The Big Trout

We have seen the Big Lobster, the Big Olive, the Big Koala, the Big Bundy Bottle, the Big Banana, the Big Ram, The Big Bulls, the Big Ant, the Big Pineapple, the Big Hay Bale, the Big Galah, the big Orange and now we have seen the Big Trout. It is at Adaminaby near Lake Eucumbene in the Snowy Mountains.
We had a day touring in the Snowy Mountains. KnK enjoyed the scenery and the old towns and history, but we just had a long sleep in the car. We had to stay in the car anyway because a lot of it is National Park and we were not allowed outside and had to stay on the main roads. We were allowed out at places not in the Park, and we had some walks around lakes and reserves. Tiffany wanted to swim in the lakes but KnK would not let her off the lead.
We were glad to get back to the Cooma caravan park to get our dinner after a long day out.

Canberra Dogs

Tollers at the Houses of Parliament in Canberra. Hannah and I posed for this picture outside this huge human kennel where the nation's chief barkers congregate to decide who is in charge. Seems like a lot of trouble to go to, dogs just piddle on a stobie pole to let everyone else know who owns the territory.
We stayed at the dog club where we met lots of dogs and were able to go into paddocks where we could run free, play with other dogs and chase balls to our hearts content. Kathy wanted us to do some work, but Keith was judging in the next ring, so we went to say hello. Not what Kathy wanted, but it was just a day out for us.

Gundagai

 We were On the Road to Gundagai, along the track leading back to a......., oh you know the song. We have been where the dog sat on the tuckerbox a couple of years ago, had our photos taken there, so we did not go there again.
Instead, we took a tour of Gundagai. It is a historic town full of interesting things for KnK, but not for dogs. We found this park where we could have a walk, sniff, mooch and attend to our toiletries, but in the corner was a sculpture of Dad, Dave, Mum and Mable who were famous for living in Snake Gully. We did not know them, but it seem they were on the Radio, whatever that is, and they got into lots of comical situations. Anyway, we posed for the photo then went back to  mooching in the park. It pays to keep the humans happy sometimes.

Ettomogah Pub 3

A long time ago before we were born, a magazine produced a cartoon about a fictitious pub at Ettomogah. It became so popular that people built a copy of the pub that didn't exist in the real world, as a tourist attraction. Then more people built more copies of the non existent pub so that now there are 5 of them. We have been to the one in Queensland, the one in Western Australia, and now we are at the one in New South Wales at Ettomogah near Albury. The cartoonist lived in Albury so this is as close as possible you can get to the original. Don't think too much about that last sentence or you will get a migraine.
Anyway, the top pic shows us outside the pub, but we are so small Keith had to magnify us in the inset and put an arrow to where we were. The cartoon pub had been faithfully reproduced. There was the truck on the roof, the writing on the wall, the crashed plane, the wobbly construction and Bandit the Dog's kennel. They had filled in the rabbit warrens and traps for safety reasons.
The bottom pic shows us trying to talk to Bandit. We heard him bark but he would not come out. He was not very smart, he just went "Woof" if you tapped on his kennel. Eventually we began to think he was not real, just a machine that made a noise like a dog, but we kept checking just in case he was real.

Albury Winners

We are back in the Winners Circle! Tiffany won 1st place in Masters Jumping qualifying with a time almost 3 seconds under the standard course time, and then we went in Strategic Pairs and we won the Excellent class. Unfortunately we  were over time due to a quick game of chasey half way through, but we did all the obstacles. The whole trial thought we were good though, said it was the best laugh they'd had in ages.
Neither of us did any good in Agility. Tiffany was over excited and Keith lost control, then I went in and there were some very interesting sniffs and a dog walk that I had never seen before and I had to try it out.
The pic shows us with our sashes and our prizes of Dog Biscuits.

Trains and Ned Kelly

We have been traveling again, We are in Albury tonight, but to get here we have traveled for 3 days, not because it is a long distance, but because there are lots of things to see and do. We stayed a night in Ararat, then Sheperton and finally got here. One of the stops along the way was at Elmore where there is a miniature railway. Hannah and I waited on the station  (see top picture) but the train didn't come so it must have been a model of British Rail, Keith said.
Later on we reached Glenrowan which was the home of the famous bush ranger and artist's model Ned Kelly. He must have been huge because the pic shows us sitting by his statue and we are only as big as his boots. You have to look closely to see us.
The Albury caravan park is next door to the dog club grounds where we are competing on Saturday, so this means we wont have to get up too early on the weekend.

Tiffany's 7th Birthday

Tiffany was 7 years old on 7th March 2016. She has had another good year doing all sorts of things that keep a dog happy. In the agility ring she became a Masters dog, she has a Tracking Dog title and 2 passes towards her Tracking Dog Excellent title.
We have also been traveling around Australia a lot too. We went to the Kimberly's in Western Australia and went along the Gibb River Road and back across the Tanami Desert.  Add in a few country trips to Mildura and Whyalla and that was a busy year for a dog.

The big news since Tiffany's birthday is, We Have A New Kennel. It is in Tanunda in the Barossa Valley. We will not move in until May because KnK have to do things first. In the mean time we are in Warrnambool for a week end of dog trials, and then we move on for more trials next week.
The pic shows us on our walk along the pathway next to the Warrnambool caravan park where we are staying. We walked to the harbour where we stopped for the photo.