My Christmas


G'day everyone and Happy New Year!


I hope you are all enjoying being back at school. It seems ages since I last spoke to you but, when you see all my adventures, you will understand why I haven't had time to blog. 


Just before Christmas, we went on a trip to Victoria. I now understand why Victorian number plates have this slogan on them: 

After landing at Melbourne Airport, our first stop was Woodend, where Mrs P's friends Ken and Maureen live. 


Have you ever seen such a cute little cottage? 

As you can see, the cottage is mostly made of wood but there is a stone chimney. Houses in Victoria often have chimneys because the climate is quite a bit milder that in Queensland and it can sometimes be quite chilly, even in summer.

This is the front veranda. Those basket chairs are really comfortable!


Although the house is small, the garden is HUGE and I went off to explore as soon as I could. 

The first thing I did was to help Maureen feed the cockatoos. No, they are not pet animals. They are wild birds. They've got Maureen well trained though. They wait for her to feed them every day. The one on the left is in charge. If Maureen doesn't feed them at the usual time, he follows her around the garden until she remembers. All the birds have a certain order in which he allows them to feed.   

If any of the birds don't wait their turn he shoos them off.

Of course, it's Mr Boss Bird's turn all the time!

The other birds have to wait their turn on the ground. 

This Rosella has to wait his turn a bit further away. 

Now he's got a friend with him and he's crept a little bit closer.

"I haven't finished yet!" says Mr Big Boss. 

Now it's time to change over. 

And then feeding time was over. 

Next I found some new friends and had a game of cricket. 

I'm not sure who won! 

When I was looking at the side of the house, I noticed a funny square of corrugated iron so I decided to have another look. 

What could it be? 

I got Mrs P to help me lift the lid and inside there was a step ladder leading down. 

Maureen explained that this is a fire shelter. Bush fires are a big problem in Victoria and many houses have been burned down and even some people killed. To keep people safe, the government encourages everyone to have an evacuation plan. If it looks as if there is going to be a fire, people get a text to tell them to get away. The people who lived in the house before Ken and Maureen built this fire shelter as part of their evacuation plan. It can hold four people and there would be enough oxygen inside to last two hours. After two hours, the bush fire would have passed on. 

These beautiful eucalyptus trees that grow all around Ken and Maureen's house are one of the reasons why bush fires are a problem in Australia. They produce a highly scented oil in their leaves which turns into a cloud of gas in the hot sun.  If a fire starts, this gas burst into flames into a huge fireball which quickly spreads the fire. The plants and trees in the bush are used to fire and quickly grow again. Unfortunately houses and people aren't quite so good at coping with fire. 

Phew! After all that scary information, I was glad to relax by the hot tub. No wonder Australians are always on about doing it tough! 

Hmm . . . at least there is plenty of water in this garden!

And this is the water tank. 

 At last! I've found a ute that's teddy sized! 

These beautiful flowers are called Princess Lillies. So Here I am, a Prince among the Princesses!

Because the climate in Victoria is so much milder than in Queensland, Maureen can grow English flowers like roses in her garden. 


In my next blog I will tell you all about my trip to Hanging Rock, one of the most mysterious places in Australia!


Hooroo! 


Watch firefighters dealing with a bushfire here.