home from our travels! In the process, we toured some interesting market buildings and shopping districts in various cities and learned about products we hadn't encountered before. My personal favorite was possum-merino knitware in New Zealand: the wool is a blend of merino sheep wool and the fur of the common brushtail possum, an Australian species introduced to New Zealand in the early 1800s by Europeans which quickly became a devastating pest. These knit fabrics are beautiful and warm...and, with any luck, commercial demand will help decrease the overabundance of the possums!

Queen Victoria Market, Melbourne, is a multi-building sprawl	Queen Vic: farmer's market, flea market, fish market, butchers, and cheese mongers	Part of the decor of Melbourne's Royal Arcade
Night Market in Cairns is a warren of shops	Sydney's Queen Victoria historic building, now an upscale mall	Opal Museum and jewelry showroom in Sydney
Canoe at Te Puia Maori Arts and Crafts Institute, near Rotorua, NZ	Sock World and Sock Knitting Museum, Hokitika, NZ	Greenstone (New Zealand jade, nephrite, "Pounamu") in Hokitika
Possum People, Hokitika	Fern chair carved from felled tree, Queenstown	Jelly Belly portrait of Frodo at Skyline Queenstown
Statue in the MacKenzie Country honoring the importance of working dogs to NZ