ALLORA and Argentina - the names both start and finish with the letter A but they are thousands of kilometres apart.

However, Allora has been fortunate in recent times to experience a little Argentine culture courtesy of Mana Iurinic, who has been calling the Best Little Town on the Downs home for the past two-and-a-half months.

Mana is one of the friendly faces with the bright smile many will be familiar with as the bar attendant at the Railway and Commercial Hotels.

The 29-year-old psychologist, from the far northern Argentinean city of Obera, is travelling the world on a working holiday.

Obera is in the province of Misiones, about 1150km north of Buenos Aires, near the Brazilian border. The city, which is also known as the City of the Churches since it features more than 30 churches belonging to various denominations, has a population of 61,700 inhabitants.

The region is predominantly agricultural, with timber among the leading industries.

Mana is enjoying her stay in Allora, as "the people are so friendly", but the time is fast approaching when she will embark on the next stage of her journey.

With her visa due to expire in March next year, Mana will enjoy Allora for another two or three weeks before heading north to experience the North Queensland coast and then south to Melbourne.

A graduate of the National University of Salta, Mana's parents are both dentists. She is the eldest of four sisters.

While more than 12,000km from home, Mana still manages to retain links with her culture.

Over a chat she enjoys a beverage common in her homeland made from the yerba plant, which is not unlike tea, and is consumed from a cup with a straw that has a strainer. The hot version of the drink is "mate", while when cold it is "terere". The plant is harvested similar to tea, taking only single new leaves.

Spanish is the main language in Argentina, but Mana and many of the younger people learn English, which is taught in schools in a basic form. She also used to attend additional English classes outside of school; something that has helped tremendously as she travels. After leaving behind her family and friends on her journey in March last year, Mana spent 13 months in New Zealand, which included three months travelling around both the North and South Islands before working for a transport company in Auckland.

Arriving in Australia in April, Mana worked in Sydney before venturing to Brisbane. She first saw a koala and kangaroo in Brisbane - animals she had never been aware of.

She found her way to Allora via a travel agency that places backpackers in employment, then headed to the Railway Hotel where she started bar work for the first time.

"The people was so welcoming, and Robyn, the staff and customers were more than patient," Mana said with a laugh.

"Given I had no experience whatsoever working in a hotel."

After nearly 20 months travelling, Mana has become accustomed to the backpacker way of life.

"If I don't like where I am I go elsewhere, no ties. It's actually exciting on the road, you never know what adventure lies ahead," she said.

Working six days a week keeps Mana quite busy, but spare time has her visiting Allora's pool and jogging, or dabbling in her hobby - photography.

Back home, when younger, she was a keen artistic rollerskater, and a swimmer with ability, winning awards at provincial level.

While Brazil and Argentina may be among the giants of the football world, the sport holds little interest for Mana.

"Stadiums are packed at games," she said.

"Unless you are a club member it's virtually impossible to gain entry."

Even though she is yet to experience attending a game, it's a place where one can experience so much passion and just hearing the people singing along, cheering their team on, gives spectators goosebumps.

In her next travel venture Mana hopes to have a family reunion.

She misses her family and three dogs, and after departing Australia she is heading to south-east Asia and plans to meet her mother in Thailand.

From there her sights are set on Europe and working in Denmark and Ireland.

Wherever the four winds take Mana her time in Allora will always be special.