Posted Apr 26, 2007, 9:50 pm
my name is Alpina. I am a model, all my life revolves around fashion. My greatest success so far was modeling for a wall paint - they even named their paint after me! My dream is to be named in one line with Claudia Schiffer and Naomi Campbell.
Posted Apr 27, 2007, 4:21 pm
Posted Apr 29, 2007, 9:51 pm
Posted May 1, 2007, 2:39 pm
Posted May 1, 2007, 2:48 pm
Posted May 7, 2007, 11:05 pm
Posted May 7, 2007, 11:11 pm
Well, I had to leave most of the stuff behind but Pandamao gave me a nice necklace as a farewell gift to remember my Munich home town. I think the blue stones really bring out the color of my eyes.
Posted May 8, 2007, 11:12 pm
Posted Jun 5, 2007, 4:04 pm
Here I am in France !!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have no picture yet, but there should come soon!!
I just wanted to reassure all my fans by saying I was well arrived.
I began to visit the countryside with my host who is very pleasant !!! (but I have to tell you something -in a murmur- this girl is very far from fashion victim !!! My god !!! I don't really know where she founds her clothes!!! it will be a pleasure for me to try to revamp her!!! (If I manage!))
Anyway ... The positive thing is called : Romeo !!! a beautiful white and red -but taciturn- boy... I'll tell you more next time!
Posted Jun 18, 2007, 1:35 pm
Posted Jun 18, 2007, 1:56 pm
Mood lives close to Toulouse, called "the pink town" because of the colour of the bricks used to build the houses and monuments. They call it the "red gold" of Toulouse, and the town is very nice!
For example, here are some pictures of the Laréole castle (about 30 km north from Toulouse).
Posted Jun 18, 2007, 2:10 pm
Don't you think it is a good place for future fashion shows???
Posted Jun 18, 2007, 2:19 pm
Posted Jun 18, 2007, 2:24 pm
(you can see how hypnotised we were!!!)
Posted Jun 18, 2007, 2:29 pm
He studies fashion story at the university, and knows many anecdotes about fashion...
Posted Jun 18, 2007, 3:38 pm
Posted Jun 18, 2007, 3:42 pm
Posted Jun 18, 2007, 3:47 pm
Posted Jun 18, 2007, 3:49 pm
Posted Jun 18, 2007, 3:58 pm
Posted Jun 18, 2007, 4:07 pm
We talk together a moment, his name is Sebastien, he was here by accident ... was just wandering then Stripy called him and gave him his adress because "he was interested with his look" as he would have say ...
(I hope Stripy does not imagine that THIS one could be my saviour !!!)
Posted Jun 18, 2007, 4:15 pm
And I think the white outfit would be great for me, don't you agree ???
Posted Jul 2, 2007, 5:22 pm
For example here's a picture of her kind of shoes ... (Stripy took the picture secretly before she comes back home ...) We have decided it was time to revamp her!!
We are the taste police, and we keep an eye open !!
Posted Jul 2, 2007, 5:30 pm
You can't imagine how excited I was to see all this parisian labels, so I asked Stripy to immortalize this moment ...
Posted Jul 2, 2007, 5:32 pm
Posted Jul 2, 2007, 5:35 pm
Posted Jul 2, 2007, 5:38 pm
Posted Jul 2, 2007, 5:43 pm
Posted Jul 2, 2007, 5:48 pm
Posted Jul 2, 2007, 5:58 pm
First he took my measurements (you can see his couture material on the left), then he created this necklace for me...
Posted Jul 2, 2007, 6:00 pm
Posted Jul 2, 2007, 6:02 pm
Posted Jul 2, 2007, 6:09 pm
Posted Jul 2, 2007, 6:12 pm
Posted Jul 2, 2007, 6:18 pm
So we began with clothing vocabulary of course!
Posted Jul 2, 2007, 6:23 pm
I really enjoyed this strawberry pie!!!! (and here I was waiting for Stripy who couldn't manage to focus on the strawberry pie ...look at the chantilly completely flat!!!!)
Posted Jul 2, 2007, 6:27 pm
Posted Jul 2, 2007, 6:31 pm
Foxforce told us about her last trips ... She went to the Machu Pichu in Perou !!! I've never been so far ... but my journey is not over!
Posted Jul 3, 2007, 1:34 pm
You can rent barges, but we just walked along ... here is a map of the Canal (if you look attentively, you will find St Orens, on the east of Toulouse)
Posted Jul 3, 2007, 1:42 pm
Posted Jul 3, 2007, 1:46 pm
Posted Jul 3, 2007, 1:53 pm
Posted Jul 3, 2007, 2:06 pm
You have to be the first to cover a distance of thousand kilometres, and of course, by preventing the others to win!!! (you can restric speed or provoke break down and etc ...)
Sebastien named this game "the official toy voyager game" !!!
Look at Foxforce, she's got the puncture card in her hand...!!! (but I've got the right of way card !!! Nothing can stop me!)
Posted Jul 3, 2007, 2:11 pm
We will just cross each other because tonight is my last night with Fox Force, Sebastien, Dottie Grace and Mood ...
Tomorrow I will continue my journey with Mistigree ...
Posted Jul 11, 2007, 8:23 pm
It's now one week since I've been living with Mistigree. When I first saw where I had to sleep, I thought I had fallen into an ambush... A zebra pouf and a skincow cushion for bed...!! I was sure that Mistigree had her eye on my immaculate white fur !!!! But she explained me that those zebra and cow skins were only imitation and that I had nothing to fear for my fur as she won't manufacture a catskin coat with it !!
Posted Jul 11, 2007, 9:10 pm
Posted Jul 11, 2007, 9:52 pm
The brand of Mistigree's bike is "Louison Bobet". She told me he was a famous French racing cyclist, who won 3 times the "Tour de France" in the 50's !!
Posted Jul 11, 2007, 10:55 pm
Then we went to Dior... I was filled with admiration for all those jewellery and I was thinking that maybe Mistigree would buy me something, but when we looked at the prices, it was tremendous !!!! For exemple a little necklace was costing more than the amount that Mistigree earns in a year at her work !!!!
Posted Jul 15, 2007, 7:42 pm
In this café, there was an old dummy wearing old French barman clothes, made up of a white jacket and a green apron.
Posted Jul 15, 2007, 8:11 pm
I'm going to send my curriculum vitae to François Fraissard, the manufacturer, as I'm sure I would be a perfect model for his further advertising campaign !
Posted Jul 19, 2007, 12:15 am
I discovered this bottle of " S a v o n d e M a r s e i l l e " in Mistigree's bathroom. She told me it was manufactured in South-East of France, in Provence, and that it should be good for my skin and not irritant at all, so I'm going to try it ! That one contains lavender essential oil, but Mistigree thinks the original and real " S a v o n d e M a r s e i l l e " has no fragrance at all.
Posted Jul 19, 2007, 12:54 pm
Here in France, when Mistigree can not ride her bicycle because of the weather (too windy or too hot), I'm condemned to take the tube !! Hopefully, as Toulouse is not a big city as Paris, the tube is quite small, clean, and new. There are only 2 lines, and the second one has just opened 15 days ago !
But what a pity that the colours of the seats and of the tube itself are so gaudy !!!
Posted Jul 19, 2007, 1:23 pm
In the corner of the map, you can read TOLOSA. It is the name for Toulouse, but being written in "Occitan", a local and old patois. You can also see the coat of arms of Toulouse, which is made of : a lamb, two monuments (Château Narbonnais & Basilique Saint-Sernin), the key of Toulouse, the "Croix Occitane" (the red and yellow cross) and some "Fleurs de lys"
Posted Jul 19, 2007, 1:34 pm
Posted Jul 19, 2007, 1:57 pm
This picture represents a Middle-Age painting, I was so amazed and surprised to see how Middle-Age people were dressed !! and this old man seems to look at me so strangely !
Here is a room called "salle des mariages" where people can get married and the wedding's hosts can seat on those charming red armchairs !
Posted Jul 19, 2007, 2:35 pm
Here is the gate.
I thought there would be a groom to open the door to me, but I waited in vain and nobody came at all, so I pushed this heavy door by myself and entered into the hotel.
Mistigree asked if we could visit the hall and take a picture and the woman at the reception desk said yes. She even asked Mistigree -talking of me- "is she traveling ?"
The hall was big, with heavy curtains, big chandeliers, and beautiful blue sofas.
Posted Jul 19, 2007, 2:53 pm
Posted Jul 19, 2007, 3:49 pm
Posted Jul 19, 2007, 4:00 pm
Posted Jul 19, 2007, 4:36 pm
Posted Jul 20, 2007, 11:23 pm
In fact, Mistigree explained me it was "the Bastille day" in France (that means the national day of the country), and that day is celebrated with police and military march pasts and fireworks at night. So we stayed and watched the "défilé" (as they say here). There was a fanfare that was playing too. Mistigree did not succeed in taking any pictures during the march for 3 reasons :
1. She tried once but her camera did not want too (batteries on their end !)
2. She had to handle FoxForce and Dottie Grace who were there too.
3. She seemed to be a little ashamed to be there as she's not fond of patriotic things, so she prefered not to get noticed on that very serious and formal day and wanted to remain incognito.
When the défilé was over and everybody scatterred, we had a look on the tier of seats (now empty) in front of where the fanfare was playing. There were sheets of paper on the seats, indicating who had to seat there (there were local politicians, compagny directors, ex-servicemen etc...). So I decided to seat where Mistigree's big boss had seated just before !! There was also a big banderole with the French colours !
Posted Jul 21, 2007, 10:01 pm
Posted Jul 21, 2007, 10:33 pm
There was also an exhibition about the way "Toulousaines" women were dressed from 1780 to 1880. It had nothing to deal with the way women are dressed nowadays !
Unfortunately, it was forbidden to take pictures with flash, so Mistigree just took this picture of me in the clock room who was brighter than the others rooms. I liked a lot this clock and the mirror behind it. All those gildings made me think of Château de Versailles !
Posted Jul 21, 2007, 10:43 pm
Posted Jul 21, 2007, 11:15 pm
Finally I did not chose a viewcard of Toulouse, but a card with an old French "Parfumerie" advertising on it !! (...poor quality picture...Mistigree's camera's batteries again...). Then I went to the post office and bought a heart shaped stamp designed by Givenchy !!
My card was then ready to be mailed and I hope that Pandamao will receive it very soon !! I miss her !!
Posted Jul 21, 2007, 11:42 pm
The letters ST that you can see mean 'Stade Toulousain" which is the name of the team.
I must confess we didn't stay a lot here because Mistigree doesn't care about rugby at all... and nor do I !!!
Posted Jul 22, 2007, 9:00 pm
As I made some progress in French, I asked the ticket by myself at the "billetterie". I was so pround to see that the woman did well understand what I was asking for !!
This museum contains Asiatic and Egyptian pieces (I even saw a mummy !)...Of course the flash was forbidden and the rooms too dark, so here is only one picture of me inside the museum, posing with Buddha.
Posted Jul 22, 2007, 9:58 pm
Posted Jul 22, 2007, 10:25 pm
Posted Aug 7, 2007, 10:15 pm
I met a nice dog here, really kind to me... but he was a little stinking...and no perfumery in the village...
Then I met a cat who was relaxing on the balcony, but I think I disturbed him while he was sleeping and therefore he was not very talkative... Mistigree told me there was another cat, but I did not see him, cause during summer he spends his days sleeping in the corn fields and only comes at night to eat !!!
Posted Aug 7, 2007, 10:26 pm
However, the old white and orange rabbit frightened me a little because of his white eyes... Mistigree explained me he was so old that he became blind.
Posted Aug 7, 2007, 10:42 pm
Posted Aug 7, 2007, 10:44 pm
Indeed, 2 ToyVoyagers were waiting for us : Muki and Luffy !!
Posted Aug 7, 2007, 11:02 pm
Remember, I had sewed something some days ago... It was a Jean-Paul Gaultier's bra, similar as the one he made for Madonna herself !!!
Everybody was so impressed by my beauty that they decided to elect me as Miss Elegance !!
Posted Aug 11, 2007, 12:33 am
Posted Sep 26, 2007, 5:52 am
She has said that on the weekend she will show me some of Australia's finest designers but first I needed to rest from my journey.
Stef being a good host and knowing how much I adore fashion put the TV on the FTV channel (Fashion TV).
Later we watched a program called '10 Years Younger', where they find a person and get 100 people to guess their age. They then make them over and get another person to guess their age. This poor women was 51 and first people had her average age at 59 but after the makeover, her average age was 45 years old.
Its just proves what the right fashion can do for you.
Posted Sep 26, 2007, 6:00 am
I first met her dog, Angel (she wishes) who tried to lick me and Stef had to save me from getting all dirty and wet.
Some people have no manners and respect for someone as pretty as me.
Next I met Puss-Puss. Somebody needed to tell her that Black was so last years colour. But she does have the nicest Green eyes that I have seen.
Posted Oct 8, 2007, 4:58 am
Our first stop however was to Castlereagh Street, which is home to the more up market International Designers, such as Gucci, Chanel & Louis Vuitton to name a few.
But the main reason that Stef brought me here was for the Tiffany & Co, as she knew that one of my mission was to visit their New York and this would give me a taste of what it was like.
Tiffany's is were Stef's engagement ring was brought and she let me try it on to experience wearing jewelery of such divine taste.
Posted Oct 9, 2007, 7:15 am
The arcade was open in 1892 and is now home to some of Sydney's most fashionable stores and many of Australia's top designer labels.
Designers' Store we visited were:
Alex Perry
(www.alexperry.com.au)
He is Australia's Premier Couturier and has dressed
*Elle McPherson
*Linda Evangelista
*Eva Longoria (Desperate Housewives)
*Claudia Schiffer (very exciting to hear)
*Jennifer Lopez &
*Nelly Furtado
Alannah Hill,
(www.alannahhill.com.au)
who is described to have a 'intensely feminine label'
We couldn't miss not noticing her store as you can see.
Posted Oct 9, 2007, 7:27 am
Zimmermann
(www.zimmermannwear.com)
Which was started by sisters, Nicky & Simone in 1991. They design both Clothing & Swinwear.
Wayne Cooper
(www.waynecooper.com.au)
Who has dresses
*Linda Evangelista
*Paris Hilton &
*Eva Herzigora
The last designer that Stef took me to was
Lisa Ho
(www.lisaho.com)
Lisa has been in the industry for 24 years and is the most recognised brand in Australia.
She has dressed
*Nicole Scherzinger (from the PussyCat Dolls)
*Carmen Electra
*Tyra Banks
*Elle MacPherson &
*Jennifer Lopez
I was very disappointed that I could afford to buy any of their clothes but I will keep them in mind when I become famous.
gotham.city@bigpond.com
Posted Nov 7, 2007, 2:46 am
There's not even a grocery store here, let alone a fashion boutique! What am I doing here?!
Thank goodness I have some other travellers to talk to. Flora is a female too and understands the need for the finer things in life!
Strider apparently is one of my biggest admirers which is always a pleasant thing
I will say that Nik knows how to treat modelling royalty however!
I was tired after my trip from Sydney in that cramped box (No attendants! No in-flight movie! No pampering!) so Nik had prepared a lovely bath for me, along with some bubble bath and scented oils.
And after that relaxing soak I was shown to my private quarters for a short beauty sleep...
gotham.city@bigpond.com
Posted Nov 7, 2007, 2:55 am
Nik tells me the Melbourne Cup is Australia's biggest, most important horse race. It's known as, "The race that stops the nation"!
Nik explained that it's called that because that's just what it does. Just about every Aussie stops what he or she is doing at 3pm on the first Tuesday in Novemmber to watch the race.
Workplaces have office sweeps (you pay $1 or $2 and you get a random horse, and if it wins or places you get a prize!)
I was most interested in the fashions the ladies wear to the races, especially their gaudy hats!
It was too late for me to find my own hat, but Floralent me her pretty tail flowers, and they looked great on me, don't you think?
We had a little celebratory drink and finger food before the big race...
gotham.city@bigpond.com
Posted Nov 7, 2007, 2:58 am
gotham.city@bigpond.com
Posted Nov 7, 2007, 3:01 am
We watched closely to spot our horses...
gotham.city@bigpond.com
Posted Nov 7, 2007, 3:08 am
We held our breaths as the horses began racing...
gotham.city@bigpond.com
Posted Nov 7, 2007, 3:10 am
This is the winner: Efficient. With a name like that one wonders why Nik didn't pick him!
gotham.city@bigpond.com
Posted Dec 17, 2007, 2:23 pm
And I might add, in the wet - my paws DO NOT go in water!
I demanded private transportation, but Nik said if I wanted to come, I would have to be happy for her to carry me.
I relented.
This...building...with its dubious artwork, turns out to be nothing more than a public restroom!
gotham.city@bigpond.com
Posted Dec 17, 2007, 2:27 pm
gotham.city@bigpond.com
Posted Dec 17, 2007, 2:30 pm
Still, it has some nice old buildings, and these charming working lamps.
I watched from a relatively dry spot while Nik and the others released Ziggy.
gotham.city@bigpond.com
Posted Dec 17, 2007, 2:33 pm
gotham.city@bigpond.com
Posted Dec 22, 2007, 8:17 am
I was quite offended at the thought. And besides, a mouse that size would ruin my waistline!
gotham.city@bigpond.com
Posted Dec 22, 2007, 8:19 am
gotham.city@bigpond.com
Posted Dec 22, 2007, 8:20 am
We took a group photo under Nik's nan's tree, and peeked at the presents! I know what Nik's nan is getting for Xmas now
gotham.city@bigpond.com
Posted Dec 22, 2007, 8:22 am
We all watched for awhile, but it's kind of boring!
Australia won the match, by the way, so Nik was happy!
A note to Australian and New Zealand officials: the uniforms are a hideous fashion disaster!
gotham.city@bigpond.com
Posted Dec 22, 2007, 8:25 am
(The heat is playing havoc with my beautiful fur)
So guess what - she made us some pretend snow to play with!
It's called D'Ziner snow. It's like a florist's gel, but it really looks like snow. We had more than you can see here but it was so hot it started melting!
It felt very strange playing with "snow" under the shade of a big tree in 35 degree heat!
We tried making a snowman, but, well, as you can see, December in Australia is not kind to snowmen...even made from pretend snow!
I wasn't too upset however...my paws were already dirty enough, and I couldn't wait to have a long, cool bath.
gotham.city@bigpond.com
Posted Dec 22, 2007, 3:18 pm
gotham.city@bigpond.com
Posted Dec 22, 2007, 3:20 pm
gotham.city@bigpond.com
Posted Dec 22, 2007, 3:21 pm
That's the ongoing Sydney Versus Melbourne conflict I've heard about!
gotham.city@bigpond.com
Posted Dec 22, 2007, 3:23 pm
gotham.city@bigpond.com
Posted Dec 22, 2007, 3:24 pm
gotham.city@bigpond.com
Posted Dec 22, 2007, 3:25 pm
gotham.city@bigpond.com
Posted Dec 24, 2007, 1:23 pm
Nik took us to see some of Stroud's Xmas lights tonight. It was wonderful - a full moon and a warm night. Feels strange to be experiencing a warm Christmas!
The lights are hard to photograph, but we got this one of Australia's famous "Six White Boomers"
A boomer is another name for a big male kangaroo, and in Australia Santa's sleigh is pulled by six snow-white kangaroos!
gotham.city@bigpond.com
Posted Dec 31, 2007, 2:59 am
Santa found us!
gotham.city@bigpond.com
Posted Dec 31, 2007, 3:00 am
gotham.city@bigpond.com
Posted Dec 31, 2007, 3:01 am
gotham.city@bigpond.com
Posted Feb 17, 2008, 3:59 am
She is staying in Orange with Luke until Sara returns home from her trip overseas.
sara.ringham@gmail.com
Posted Mar 11, 2008, 10:15 am
This is a photo just by itself, the little penninsula sticking out is actually the airport runway, so we got to watch some planes landing and taking off it was quite interesting...
What's even more interesting is... this plane was the plane Sara arrived on from South Korea, same flight, only returning back to South Korea. It was interesting to watch the plane that had only just arrived, seeing it take off back again... how cool is that?
We took a bit longer on the road and we got to one of the proper beaches, we had to go to the beaches with the shark nets, we stopped at the first one and had a bit of a dip (well I didn't, I don't like the water!) in the Kyeemagh Baths...
Here are all of us on the beach...
...and here I am out in the water, Sara was holding me because she knows I don't like the water, it wouldn't be good for my fur!
Here are some seagulls, there we're quite a lot of them really!..
We took another bit of a drive down the beach to the next bit of the shark nets, and we even got to see the Sydney skyline... as you can see, even for a Monday morning there we're a lot of people at the beach... and this is just where we were...
...another 2'ish hours later we we're on the road to Orange, which most definately is not coastal... so no more pretty beaches, but that doesn't worry me too much... but we stopped off in the Blue Mountains and got to see the famous Three Sisters...
There were lots and lots of people sightseeing there when we all visited there... but we got in and got out pretty quick, we all just were very tired and wanted to get home!
sara.ringham@gmail.com
Posted Mar 11, 2008, 10:57 am
...and when we got home we met up with another toyvoyager, Mulalu how exciting, he came all the way from South Africa, so we had a group photo together, now I can also introduce you to all the other toyvoyagers that have been visiting with Sara..
From left to right it's Mulalu, Luke[tv], [tv]Mel, Cronus, me of course, Leo Lion, Benni, and Charity Bear... the walrus, lobster and turtle are soon to be toyvoyagers... :-)
Pretty soon we'll be saying goodbye to Benni, Cronus and Charity Bear as they continue their travels around the world! :-) We're going back to Blayney tomorrow so we'll have a bit more of a sight see through the small little town. :-)
sara.ringham@gmail.com
Posted Mar 14, 2008, 7:10 am
We went to Blayney, we've been going everyday to feed the animals at Sara's father-in-law's house... no photos with those animals though they're too crazy. But we stopped to see the local emu, we're not sure if he's a wild one, or someone owns him... but we think he just got stuck in the paddock since he was younger, he comes and goes... he's SO big though...
Next stop, our destination... something kinda unique about this though is - it's one of four Marsden cottages they were built for the workers of the wealthy Marsden family. They're listed on the national trust and heritage as historically important. The house in front of me is the one that's most intact and in best condition of the three of them and has most of the original everything that was originally in the house. The house was built in the mid 1870's. We heard a lot of stories from Sara about some spooky stuff that's happened there, she lived there for 10 months with her father-in-law before moving to Orange in May 2006...
Animals are fed... so next stop... Church Hill...
Church hill is a large hill in the middle of town, so Sara got some photos of Blayney from a bit higher elevation... it was a nice clear and hot day so we didn't spend too much time there before moving on...
We had to also say goodbye to Cronus he's off to Costa Rica, how exciting!...
...and then we had a chance to do a mystery shop with Sara and Daniel... we "shopped" a petrol station... and had to do a report on our findings... there was a lot of information to write down... we all helped how we could...
Then we got to visit a pet store and pick out two little mice, Sara has three other mice that are a little bit bigger so we've been having trouble introducing them together, but slowly but surely they're starting to get introduced one at a time... introducing... Pancake and Waffles...
It's been a long day though, I'll have more to update with what happened on Friday, you'll just have to wait and see, it won't take too long! :-)
sara.ringham@gmail.com
Posted Mar 14, 2008, 7:40 am
Here's a picture of me next to the statue in memory of him...
...and here's the sign from underneath the statue...
The important part of this sign says "The bricks in this plinth are from the original templer's mill that stood on this site during the time of Banjo's birth. The mill was demolished in 1971."
Here's the sign in front of the ruins of the templer's mill:
...and a close up of the sign and what the sign says...
We even then went and saw another sign in memory to Banjo Patterson...
...then last of all before we left, we actually got to sit on the ruins of the mill...
As we left, we all got to learn the words of the famous Australian song... "Waltzing Matilda"...
Once a jolly swagman camped by a billabong,
Under the shade of a coolibah tree,
And he sang as he watched and waited 'til his billy boiled
"Who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me?"
Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me"
And he sang as he watched and waited 'til his billy boiled,
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me".
Down came a jumbuck to drink at the billabong,
Up got the swagman and grabbed him with glee,
And he sang as he stowed that jumbuck in his tucker bag,
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me".
Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me"
And he sang as he stowed that jumbuck in his tucker bag,
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me".
Down came the squatter, mounted on his thoroughbred,
Up came the troopers, one, two, three,
"Where's that jolly jumbuck you've got in your tucker bag?"
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me".
Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me"
"Who's that jolly jumbuck you've got in your tucker bag?",
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me".
Up got the swagman and jumped into the billabong,
"You'll never catch me alive," said he,
And his ghost may be heard as you passed by that billabong,
"Who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me?"
Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
Who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me
And his ghost may be heard as you passed by that billabong,
"Who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me?"
Under the shade of a coolibah tree,
And he sang as he watched and waited 'til his billy boiled
"Who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me?"
Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me"
And he sang as he watched and waited 'til his billy boiled,
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me".
Down came a jumbuck to drink at the billabong,
Up got the swagman and grabbed him with glee,
And he sang as he stowed that jumbuck in his tucker bag,
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me".
Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me"
And he sang as he stowed that jumbuck in his tucker bag,
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me".
Down came the squatter, mounted on his thoroughbred,
Up came the troopers, one, two, three,
"Where's that jolly jumbuck you've got in your tucker bag?"
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me".
Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me"
"Who's that jolly jumbuck you've got in your tucker bag?",
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me".
Up got the swagman and jumped into the billabong,
"You'll never catch me alive," said he,
And his ghost may be heard as you passed by that billabong,
"Who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me?"
Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
Who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me
And his ghost may be heard as you passed by that billabong,
"Who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me?"
...then on the way back from our stop in Blayney we got to see John Lister's grave...
He's the first person to find gold in Australia in 1851... he's buried in Millthorpe, a tiny town 10 minutes towards Orange from Blayney with a population of only around 800 people....
When we got home... Sara showed us a $10. note, it features Banjo Patterson... that shows how famous of an Australian he is... so how cool to see and learn more about him... today was another huge day, and it was again, so hot... we're hoping for a cool down soon since we're almost a month into autumn now... well time to rest for a while... I'll post again very soon! :-)
sara.ringham@gmail.com
Posted Mar 20, 2008, 8:46 am
Have fun Leo Lion!
sara.ringham@gmail.com
Posted Mar 20, 2008, 9:10 am
...and Sara says Easter is coming... :-) How fun! :-)
sara.ringham@gmail.com
Posted Mar 29, 2008, 7:31 am
Here's me with the mice, you can see one of the baby mice (they're all female) on the bottom right hand side of the door, that's Waffles. :-) There's 4 others, another baby called Pancakes, and three adult females called Moo, Charlotte and Little Foot. They're all SO cute!
Here's a close-up of Waffles, I couldn't be in the picture since that would scare her away... she's a very social mouse. :-)
Next stop I got to see the fish, most of the fish are swordtails, platties, one guppy and various danios. Sara also has a huge suckerfish which you can see at the bottom of the tank, he's sucking on the drift wood. There's lots and lots of baby platties that are just big enough to be in the big tank now, it's pretty cool t see them! All the platties look the same though, hehe. :-)
...and last but not least, here is what we've been listening too since we got here... the birds...
I couldn't get photos with all the birds because they're not used to me being this close so they get scared easily... and I'll tell you why a bit later... but here's the type of birds in the cage...
There are three diamond doves, all of which are pictured here... they make sounds like "who-hooo" it's pretty cute and they usually only do it at night time. Sara says they're the smallest dove in the world. There not much bigger than any of these finches. They're names are Silver, Bluey and Gumby.
There are three pairs of Gouldian finches. Most of them are red faced and yellow faced. No black faced gouldians (which are the most common suprisingly)... this is one of the males. They're called Mr. Colors, Tweet, Twiddle, Bunyip, Puggles, Grimey (think the Simpsons).
There's a pair of spice finches, which are also called 'nutmeg' finches. The mating call is almost silent and it is a strange sound towards the end I don't know how to describe it. But they're called Pepper and Paprika.
There's 5 pairs of star finches, this is a red faced male, there's also yellow faced star finches. Sara has a unique one that has an entirely different song than the others, that makes him the head of the whole aviary... they're called Peep, Dotty, Spots, Mr. Peep, Prickles, Goo, Stars, Comet, and two red females which are unnamed as of yet. :-)
I have pairs of zebra finches... this will come into more detail later... but their names are Mr. Zebra, Frank, Squeak, Bell Beep (which was supposed to be a female - but obviously isn't), Meep, and another unnamed female... so obviously not all paired up, but Sara can't get anymore at the moment, and this is why...
...and this is why, you can see Bell Beep (the one that was supposed to be female but obviously a male - his plumage is just coming in)... one of the female yellow stars on the top of the nest, and the unnamed female zebra in the nest... she's "warning" the other birds to get away - because she had 4 eggs she's been sitting on for the last few days... so hopefully we'll have some babies soon! :-)
...and last but not least, the newest addition to the finch family is the owl finches... they're very good birds to adapt into a mixed aviary, as with the spice finches, so they've all bonded quite well with the stars especially, which is good since they're the leading group of finches in the cage... the owl finches are called owlie and owllet. :-)
Hopefully this week we're going to Cook Park and Mount Canobolas, the extinct volcano 20 minutes from here.... :-) We'll see how this next week goes! :-)
Posted Apr 4, 2008, 3:36 am
I arrived safely today at Kylie's house. I was met by some toy voyagers who she already had at home - Charity Bear, Benni and Phillip Grammy. We're having a toy toyager party here!
I hope to have heaps of fun here, and will send another message in the next couple of days!
Posted Apr 5, 2008, 8:49 am
There was a bit of a carnival thing happening while we were there, with 2 HUGE jumping castles, face painting, plaster painting, and lots of yummy food for sale like corn on the cob and fairy floss.
The Entrance is famous in Australia for it's pelican feeding every day. We all went down to the water (not too close!) and had a look at these big funny looking birds!
This is the information about the feeding on the website:
| Quote: |
| Pelican Feeding is the Central Coast's most popular tourist attraction and operates 3.30pm daily, 365 days a year come rain, hail or shine.
The pelican feeding attracts tens of thousands of families back to The Entrance where they get an entertaining and educated commentary about the pelicans, bird and marine life and general information about the area. Just over twenty years ago, the pelican feeding started by accident when staff from a local fish and chip shop would throw out scraps. It became such a ritual that whenever the staff were late in throwing their scraps out, the pelicans would cross the road and come up to the shop to be fed. One of the main objectives of the pelican feed is to keep an eye on the pelican's medical conditions as many have hooks and lines tangles up in their gullets, wings and other parts of their body. The feed is a chance for the co-ordinator to assess their well being. It's certainly an amusing show to come and see. At least 1 or 2 birds a week are removed from the water and sometimes the outcome is bad for the injured birds but most times its just a simple extraction of a hook and they are on their way. The Entrance has now been internationally recognised as 'The Pelican Capital of Australia' and we want you to be part of it. So when you visit us at The Entrance be sure to wander down to the pelican pavilion on the foreshore for an experience you will treasure. The Pelican Feed is proudly sponsored by local businesses within and around the Central Coast and if it wasn't for their support and enthusiasm it wouldn't be as successful as it is today. |
We all got our photo taken in front of a sign showing how far some of the nearest places overseas are! Boy Australia is a long way away from anywhere else!
When we got home we found there was a bush fire on the hill near Kylie's house. Bush fires are very common in Australia Kylie tells me. Even though we've had a good season so far, the fires can still be bad!
Posted Apr 28, 2008, 12:25 am
We were able to get out of the house though to go to The Entrance today. I had yummy fish and chips (although a pelican wanted to eat it first).
We also fed the seagulls. They are very noisy animals! And they get very close!
Posted Jun 26, 2008, 2:09 am
This is me in the car going on the F3 Freeway to Richmond Vale Railway Museum.
There weren't just model trains though, there were REAL steam trains! I got to have a nice close look at one. They are really big and make a lot of noise...
I also got to have a trip on the train with all my friends. It was noisy and dirty but heaps of fun.
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Posted Aug 1, 2008, 5:15 am
I ate LOTS of chips and gravy as it was very warm and the weather was so cold. I don't think I'll fit in my post bag after visiting with Kylie and her family!
We didn't get too close to the pelicans while they were getting fed. I was worried I would be eaten!
I had fun with my friends Charlie and Flutura in the playground. We played on the climbing rings. You can see the water park in the background but it was too cold to go for a play in the water.
I also played for a bit on my own!
I am missing you heaps back home!
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So much of what has been happening around here has been packing boxes. Here I am with a pile of the boxes all ready to help carry them downstairs and into a truck. I think I'll need some help carrying it though!!!
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Saturday we went to see the Cathedral in Exeter it was very pretty and big.... Exeter is the biggest town near to Honiton about 17 miles away...
I met some friens, ali G but he is going home tomorrow, he is very little and we were good friends. You can see the tv`s I met, Shakesbeare, Galaxy Bear, Ducky Duck, Gina Giraffe and little Ali G.
It is very wet in England, there is no sun at all
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Today we went to the garden centre in Ottery St Marty, it was a big one, first we saw lots of trees decorated inside, and a craft centre there and lots of gifts. I saw a sleigh with lights which would go outside, I met santa and gave him my list of pressies I want and also saw lots more. We then went to buy some plants and saw this very pretty planter, a little girl like me.
Posted Jan 1, 2009, 10:58 am
It was great, we pretended it was real snow, it looked so pretty mummy, I went with Percy too, we had real fun...
But soon I am to go home, as my host writes this I will be at home as it is written on new years day.
more pics to follow.....
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Then we moved on to Altötting. Altötting is a famous place for pilgrimage.
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I have arrived in Malaysia.
I 'll have more updates soon
-Alpina
Posted Jun 12, 2009, 4:10 am
Some sweets and bunga telur (In Malay wedding, egg (telur) is prepared which represents fertility symbolized blessing so that the bride & groom will have a child soon) for the guests, and some necessities for the groom.
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(masjid means mosque)
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The water fountains on the istana ground is in the shape of labu sayong gourd-shaped carafe that is used to keep water cool. It's the signature craft of Perak.
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A group of school children already there when we arrived. Can you spot them? Yup there are the one who are wearing the white-blue uniform. We were told that that's what Malaysian primary schoolers wear here.
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