Ginger Meggs by Jason Chatfield for October 08, 2010

Now that will be some fun!

Good Morning to all the Meggsie fans!

Very good graffiti, Jason. Good advice, too!

Howdy, all.

Oh, oh! Water! Does that mean another of Australia’s famous creatures? Platypi? Crocs?

Tough way to learn!

G’day Jason, JFri, usfellers, ottod, and Meggsiefan!

better learn quick

re: graffitti Bumper Sticker: Drive like heII, you’ll get there faster.

G’day Jason, Dry, JFri, Ottod, Meggsiefan, Frank and all Meggsie’s mates.

Can’t blame our two intrepid adventurers, those monsters can be mighty scary. Can relate quite closely to their predicament, having been scared witless when I was their age by the stories about Bunyips told by some character as we sat around a campfire one night.

Ottod: This is all taking place in an area called The Blue Mountains which is just to the West of Sydney in New South Wales. There would not be a crocodile within about 3,000 kilometres and platypuses, or platypi (not sure about that, they were unknown at the time Latin was all the rage) grow to only about the size of a small domestic cat and are extremely shy. Couldn’t do any damage even if they did use their rubbery beaks to bite - which they don’t anyway.

Probably the scariest thing that could happen to our mates is for a yabbie to grab one of their toes. Eh? Oh, yes, a yabbie is sort of a miniature crayfish that lives in fresh water.

True story: during a skinny-dipping episode when I was around Ginger’s age I witnessed one unfortunate lad cop a yabbie hanging onto his nether region, so to speak. Sod of a thing wouldn’t let go either.

Re crocodiles: One poor croc named Alec was shunned by his nearest relatives. Apparently they were Alec haters. (Ducks to miss flying tomato).

This time of the year, usfellers, we’re not tossing tomatoes, we’re chuckin’ pumpkins.

Runs with Beer: Ah yes, and no doubt you will soon be carving their insides out to make room for candles. Scary things those. Maybe a bunyip or a yowi is really some bloke with a pumpkin over his head.

I LOL at usfellers wit. I couldn’t think up those puns if it were to save my life. Smiling over my own camping adventures….. yes as a youngster I got caught snipe hunting…. and trust me… later on I sent many others to look for them as well. They are not as dangerous as a Bunyip or whatever is apparently chasing the lads but… …..

Usfellers,

I’m reminded of a second-hand Australian story: A friend of mine and a pal were touring Australia and took a snorkel trip out onto the Great Barrier Reef. The pal knew he wasn’t supposed to touch anything, but couldn’t resist picking up a small shell for a souvenir, so he hid the shell in the only thing he was wearing at the time: his swimming trunks. Turns out the shell had been occupied by a crab that proceeded to show his displeasure with the new arrangement right after they got back on the boat.

Meggsiefan: Stories about bunyips hanging around swamps at night and imitating the noises of benign nocturnal creatures served a usfeful, albeit unintentional, purpose in discouraging innocent younger folks from searching for frogs around waterholes at night.

Snakes do the same thing and with the Aussie tiger and brown snakes enjoying almost top listing on the list of the world’s deadliest it seems the bunyip has a purpose in life. Hunting ‘snipes’ would put youngsters in jeopardy it seems.

Ottod: This string has the potential of being the laugh of the century. Did your mate sport a Bandaid for the rest of the holiday as my mate did. I mean oh dear, they reckon a naked man wearing boots is living proof God has a sense of humor but that Bandaid beat it by a mile.

Thankfully, it appears that the person you mention did not secrete an open mussel that suddenly decided it wanted privacey.

Usfellers and other Aussies….. yowis,bunyips,muzzies,yappies,kookaburras, boofheads, bloodnuts????…I’m wondering….. when foreign travellers arrive in Australia are they handed Australian/English dictionarys? Just kiding :)

Frank Corona: No mate, gotta work it all out for yourself like we did, but a good time doing it is guaranteed. By the way, the word is ‘mozzies’ (mosquitoes) and yuppies (Young Urban Professionals).

What we will hand you is a good handshake and a welcome.

There are yuppies in Australia too? Now I know I’d better think twice about a trip out there. I think I’d prefer the boofheads. (I know,……I’m getting crotchety in my old age)

Hey, welcome friend, you have just described me to a T as the person you prefer or would like to meet. Also getting a bit on the crotchetty side myself. Reckon we could have a few good arguments over a pint or two.

Hey, usfellers……Perhaps some day I may be so lucky!

usfellers YOU crotchetty? No way! Ornery, maybe, but crotchetty? :-D

I wonder if Benny and Ginger would like to take my yahoo mailbox along with them over the cliff?