Down Under Sunday

Today, fellow House Panthers, it is very cold and wet outside.  I will be doing this all day and I recommend you do the same.

Down Under Sunday

Oh no, I have been so slack about posting here!  I'm sorry everykitty!
Anyway, for your viewing pleasure today I have a photo of a Grey Kangaroo.  They are native to Australia and this is one my mum saw when she went away last weekend.  They can be a bit grumpy so mum and dad couldn't get too close.

Down Under Sunday

Hi Everyone!  It's time for another edition of Down Under Sunday.  Today I thought I'd show you some of the most well-known animals that are common to Australia.
This one's a kangaroo.  The most common kangaroos in Australia are the Red Kangaroo and the Grey Kangaroo.  They are both very big and carry their babies around in little pockets on their fronts.This one's an Echidna.  They're a bit like porcupines because they have big spiny bits on their backs.  You don't want to go sticking your nose into one by mistake, that's for sure.
And this is a cuddly Koala.  They are not cuddly at all, even though they look like cute teddy bears.  Koalas spend all day eating gum leaves and sleeping.  They are very bad tempered and have EXTREMELY long claws that they can scratch with.

Down Under Sunday

Oops, I nearly forgot to post today!  I've been tortured with the flashy beast at home and I am not happy with mum.
Anyway, I wanted to ask all the House Panthers and our regular readers if there's anything special you'd like me to write about for the next few weeks.  I was thinking maybe I could show you some Australian animals but I'm happy to hear suggestions if you have them!  Leave a comment or email me.

Down Under Sunday

This is my new house panther pose.  What do you think?Sorry I've been away for so long.  My people went on holiday and left me alone for FOUR whole weeks!  I tell ya, it's not fair.

Down Under Sunday... sort of

Sometimes it's easy to scare people by being a house panther...

Down Under Sunday

Hi house panthers!  It's time for another Down Under Sunday with Huffle Mawson!  Today I'm going to talk about things to do in Melbourne when it's really cold.  Although we're now in Spring and the weather is getting better, you still have to think of things to do for those cold days.
You probably didn't know that Victoria has plenty of ski resorts.  Well, not plenty, but a few!  My mum used to be a tour guide for a ski company and she used to go skiing every weekend each winter.  She doesn't do that now - she says she's too old (I think 269 is very old anyway) and her knee can't take the skiing any more.  Whatever.
But anyway, here is a picture of Mt Hotham, which is one of the best ski places in Victoria.

On the way to Mt Hotham, there is a very nice town called Bright which has lots of pretty trees that change colour in the Autumn (Fall).  It's also a nice place to visit in Summer when it gets too hot in the city.
Anyway that's the Down Under Sunday report for this week, let me know if there's something particular about Melbourne you are interested in!

Down Under Sunday

Hiya House Panthers! It's time for another Down Under Sunday installment!
Today I thought I'd show you some of the nice places in Melbourne. They say that Melbourne is the sports capital of the world so we have some very big sporting stadiums: the biggest is the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).  It holds 100,000 people and has lots of sporting events all through the year.  There are also concerts held at the MCG - U2 performed there last year.

Melbourne is also famous for its gardens.  There are lots of big gardens right in the city but the biggest is the Botanical Gardens - I don't know how big the garden is but it's very large!

One last picture for today - this is the main beach in Melbourne - called St Kilda beach.  It's only 10 minutes from the city and there are so many cafes and shops and fun things to do there.
Hope you've enjoyed your trip around Melbourne with me this week!

Down Under Sunday

Hey black kit kats! It's time for Down Under Sunday again! Today I'm going to show you the evolution (yeah, that's a big word for a small kitty) of how we get around in Melbourne. These are called TRAMS. I don't know what that means either.
Here is the first type of tram we had in Melbourne, about 652 kitty years ago.
Then we got these ugly orange and brown ones.  They don't match anykitty's fur really.
Then we got these square-faced ones.  There are still plenty of these trams around, especially the way my mum goes to work and she always says they get the *bad word* trams on her route because nobody cares.  I don't know what that means either.
Now we have these two kinds of trams for people to ride on.  But not everywhere, mum says only the people who live in really expensive suburbs get the nice trams.  And maybe in the places where the people who own the trams live.

And the weather this week?  Cold and raining every day.  About 13 deg C (55 f) all the time.  Except at night when it's really cold.  I can't wait for summer to warm up my furs!

Down Under Sunday!

Today I thought I'd show you a bit of our city.  I live in Melbourne, which I showed you last time.  Here is a view of the city from across the bay:This is the view at night from Mount Dandenong, which is the closest big hill to Melbourne:
And this is the main train station in Melbourne, Flinders St Station.  It's a very nice building and there is a big ballroom somewhere in there which never gets used.
So what about the weather in Melbourne? Right now it's winter (June to August).  We have temperatures between 12 deg C (53F) during the day, and sometimes down to 0 deg C (32F) at night.  In the summer (December to February) it gets really hot.  Last summer we had so many days that were about 35 - 40 deg C (95 - 104F) and it doesn't really cool down at night.

Great Big Thanks!

Just wanted to give a great big shout out of THANKS to the great kitties (and their typists!) who've posted recently here at House Panthers!
Thanks to Tillie for sharing a great week of Doodles with us!
And thanks to Spooky Do for wonderful regular Midnight Monday posts!
Thanks to Huffle Mawson for agreeing to an every-other week Down Under Sunday post (we're all looking forward to learning more about your life in Australia!),
and thanks to Alex and Bear and Cricket and Cody for introducing themselves = we hope to see you posting lots more here!
Cheers!
Not The Mama

Down Under Sunday!

Hi House Panthers!
I'm starting a new feature this week, which I will post every second Sunday. It's called Down Under Sunday and it's the chance for me to tell you a bit about the part of the world I live in.
Firstly, I live in Melbourne, Australia. Here's a map to show you where it is:

The weather in Melbourne is the opposite of whatever is in the northern hemisphere. Right now it's the middle of winter and very cold! I have to stay inside and keep my paws warm.

If anykitty has any questions or would like to know something specific about Australia (or me!), feel free to email me or post a comment here!

Welcome Huffle!

Welcome to new House Panther: Huffle Mawson!
Huffle lives in Australia! Please leave Huffle a welcome comment here,
then click on over and check out Huffle Mawson, Explorer Cat.

Purrs from Huffle Mawson

Hi Everyone
My name is Huffle Mawson, Explorer Cat, and I have just joined the House Panthers group.  It's nice to meet you all!
I look forward to visiting all your blogs over the next little while.  Feel free to say hi to me any time!
Huffle Mawson