Animals Australia: the voice for animals

Animals Australia: the voice for animals
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Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Snow snapping cold

Can I have what he's having?

John So, Lord Mayor of Melbourne in a traditional Wurundjeri possum-skin cloak (Jiawei Shen, 2005 Archibald Prize Finalist)

In south-eastern Australia, where winters can be very cold, Aboriginal people kept warm with possum-skin cloaks. Check out this ancient craft here. After a life-time in tropical and sub-tropical climes, Miss Eagle still feels the cold in Melbourne even though this is her third winter here. So she could really, truly do with a possum skin cloak.

Forest Glade Cottage, Olinda : St Matthew's Anglican Church, Mount Dandenong

Will this be what it will be like up the road in The Dandenongs this afternoon? Last night, here at Upper Gully, it was like sleeping in a wind tunnel. Cocooned from wind with an electric blanket, a doona, a minky, a Rose and a FootFoot maybe - but oh the howling, noisy wind.

A little while ago it started to rain.

The Age carries this story. They are calling it a cold snap! What do they think we have been having for the last ten days! A fortnight ago from last Friday this was the scene as I breakfasted beside Lake Wendouree. My weekend in Ballarat was oh-so-cold. But here is the picture in The Age to-day just a short step away from my breakfast place:

Brrrrrrrrr!

2 comments:

Val said...

I can swear by possum clothing. About 1981 I brought a possum jacket back from New Zealand (where that animal is rightly declared a pest) - it is the warmest item of clothing I've ever owned. Once I was in a blizzard in Germany, -23º, wearing my possum jacket I was comfortably warm. If I weren't afraid of the PC police, I'd wear it tonight - we're booked to do a walking tour of the haunted places of Melbourne! Brrrr!

Miss Eagle, you would pick the coldest place in Victoria: Ballarat can be 10º colder than even nearby towns. Handy to remember that during the hot spells.

Gina E. said...

Don't know about wearing possum fur myself (I've got a fox fur jacket and Ken has a kangaroo skin jacket), but the possums around here don't seem to shiver as they sit on our verandah waiting for their nightly ration of apple!

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