on Australia, part one of I don't even know how many posts I'll write about this.

I was looking at a fabric- this one, if you really wanted to know- and thinking how lovely it would be for a baby. How it was sweet, and as they got older, you could teach them their animals… but hang on.

Who decided that Africa was the go to continent for animals? Why is it easy to surround my daughter with animals from that hot subcontinent, and not a whole lot from THIS hot subcontinent?

Granted, Africa has elephants and we don’t, and elephants are kinda awesome. And they have zebras, which are super stylish. 

But we have rainbow lorikeets and the magnificent rosellas, and koalas which are slightly more cuddly then lions. We have crocodiles, and magpies with their stylish black and white pattern, and we have super cute possums like the ringtail and sugar gliders. We have kangaroos and wallabies, and strange animals like the platypus.

We have the laughing kookaburra, and pink galahs- and fyi zebra, pink and grey is sooo much more original and classic then black and white…

... We have the cassowary, which is an excellent role model for children as they’re feminists. Or just aggressive. But unlike the majority of Disney Princesses, female cassowaries get to do the chasing and have several boyfriends. Ditto for seahorses. Heck, we have the Great Barrier Reef, which is a playground for inspiration.

Hedgehogs are BFFs with anything fairy and woodland, but you know what? We have an echidna, which is basically the same animal, PLUS we have the delicate wrens, including the vivid blue wren.

We have the striking lyre bird, and the amazing birds of paradise… well ok, Papua New Guinea has most of them, but close enough. We have the colourful and social budgies and Gouldian finches. So, suck it, African parrots.

I don’t honestly know what to say about the emu, except their feathers looks very dashing on M’s old army hat, and their young are very cute. We have turtles and dolphins and sharks, and jelly fish which make a cute motif, and all sorts of lovely marine life, even  if most of it is toxic and the water gives me the heebie jeebies.

We have spoonbills, which have always been my favourite bird, PLUS THEY ARE HILARIOUS. Wombats which at the pinch could be “cuddly.”

And yet, it's Africa that we turn to for our animals. What gives, people?