My wife and I joined a great bunch of Australians on their pilgrimage to Salt Lake City for Young Livings' Annual Convention 2006. Always a busy time, we ran around like chooks with our heads off, trying to maximise our time and talk to as many of the 3000 delegates as possible. Amazing how people are there one minute and then you can't find them for looking.

Suffice to say we had a wonderful time renewing old acquaintances and listening to some exciting information about the research Young Living has been doing and the amazing products they released.

Exhausted we climbed into Southwesterns flying cattle car and headed to LAX. From there another 10 hours to Nadi, Fiji with a six hour stop over while Air Pacific decided whether they would run the scheduled flight or not.

Three hours from Nadi to Neku Alofa, Tonga. And this is were the danger really begins.

So far we have traveled 27 hours including airport time. It's impossible to relax in airports so this time counts as traveling time. We were exhausted when we left LAX and comatose when we arrived in Neku Alofa.

The airport Neku Alofa looks like someone's garage. We line up like eager travelers, keen to get to our beds.

Whilst waiting in line, a customs officer was walking his Labrador dog around the terminal. I didn't think anything of it and when the dog jumped up on me and was just so friendly, I really thought Tongan dogs were just so 'nice'.

A little time latter the dog came back and again jumped up on me. I gave him a good scratch and a pat and waited my turn at immigration.

We collected our bags and continued to customs where they took very little interest in my luggage. I was about to walk off, when the officer who was taking the dog for a walk, asked me to step aside and go with him into a side room.

Remember we've been traveling for 27 hours...once in the room, a dingy sort of store room with two other burly Tongans, he asked me to kindly remove my clothes as the lovely dog I patted was actually a drug sniffer dog and it had singled me our as some heavy duty drug smuggler or such.

In total disbelief I did as they requested although they had to specifically ask me to remove my underwear.

Of course they didn't find anything...but...I did have two bottles of oil in my pocket and I believe it was they that the dog smelt and was so obviously confused about.

So, if you travel with essential oils in your pocket, be very careful as there is some danger attached. And lastly, don't pat the dog...serious mistake!

Noel Cunnington