Alice Springs angel

Who says penguins can’t fly? Not the Australians. It took me years to find my first penguin angel, but in one short visit to Australia, I found two. This one is from the Outcrop Shop, a gift store in downtown Alice Springs, one of the most unlikely places I’ve ever been. I never would have expected to find such an unusual and fantastic penguin ornament in such a faraway place, even though Christmas was not far off. Look on a map and you’ll see that Alice Springs is about as far away from anywhere as you can get. They even have a post in town with arrowed signs pointing in all directions: Chicago 15,749 km, Johannesburg 10,308 km, Rome 14,281 km, etc. The only reason I was there is because it was somewhat close to Uluru, the mystical monolith in Australia’s Red Center formerly known as Ayres Rock, and I thought I ought to stop by for a look. I’m glad I did.

It was Thanksgiving, which is not a holiday in Australia, and I was feeling a tiny bit homesick about it. A few days before, on the way to Phillip Island, we stopped at a farm that had kangaroos and turkeys in side-by-side pens. That morning, out in the desert at Uluru, one of the cafes at the Ayres Rock Resort had something with cranberries on the menu (maybe a muffin, I don’t remember) so turkey dinner was on my mind. I went to a roadhouse-style restaurant that could have been the real-life inspiration for the décor at Outback restaurants. Looking at the menu, with its expected sampling of burgers and Aussie bush tucker offerings, I found the perfect dish for my Thanksgiving dinner: pumpkin gnocchi. Maybe there was an angel looking over my shoulder.

The Australian Open is over today and, as if I planned it perfectly, I’ve run out of Australian penguin ornaments to talk about. I have a lot more stories to tell about Australia, but I guess they will have to wait for another day on a different blog.

Russ “Celebrate & Decorate” penguin with filigree wings, green and red hat and scarf, sequins and beads

Acquired: November 26, 2004

Number: 253

Price: 12.50 $AUS

Size: about 8 inches tall

Going to the zoo

You’ve probably heard this one. I know I have. Many times.

A police officer stops a driver in a white convertible when he sees the back seat is full of penguins.

“Where do you think you’re going with these penguins?” the officer asked, as he tried to remember if there was anything he learned back in the police academy about laws concerning the transportation of penguins.

“I’m taking them to the zoo,” the driver replied.

“Well, O.K.,” the officer said, satisfied that everything must be on the up-and-up. “Drive carefully and get them there safely.”

“Thank you, officer,” the driver said as he drove off toward the zoo.

The next day, the officer sees the white convertible drive by, and to his surprise, the back seat is still full of penguins. He pulled the car over, looked in disbelief at the driver, and asked, ”Are these the same penguins you had yesterday.?”

“Why, yes, they are,” replied the driver.

“Well, I thought you told me you were taking them to the zoo,” the officer said.

“That’s right, officer,” said the driver. “And they had such a good time, today I’m taking them to a ball game.”

This is one of only a few penguin jokes I know. It seemed like a good time to tell it with this ornament that I bought at a highway rest stop on my way to the zoo. He’s made of felt and has a music chip implanted in his belly that plays “We wish you a Merry Christmas.” I was staying in Brisbane, which I had added to my Australian journey for one purpose: to go to Steve Irwin’s Australia Zoo about an hour or two north of the city. They don’t have any penguins at the zoo, but they do have some mighty ferocious crocodiles and other amazing animals for you to enjoy. Crikey, I had a fantastic time, even though I missed Steve himself, because he was back in New York for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Plush musical penguin that plays “We Wish You a Merry Christmas,” orange feet and beak, wearing red scarf and hat with green trim.

Acquired: On the road to Steve Irwin’s Australia Zoo, Queensland, Australia

Number: 254

Price:

Size: 8.5 inches tall

Odd couple

The colors are unusual for penguins, if that’s what they really are. Any upright bird with flipper-like wings qualifies as a penguin in my book. I think this pair comes from one of the shops in the Queen Victoria building in Sydney, Australia. It was almost Christmas and the Queen Victoria building was decked out for holidays. A huge tree began on the first floor and punched its way through the ceiling as it climbed to the top level of the mall. The QVB is worth a visit any time of the year for its stained glass windows, a huge hanging clock that tells the story of colonization of Australia, a full-size carriage carved in jade, the statue outside of Queen Victoria herself, and, oh yeah, the stores.

Brown and blue ceramic pair with scarves
Acquired: November 2004, Sydney, Australia

Number: 248

Price: unknown

Size: about 1.75 inches tall

Jingle bells

If you don’t have time for a trip to Phillip Island for the Penguin Parade, you can catch a boat ride from downtown Melbourne on the south bank of the Yarra River to see the little blue penguins. I found this ornament in a news shop not far from where the penguin boats were docked. I bought another penguin — not a Christmas tree ornament but a framed ceramic tile of a little blue penguin — at one of the craft market booths that stretch along the river on the weekend. And not far away from all this is Melbourne Park where they’re playing tennis now at the Australian Open.

Small plush musical penguin that plays “Jingle Bells,” red feet and beak, red Santa hat.

Acquired: November 2004, south bank of the Yarra River, Melbourne, Australia

Number: 251

Price: 2.95 $AUS

Size: 4 inches tall 

Angry angel

I have several penguin angels, and I think they’ve all had a turn at the top of a tree, including this one with his angry, yet adorable face. I love the little sewn on buttons and those plaid wings. He was one of the two ornaments I found at the cavernous Christmas Cave in the outskirts of Melbourne, Australia. I made use of Melbourne’s wonderful and extensive public transportation system to get to the store, but finding this little ornament made the long ride worthwhile.

Raggedy felt penguin angel with plaid wings and an angry expression

Acquired: November 20, 2004, the Christmas Cave, Melbourne, Australia

Number: 250

Price: 5.95 $AUS

Size: About 4.25 inches tall

Little blue beanie

During the Australian Open tennis, the Melbourne tourist board is running a TV ad that features a quick glimpse of penguins scurrying across a beach. It goes by so quickly that it took two or three times before I realized what I was seeing. If you blink, or if you’ve never been to the penguin parade on Phillip Island, you’d probably think it was a bunch of mice running across your screen. But they are penguins, little blue penguins to be precise, or fairy penguins as they are also known, the smallest of the 20 or so varieties of penguins on the planet. They live along the south coast of Australia and build their nests in the sand on shore. Some will even burrow under your porch and set up housekeeping there. During the day the parents head out to sea to find food, and at night they come back to their burrows and their hungry chicks.

You can see the penguin parade via a daylong bus tour from Melbourne. After sunset small groups of penguins ride the waves to shore, then run across a floodlit stretch of beach before their predators see them. After watching a hundred or so penguins come ashore, you walk back from the grandstand area to the visitor’s center, stopping to watch them as they head through the brush to their nests, all the while squawking back and forth with their hungry chicks. It is a sight and a sound unlike anything you’ll see or hear anywhere else.

Back at the visitor’s center there are exhibits and information about the little blues and other wildlife on the island, such as the wallabies. There is also one enormous gift shop with just about anything you can imagine with a penguin on it or in it or shaped like a penguin. Ever since I officially became a penguin ornament collector, I’ve had to swear off other penguin items (with occasional lapses), otherwise I would have been broke after a visit to the penguin parade gift shop and I never would have made it through customs. Oddly, in the entire store, with less than 30 shopping days left until Christmas, I couldn’t find a single penguin ornament. Instead I got this little blue beanie, which has a magnet in its right wing, I suppose to hang on a refrigerator. I could turn it into a legitimate tree ornament by sewing a hanging loop onto its head, like the ones on my Ty beanies, but for now I just stick a wire tree hanger, gently, into its neck and hang him on the tree.

Little blue beanie

Acquired: November 21, 2004, Phillip Island Penguin Parade gift shop, Australia

Number: 252

Size: 4.5 inches tall

Price: 3.95 $AUS

Together again

Watching the Australian Open tennis over the weekend reminds me of Melbourne, where I found the Christmas Cave, the largest Christmas store in Australia. It might just be one of the largest in the world. When I arrived, several tourist buses were parked on the side streets in the suburbs where it’s located. There were only two penguin ornaments in the whole place, however, and this one was broken when I bought it. It took me several tries to glue the parent and chick together, because it was difficult to find something that worked well on glass. Also, I think these were broken pieces of two separate ornaments that didn’t fit together easily. Finally, after gluing tissue in between the two pieces, I got them to stick, and they’ve been together ever since.

Santa’s Brand crystal parent and chick with black wings, Christmas Cave, Melbourne, Australia

Acquired: November 20, 2004

Number: 249

Price: 9.95 $AUS

Size: About 3.5 inches tall