Hello all! Greetings from Sydney, Australia. I have been learning and will continue to learn about fountain pens via this lovely community. Everyone is supportive and has very good things to say! Thank you! According to http://www.melbpenshow.com.au/Ant&Art_page.pdf: "Australia has a small ‘pen population’. Fountain pen use in the UK and US equates to one in 25 to 30 of adult population. In Australia, fountain pen use equates to one in 120 of adult population. As a consequence, Australia has the smallest number of specialty pen retailers per capita, in the world. What follows is that Australians are not the modern pen manufacturers’ best friend!" It is nice to know that there is a global community of fountain pen enthusiasts. I'm aiming to get myself to the Melbourne Pen Show. Fingers crossed! This newbie thanks you all!