Travelog for: Seamus

Today, I went to visit the courtyard of the Hôtel d'Assézat which is a mansion house.


In fact this mansion house contains a museum (paintings, objects, furniture...) but we didn't go inside because Mistigree already saw it 3 years ago and she did not really like it !!


The courtyard was lovely and as the sun was shining, there was a light that emphazised the colour of my furr that went very well with the colours of the bricks thus !!


I met another stone lion, but I felt so small comparing to it !


Oh, this one is more appropriate to my size, but it was so high under the roof that I couldn't see it closer !

This evening we decided to play some board games with my new friends Snegovik and Rosemary.
The first one we played is called "Le jeu des blasons de France" (the French blazons game").
By the way, look at this !! There are many French blazons with lions on them !!


This game is a memory game that consists in making blazons pairs... As I have an excellent memory, I won easily !


Snegovik and Rosemary were so upset that they sulked during a long time and let me tidy the game in its box all alone.


Nevertheless, they agreed to play another game and we tried "La bonne paye". It is a game where we have to win money by different means.


For exemple here, I played lottery and I had a winning ticket !


Here, a friend of mine repaid me some money I lent to him before.


I also succeeded in making money by selling a Picasso painting, some bottles of a great wine and an old banger.


I was very lucky at that game, that's why I won again !! I was snowed under banknotes as you can see !


Then I persuaded Snegovik and Rosemary to play a last game, and we chose the Monopoly ! It is not the usual Monopoly, it is a Monopoly about Europe ! Each piece is a European monument and we have to buy European cities.


Look, we can buy Helsinki !


But Paris is the most expensive city !!


Maybe because of its famous Eiffel Tower ?


Before playing, we read the rules so that nobody cheats during the game !


Here again, I was terribly lucky and at the end of the game I had several hotels and houses almost everywhere. Rosemary and Snegovik were totally ruined !

Today, I packed my bag... I did not forget the postcard and the little present I had bought (hum yes, it is just a pen... nothing very typical from Toulouse I must confess !). Mistigree added some violet flavoured candies as it is a speciality from here.
I'm now on my way to Australia where I'm going to meet becka_kate !
Bye bye France !

Seamus arrived today. Will post further updates shortly when he has more to write about!!

I really have to apologise for how long it's taken to do this update! Have just had a really busy (& exhausting) few weeks at work. Bec
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Bec decided to take us to see the Blue Mountains where we were promised some amazing sights to see, like the Three Sisters and the view of the Jamison Valley. Unfortunately the weather in the mountains was worse than the weather at home, and instead all we saw was clouds, rain and more clouds!









Here is a link to an image of what we should have seen: The Three Sisters

Our next stop was at Scenic World. Scenic World is the home of the Scenic Railway (which is the steepest incline Railway in the world), the Scenic Cable Car and the Scenic Skyway that either carry you down into the Jamison Valley or across it.  We took the Cable Car down into the valley.

Here are PampleMoose and I taking in the view on the way down:

It was a bit scary when it dropped over the edge, but the view was impressive - bet it's even better when the sun is shining!



It was very beautiful! (But wet!)




We thought this was a very appropriate question for the day!


On the way out we came across these sculptures, representing the legend behind the Three Sisters formation.


This is the legend:

Very unfortunately I arrived just in time for Bec to be writing her school reports and a run of bad weather, which put the brakes on too much sightseeing.


The only reason we got to go to the Blue Mountains was because Bec refused to write reports on her birthday!

But, I took my mission to investigate Australia seriously. On the first day I visited Bec's school and found out about the country.


Did you know that Australia is the world's smallest continent and the world's largest island? It is made up of 6 states and 2 territories. Bec lives in New South Wales, which is the most populated / expensive state to live in.
To test my knowledge of the map, I took on the challenge of this puzzle. Not so challenging to put together, but challenging in that  the pieces were so much bigger than me!


My next step was to commune with one of the natives - a koala I found hanging out in the classroom. I thought I'd find out what was so impressive about climbing, as so many Australian animals are climbers. Other than discovering that climbing is not the best activity for lion (no grip) I can't see what's so special about it!


Arriving back home, and discovering that the rain had stopped for a while I investigated the gardens and checked out some of the native plants:
This is a Kangaroo Paw, so named because that's what it looks like. Being as tiny as I am I needed a lift up to examine them more closely. They have no scent and feel a bit like velvet to touch.


This is a
grevillia. Sadly it's a bit past its best - the colours are usually a lot more vibrant I'm told.


And here is an Australian Christmas Bush. It was a very windy afternoon by the way!


The following are not natives, but seeing as it is spring here many of the flowers are in bloom, and with the rain they are flowering better than in the past when rainfall has been minimal at best.




My next stop is with Prowl_Worshipper so I'll get to compare country New South Wales with city New South Wales! Can't wait!

G'day Aelina! (see I'm picking up the local language to teach you for when you move here )
I arrived in Stroud today, safe but slightly damp! Everyone seems very happy to see some rain but I just wanted to dry my wet paws!

A new TV arrived today, Mousy Mouse from Taiwan. He thought all us visiting cats were out to eat him!! I am not big enough for anyone to be scared of, but MM says he knows I am the King of the Beasts! But as you can see we made friends.

It's so hard to believe it nearly Christmas! It's so warm here in Australia. Most people have plastic Xmas trees because real ones just die in the heat. Isn't the tree pretty?
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

We've been watching the cricket! Australia played New Zealand for the Chapel-Hadlee cup, one Nik says Australia has never won. A one-dayer, so Nik explained, is where each team only has 50 overs (an over equals six balls bowled by the fielding side) to score as many runs as possible. It's a confusing game, but Australians seem to love it!
We all watched for awhile, but it's kind of boring!
Australia won the match, by the way, so Nik was happy!
This is a game that aelina may have to be taught to understand before she moves here!

Nik thought some of us might be feeling a little bit homesick because it's near Christmas, and we're in a strange (and HOT!) country.
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!
So, Australia has very hot summers and you must wear a hat when you're in the sun, as well as sunscreen! Or try to stay in the shade.

A summer shower finally cooled things down a little bit this afternoon...and look what came after the rain!

Decorating your house with Christmas lights is very popular in Australia! Some towns and cities have huge displays which raise money for good causes, but Nik's house is pretty well lit up too!

Tonight we all watched the traditional Christmas carols on television. Australia has two main Carols - one from the Domain in Sydney on Channel 7, and one from Melbourne on Channel 9, usually on Xmas eve...which automatically makes the Sydney ones better That's the ongoing Sydney Versus Melbourne conflict I've heard about! (something for aelina to remember, depending on where she's going to live in Australia!)

We saw the Wiggles (a very, very popular kids' singing group, and a lot of adults like them too!) and their friends Dorothy the Dinosaur, Wags the Dog, and Captain Feathersword! A friendly pirate with a feather for a sword!