Hamster Dancin' Around the World

Then dadpad showed me where the cows get water. Its called a dam. the farmers get a bulldozer and dig a big hole in the ground which fills up with water when it rains. The water doesnt soak away because of the clay type in the soil.



This is a mumma cow. She didn't like us being there much because she has just calved, but dadpad took good care of me.


This is her baby


Then we went into town.


dadpad showed me the scar tree. Aboriginal people took the bark off a tree and used it for a canoe. The tree kept growing for a long long time after but is dead now. so people decided to protect it as a reminder of the first Australians.



Then we saw the visitor information center. This is a sculpture of the man from snowy river which is a long poem and a movie that was made here.


Inside I met Emma who is a friend of mumpads. she showed me some photos of mountain cattlemens huts.


this is a community art project called forest of faces. It is photos of people who help make up the community. There are old photos, really old photos, new photos, pioneer people, special people and just ordinary people. sonpad has his photo in there. Its a really nice idea I think.


This is a giant felt mural mad by the women of the community.
The Womens Felt is a celebration of the courage and creativity, diversity and determination of women from Mansfield over the years.


Next we saw the police memorial. This was built to honour the policement killed by Ned Kelly who is Australias most famous bushranger. (Thats kinda like Billy the kid)



Phew thats a lot of photos and mumpad says dinner is ready. Its kinda funny to think about everyone in the USA is asleep and here in Australia its the next day and dinner time. I hope there is some lettuce for Dinner cause thats my favorite.

Oh, wow!!!

Fabulous!

Sozlet's sleeping and then will be awakened and rushed off to school, so she probably won't have time to see this stuff until she gets home from school in several hours, but she will love love love this!!!!

Some more picture and then I must go to bed. Its been a really big day.

The town dadpad lives in has 2000 people.


It has a lovely wide main street. There are no malls


This is an old horse water trough for (in the olden days) horses to drink water from.


Now it has plants in it. These are called kangaroo paw, they come in lots of lovely colors and survive with very little water.


the median stip between the roads is a beautiful place to eat lunch and talk with friends.


Here is a sign telling about the town history.


Dadpad loaned me this photo. This is what the town looked like in 1909 thats like 100 years ago maybe when sozlets dad was a little boy. This photo and the first one in this post are taken from nearly the same place


This is a sign about the town today. I hope everyone can read it.


These are pole people. An art installation made by local artists.


Hello everyone.


I really like it here. I like mumpad she's a lovely lady. I'm going to work with her tomorrow. I like dadpad too. He pretends he's grumpy but I know he's not really. and I like Wallabies the best of all.

Penny - you are such a lucky lucky hamster! what a great time you're having - you saw kangaroos!




2000 people. You're visiting a place where 2000 people live. When you visited me and we walked to the subway - we passed houses where that many people live - the building I work in has about twice that many people.

Wow!



Lucky hamster!

And lucky us for getting to see the pictures and read all about it!

wonderful pictures 9n a beautiful area...

Wow!

Bit dry there, dp!

Penny's webbed feet may disappear

Here's the last of the Penny pics!

Sitting with the concrete lion in the front garden while waiting for the chauffeur to arrive:
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and sitting on the front step, travel crown skewiff, with journal, and farewell flowers - a grevillea from the garden, waiting for her lift:

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Today was a really eventful day. Some things happened that got me really really worried. Mumpad said not to go off by myself but I wanted to explore and then I... well... I got arrested. Oh dear!




The policeman was very nice really but I didn't have a passport or anything like a pet registration so he said I might be an illegal alien. Then, sob, they put me in jail.






I got really upset and told the man he HAD to go and find mumpad and then he gave me cuddle and mumpad came and everything was all right again.



Phew!!!!!

After that I promised to not go wandering by myself but I had to get some Identification so people will know who I am and where I belong.
Thats Helen and Jane they helped me fill in the form.







I wanted it to say Penny on my tag but they didnt know how to do that. Oh well.




This is where mumpad works




and these are some people she works with


This is the big boss of all of Mansfield. I checked to see if my number was on file on his computer... Just to be sure



After work we went shopping at the supermarket. I guess supermarkets are the same all over the world.



Looooook I found the hamster food isle.



There aren't any fast food shops like Macdonalds in town, just a tiny Subway



Then after shopping we went to a friends meeting at the library.
I like the kind of meetings mumpad goes to.



Do you like my funny hat. Mumpad said the champagne had gone straight to my head.



We went home and fixed dinner. Yuuuuuuummmm lettuce.



I checked to see if sonpad's dinner was good but it was sausages in some sauce. I dont think I like sausage but I like sonpad.
He's big and strong.




What a day I've had!!!! Its been a real adventure. Now I have to go to bed and get a good nights sleep.
.
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.
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Not kangaroos ehbeth, wallabies! They are different. now that I'm an Aussie I have to tell people the right things.



dadpad says the shire has 6000 people if you count all the farmers and other little towns. He also said that when Cold_Erin went to school in Sweden there were more people in Just her school than live in this town.
Dadpad says he wouldn't feel very comfortable with that many people around.

Its a pleasure Mac. I'm having a really good time. I like helping people learn about other countries. Some things are very different some things are kinda the same.

Dadpad has considerable talent as a host, tour guide and memoir ghost writer.

Benni gone to every where

Now, maby it is sick

I wish it a speedy recovery

Thanks for the topic although I just understand the picture !

Cute hamsters!

Sozlet read everything yesterday but didn't have time to write her response. She called E.G. over for the "100 years ago, when your dad was a boy" line, they both loved it. She was agog at the wallabies and loved the little baby cows. More from her later...

As a retired attorney, I can only say that I am appalled at Penny's incarceration Down Under which, while brief, has clearly scarred her for life, causing untold emotional distress. Therefore, let this post serve as notice that I'll be serving an injunction, a subpoena, a deposition and a side salad (dressing on the side of the side) on the authorities in Mansfield.

An International Incident has been committed! Of course you know this means war! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uM01v_vVnbg

Jeez!

And those country types say that Sydney is Sin-City.

At least, when she was staying with me, Penny didn't get arrested, incarcerated, handcuffed or any of those things!

Apart from some rough and tumble with Possum-cat, everything was rather ree-feened

Calm down Jespah. Mumpad called her new best friend Joyce, whose husband just happens to be Art Hershey

Anyhow Joyce said he's was with a friend of Eliot Spitzers' at the moment but as soon as he was done she'd give him the message.

jumpin' jahiminies, I got 100 pages of lookin' and readin' ahead of me. Wowser, a true treasure trove. Gotta get K in to join me on this one!

Hello jorgi I like your hamsters. Can I come to visit you? you will need to ask your parents.

Phew Its hot. 36.6°C thats uuuuummm let me see..... 97.88 F and its autumn. I wanted to play under a sprinkler but dadpad said that would be wasting the water. They arn't allowed to water their garden.

Today I went to school.



There are about 300 children at the school



It looks like a very fun place to go to school


Thats Mrs Annette on the left who teaches kids about sozlets age and Mrs Gaye shes the librarian. She even looks like a librarian. (giggle)


This is what classrooms look like



I didnt take photos of Aussie kids at school cause the photos were going on the internet.



dadpad brought me the worlds biggest pine cone! Well its pretty big anyway

I thought that Texas had all the biggest things.



These are called bunya pine cones. Dadpad says they usually only grow in queensland, but he knows where some have been planted.
They are a bit prickly on my bum (giggle).



Dadpad said aboriginal people eat the nuts inside cause they are like a potato but I sniffed them and they don't smell like hamster food to me.