We’d like a boat to Ayers Rock, please

Travel may broaden the minds of some, but for others it appears to turn their brains to mush.

An Australian tour operator has revealed some of the stupid questions from tourists planning trips to Australia and New Zealand.

One couple asked if they could have a room with an ocean view when they stayed at Uluru, or Ayers Rock, which sits in the middle of the desert, 700km from the nearest beach.

A Japanese couple who arrived at Sydney airport promptly hailed a cab and asked to be given a quick tour around Australia in the belief that it was a small island.

Among the other questions to have bewildered staff at the travel company, Australian Pacific Touring, were: "Where can I see hobbits in New Zealand?" and "Do they have a bridge so we can drive out to the Great Barrier Reef?"

Many of the queries arose from a shaky grasp of Australasian geography.

An American tourist asked if it would be possible to take a coach tour from Australia to New Zealand, presumably in some sort of amphibious vehicle.

Another visitor hoped to pick up a motor home in Auckland and drop it off a few weeks later in Darwin.

One particularly befuddled tourist asked: "Can you please take me around the date line, rather than over it, as it makes it a bit too confusing to calculate my arrival date."

Others assumed that Tasmania was an independent country and that they needed a passport to go there.

"It's amazing the things people ask," APT's Alice Kay said. "A few years ago a Japanese cyclist came to our office in Melbourne and asked for directions to Ayers Rock."