Calixte, Mount Gambier, Australia

Mistigree Posted Feb 12, 2008, 11:02 pm	Hi there ! I'm Calixte, a black duck living with Mistigree. Today I was asked by Snegovik who has been visiting us for 3 months to help him hanging his tag on his back, for he has to leave tomorrow. I was very interested when I read the tag about ToyVoyaging and I decided, by mutual agreement with Mistigree, to become a ToyVoyager too. I wanted to have a nice picture taken with Snegovik before he leaves as it is thanks to him that I'm going to travel as a ToyVoyager !
Mistigree Posted Feb 13, 2008, 9:54 pm	I have to say I'm mad about roadsigns... I like to open the dictionnary at the roadsigns page in order to learn them and their meaning by heart ! When I wander on the street, I play and try to recognize them ! The following ones are very easy to understand and I think they are quite the same in all countries. Bike roadsign especially for Mistigree because she only has a bike as a means of transport. Take care, there is a school around and children may cross the road ! This one is called "dos d'âne" in France (that means "donkey's back"), but I know the english word for that is "sleeping policeman" ! And in your country, how is that called ? Be careful ! If you're not correctly parked, your car may be impounded ! This one shows the way to go to the tube station here in Toulouse.
Mistigree Posted Feb 13, 2008, 10:03 pm	I'm very curious to see if the little green and red men that we can see on traffic lights are the same everywhere in the world. Here are the French ones.
Mistigree Posted Feb 13, 2008, 10:09 pm	It may seem a bit strange, but I like to watch car traffic. Sometimes I just stand on bridges over bypass or highways and I look at cars. What I prefer is when there are traffic jams because it makes me laugh imagining people moaning in their cars !
Mistigree Posted Feb 13, 2008, 11:04 pm	What I would like, if you host me one day, is having my picture taken with the sign that indicates the town or village where you live in ! Here is the one where I live for the moment ! Any others signs with towns written on them are welcome ! I'm also fond of streets signs or streets that have a special or funny name ! "Rue du canard" means "duck street", a street just for me ! Mistigree told me that this sign is well known here among the bookcrossers from Toulouse because they often hide books between the 2 faces of it !
Mistigree Posted Feb 14, 2008, 10:41 pm	People sometimes stick decorative stickers on the back of their cars, and I like to watch the different stickers ! I really would love to see what stickers can be found in your country ! For exemple here, you have 2 stickers that you can often find here in Toulouse. This one is the official sticker of the "Stade Toulousain" (the name of the rugby team of Toulouse) And this one with "TLSE" means "TOULOUSE", the name of the town. Others people put stickers of the places they have been on holidays. Sometimes, we can find animals ! Some of them have protest messages ! Here is one against the construction of a second airport near Toulouse. And one that encourages recycling ! 64 is the number (postal code) of a French Region (where Mistigree comes from, and where her parents live) And here, you have a baby on board !
Mistigree Posted Feb 20, 2008, 5:26 pm	I left France on Monday, I'm going to visit wmphimu in the USA as a first stop. Mistigree dreamt that I was still there, she said she saw my shape on her wall...
wmphimu Posted Feb 21, 2008, 11:09 pm	Hello! I arrived today in Virginia in the United States! It was a bumpy ride but a quick one - I thought it would take longer, so I settled in for a long nap. Imagine my surprise when Plaid Moose opened my box today! He welcomed me to Virginia and to my host's home! Plaid Moose told me that they are expecting a big ice storm here tomorrow. I'm not really sure what that means, but I'm excited to see it! I've only ever seen ice in Mistigree's freezer - ice falling from the sky will be interesting!
wmphimu Posted Feb 26, 2008, 12:03 am	I am having a great time so far in the United States! Lots of things here are different than at home in France, so I am having fun practicing my English with Plaid Moose and getting to see new things! Friday we were supposed to have an ice storm, but it wasn't like I thought it would be - just rain like we have at home that froze on the ground for a little bit. So after being inside for awhile, we went this weekend on some errands. First, I looked at some of the signs outside my host's house. This one is her street sign... She says that these are the kinds of signs in neighborhoods, and that we can see some bigger street signs later. There was also a no parking sign... ...and a sign with the speed limit on her street... I was confused about the street sign until they explained to me that it's miles per hour, not kilometers! Then we got into the car, where I spied a sticker on the back for her favorite sports team, the Boston Red Sox. Then we were off. She said that the traffic wouldn't be too bad today since it's the weekend, but there were still lots of cars to look at. The most cars were in the parking lot - this is crazy! I also saw a sign to Washington DC as we were driving home. My host said that Washington DC is about 20 minutes from here, which is why there is always a lot of traffic!
wmphimu Posted Mar 1, 2008, 10:54 pm	We've been busy here, but my host took me on a quest this week to find the sign for her town. It's different here than at home - there aren't really signs for each town, but each neighborhood has its own sign - even the little neighborhoods like the one I'm staying in. So, first, I asked to have my picture taken with the sign for her neighborhood... Then we drove around a little bit, hoping we could find a city sign. We did find LOTS of traffic & traffic lights, so even without the sign it was a good trip for me. Here we are stopped at a light long enough for my host to grab her camera: Finally, we were ready to give up. Then we spotted it - a sign for Fairfax! I am so excited - another mission for this trip completed!
wmphimu Posted Mar 6, 2008, 11:17 pm	We had a busy weekend, and I convinced my host to take me along on a quick trip into Washington DC to see her sister-in-law (MarthaWWF here on the ToyVoyagers site!). I was surprised at the highway, especially with the intersection that people around here call "the mixing bowl". Not because they are baking a cake, but because of how many highways come together all at the same spot! I also got to ride on the Beltway - they talk about the Beltway all the time on the news here, because Washington DC is "inside the Beltway" and DC outsiders are "outside the Beltway" Then we drove past a bunch of monuments. I was too busy looking at everything to get my picture taken, but I did get one picture near the Washington Monument as we were stopped at a stop light. I also saw a lot of Washington DC traffic! (which I liked, but the humans didn't as much) And near MarthaWWF's apartment I saw a sign for the metro! My host says that we'll go into DC again for some actual sightseeing before I leave on my travels!
wmphimu Posted Mar 6, 2008, 11:23 pm	I am really starting to become a cultured duck! I went today with my host to the new library in her town. I liked seeing the library sign... And inside the library I could tell why everyone is excited for the new library! After getting some books, we enjoyed the sunlight, and walked around historic Fairfax a bit. Near the library I saw some cool signs - a sign for the bus (two different buses - the metro bus that goes into DC and the CUE bus that goes around Fairfax at George Mason University) AND a street sign - all of the streets here have names AND numbers...people know the small streets by name and the big streets by number! Then we walked to the old courthouse. The sign said it was built in 1800, and it's still used today! There was also a monument there to the soldiers from Fairfax who fought in the Civil War (and 2 cannons as well!)
wmphimu Posted Mar 11, 2008, 8:25 pm	What a weekend we had! There were big storms here in Virginia, and we lost our power and internet! But we're ok - ducks don't need a lot of light to be happy! After all that excitement, we decided yesterday to get our of the house and take a walk to see a few more signs. There was one near Mara's neighborhood that I had never seen before She said that community groups can "adopt" a section of the road to take care of. This one is taken care of by a fraternity at nearby George Mason University. Then we walked down the hill and looked at the traffic lights. Some of the people in the cars looked at us funny, but neither of us minded. Then we looked at the walk/don't walk lights. There is a sign with a button to push to cross the street While we were waiting to cross, we took a picture of the "don't walk" light - very different from the one at home in France! And instead of walking, we took another picture of the "walk" sign! After all that, Mara decided we needed a treat. So we went to her favorite place - Starbucks! She was right - even for a duck, Starbucks was the perfect end to our afternoon out!
wmphimu Posted Mar 12, 2008, 7:32 pm	It was an exciting day today! A package arrived. Resi is on her way, so maybe it's her... It is! She's just in time, since we're going to go sightseeing this weekend in Washington DC!
wmphimu Posted Mar 16, 2008, 4:56 pm	I have been having so much fun in Virginia! Yesterday, Plaid Moose decided we should all take a trip into Washington DC to see some of the sites! First, we took the metro into DC. I checked the metro map to figure out our route... Then we got on the train! Because Mara lives in the suburbs, we had a long trip, and had to switch stations a couple of times. But it meant that we got to see a couple of neat things...the Masonic Temple in Alexandria and Washington National Airport! Finally we were crossing the Potomac River and into the city
wmphimu Posted Mar 16, 2008, 5:14 pm	Our first stop in Washington DC was for lunch! We went to Chinatown - here I am at the Chinatown arch! After lunch, we were ready to go to the museum! Our destination for the day was the National Portrait Gallery, which is part of the Smithsonian. Plaid Moose told us that lots of people think that the Smithsonian is one big museum, but it is actually LOTS of big museums! This one is all art. It also has a very beautiful atrium that has been in the paper a lot. So we stopped there first. No pools to swim in, but still a nice place for a duck! We looked the gallery of portraits of American presidents, and saw lots of other famous Americans. We all liked this sculpture of bears! The biggest excitement of the day was a very strange portrait of Stephen Colbert, a popular tv show host. I have been watching his show since I have been here - he does a political satire show. Plaid Moose says that as a joke he tried to get the portrait of himself from his set put in the Smithsonian, and they hung it up here, at the entrance to the bathroom! The funniest thing was how many people were in line to get their picture taken with it! I waited too - so here I am with Stephen Colbert!
wmphimu Posted Mar 16, 2008, 5:22 pm	It was such a beautiful day, so after walking around the museum, we decided to walk around the Mall a little bit. Plaid Moose told us that the Mall isn't a shopping mall - it's a big grassy area with monuments and Smithsonian Museums around it! The Washington Monument is at one end... And the Capital Building is at the other! We also walked through the garden at the Smithsonian Castle - the main building for the Smithsonian museum!
wmphimu Posted Mar 22, 2008, 10:37 pm	Everyone here is all excited for the NCAA basketball tournament (college basketball). They call it "March Madness," and everyone goes nuts for it! People fill out brackets to guess who will win, and there are lots of contests and games with it! So, Plaid Moose, Resi, and I decided to play too! We filled out our bracket based on the mascots - we all like animals a lot (and don't know a lot about basketball) so it seemed like the way to go! We picked West Virginia University to beat Wisconsin in the final. West Virginia won their first two games...and here we are watching Wisconsin play this afternoon!
wmphimu Posted Mar 29, 2008, 11:41 pm	What a day! This weekend started the National Cherry Blossom Festival. The Cherry Blossom Festival celebrates the gift of 3,000 cherry trees from Japan to the U.S. and is a huge festival every year when the trees bloom along the tidal basin. So we all went into DC today to see the trees and the Jefferson Memorial! Here I am in front of one of the beautiful trees: And here I am along the Tidal Basin with the Jefferson Memorial in the background!
wmphimu Posted Mar 31, 2008, 11:01 pm	After a fantastic trip to the United States, I headed out to Australia today! I will be arriving in 5-10 days (according to the man at the post office), but I plan on flapping my wings a little bit to help my package along!
gingermuggins Posted May 13, 2008, 3:54 am	Hello! I arrived about a week ago, Sam did message my mentor to say i was in Australia. I was posted to Sam's mum's post box as Sam wasn't sure when she would have time to visit her own post box. Sam's mum was lovely and let me out of my travel box as soon as she rescued me from the post office. I did meet the resident cat but the photos haven't been downloaded from the mobile phone yet. When Sam came to pick me up, a week after i arrived, I couldn’t resist and had to see if Sam had any stickers on her car. How disappointing!! Only 2 stickers. One is the regestration sticker that say’s the car is allowed to be driven and the other sticker has me totally confused, why would a car want to become a truck?!?!?!?! When we arrived at Sams house I was jumped on by other Toyvoyagers!  There was a dreadful noise of hello’s but they calmed down long enough to have a photo taken.
gingermuggins Posted May 13, 2008, 3:58 am	Hello! Sam had to take her girls into school this morning. They were supposed to catch the bus but the bus broke down. Unfortunately we weren’t with Sam so we didn’t get to go to town with her. She called us to tell us where she was so we wouldn’t worry. I answered the telephone as i was deemed the biggest and strongest. While Sam was gone we decided we would be helpful and wrap her daughters birthday presents, one less job for Sam to do before Friday. I think we did a wonderful job. I was very helpful with the scissors, cutting the paper nice and straight. Bon held the sticky tape and Sunshine taped the parcel up. We all decided that these books would be our present to Miss 8, hopefully Sam doesn’t mind, I mean we wrapped 5 different presents, surely one of them could be from us! When Sam returned home she brought with her a surprise!!! A new toy voyager to visit. It was very difficult to open the envelope, it was all stuck up with sticky tape. I had to very carefully use the scissors and cut a small hole. Bon was able to poke his head in and with the help of Sunshine and Myself we pulled out Antonio!! He was glad to see the world again after being in that envelope for a few weeks. He introduced himself and we chatted about our travels. Well that is how the morning turned out. I wonder what will happen this afternoon? xx Calixte xx
gingermuggins Posted May 15, 2008, 5:37 am	Hi again! While the other voyagers went exploring I stayed inside and watched Playschool. I can hear you asking why someone of my age would be watching a children’s program, well the answer is, the playschool hosts were making road signs! It was very interesting and hopefully with the knowledge I now have I can make my own road sign! That is how my afternoon turned out. xx Calixte xx
gingermuggins Posted May 15, 2008, 5:49 am	Hello After being such good helpers with the wrapping of birthday presents the other day,  Sam let us fill the party bags. Ohhh we had soooo much fun but when Sam came to check on us she wasn’t impressed at all! After we got cleaned up and with Sam’s help we finished filling the party bags. 12 bags! Maybe if we are extra good until Saturday we might get a party bag full of goodies. After all the messing around when filling the party bags, Sam decided not to let us help with the making of some of the party food. Yes, we are doing things a few days earlier but Sam has sooo much to do she is getting the really imprtant things done asap so she has time to do everything else. These yummy biscuits look like tea cups! They are for the birthday girl to take to school tomorrow and share with her class. After a morning of fun and games i think i will rest for the afternoon. xx Calixte xx
gingermuggins Posted May 23, 2008, 5:00 am	Hi Again! Finally we get to have party food and birthday cake!!!! I'm sorry there aren't more photo's, we were having so much fun, the camera sat in the corner and didn't get used.
gingermuggins Posted May 23, 2008, 5:10 am	Hello Sam's daughters brought someone home to visit. His name is Lucky and he is a toyvoyager but not like us. He visits the homes of everyone in the school. A different student each night. He has a diary that the children write in and either draw a picture or stick a photo in. Lucky has had soooo many adventures. We chatted all night then Sam took our photo to put in Lucky's diary.
gingermuggins Posted May 23, 2008, 5:37 am	Hi!!!!!! Finally i got to take a drive and check out some signs! Unfortunatley though, some naughty people had graffittied over a majority of the signs along the road we were driving on. Sam had to phone the Council people to let them know and hopefully the next time we drive down that road, all the signs willl be replaced. This sign tells us that there are workers fixing the roads and when we see them and this sign we must drive slowly. This sign tells us we can not bring certain fruit, plants and animals across the border from Victoria to South Australia. Some things may have dieseases and can do alot of harm to crops and animals if brought into the state. This sign is one of 2 along this road. This sign is about a mile up the road next to a rubbish bin, if you don't do as the sign says, you might get into alot of trouble! And this is the rubbish box that people put their restricted items such as fruits and plants in if they have any. Someone from the Council then comes along and empties it into a safe place and destroys it usually by burning it.

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