Pengi's Road Trip! Guest Blog!

  Hi everyone, it’s Pengi again with another big adventure!

  It’s finally arrived!  On Friday Mr Smart, Jess, Bertie, Jess’s nephew and I started our holiday to Adelaide!  I am so excited!  Even though Jess assured me that I would be coming and I wouldn’t be left behind, I wanted to make sure, so I spent the night sleeping in Jess's handbag.

  In the morning Bertie, Jess, Jess’s nephew and I jumped in the car and headed over to pick Mr Smart up.  Once there I heard some grumblings about how much luggage was being brought and how it would all fit, but they seemed to manage it all, and all five of us piled in again to start the trip.  I got to stand up on the dashboard so I could see the open road before us, and it was so exciting to see everything rushing past.  It seemed like we would arrive in no time given how fast we travelled.


  It turns out that Adelaide is quite far away it would take us quite a long time to get there.  Luckily Jess has made this trip many times and had planned suitable stops along the way.  The first one was in Beaufort where I got to play in the garden.  Jess even showed me a real tree hollow which went all the way down, but I wasn’t allowed to explore it since I might get stuck.

  Not long after our stop at Beaufort we passed the Great Western Winery.  Since both Bertie and Mr Smart are big fans of wine, we stopped in for a visit.

Inside they have some great displays of the history of the winery, including this old photo of Mr West.

  The next leg of the trip was another short one as we passed by Stawell but had to stop and meet this great big fellow.  I know he appears to be the same size as me, but he was actually really huge!  This photo with Mr Smart in it probably gives you a better idea of how huge the Giant Koala was.

 
  Next up on our trip was a quick stop in Horsham for snacks and quick play in the playground at May Park.  Jess’s nephew was nice enough to take me on the stagecoach for a quick ride, though we didn’t seem to go too far.

  The snack proved timely since some of us were getting quite hungry at this point but lunch was scheduled for Bordertown, still a fair way away.  Jess did suggest that we could have lunch in Horsham instead, but we could tell that she was really looking forward to showing us Bordertown, so we ate enough to keep us going.  It didn’t take us too long to get there and we quickly found a park and crossed the bridge over the lake.

  One of the key things Jess wanted to show us on the trip was the Bordertown bakery, site of many family visits over the years.  They are famous for their pies, and even though Mr Smart doesn’t eat meat on Fridays, they had a number of suitable alternatives.  I was really excited when I saw a Tuna Mornay pie on the menu but sadly they were out by the time we arrived so I had to suffice with some vegetarian options.

  We took our meals outside to enjoy, even though it was getting quite chilly and while there, I got meet some other birds.  These were quite different from me since they fly instead of swim, but they were quite friendly.  We had a bit of a squawk while I shared some of my left overs with them, before they had to fly.

  The last thing we looked at before jumping on the road was a small enclosure of white kangaroos. Jess explained that they were still just Western Grey Kangaroos but they were a genetic strain that made them white, not that they were albino, and they are specific to just Bordertown.  How amazing nature can be!

  By this time we had been on the road quite a while, and many of us had taken naps along the way.  The excitement of the trip was starting to wear a little thin and I think we all just wanted to arrive.  That’s not to say we didn’t still have a few laughs along the way, as this video of us crossing the Murray River shows:

  The last bit of our trip was quite dark, so there wasn’t much to see.  We arrived safe and sound though but this little penguin was very ready for bed.  I trod off to bed while everyone else enjoyed dinner and a good catch up chat!

  See you all again real soon!
  Pengi