The 3 Amigos have settled in with their host, Barking, in Australia and are having a grand time.

I realized that some of you reading these entries may wonder at some of the (unusual?) names my host families have (Walking Wombat, Barking, etc.). We are all members of an online community, Blipfoto. Once you join, you commit to posting one photo online every day.  It’s a great way to create a photographic record of your life’s moments, big and small.  I am known as Kelso online,  Please visit and see what it’s all about.  You may want to make up a name for yourself and join our community.

Back to Barking.  I have to tell you that I admire her very much.  She loved, and was loved by, her very handsome Vizsla, Cousteau. Sadly, he passed away just before the 3 Amigos arrived, but she went ahead with her hosting duties and showed the visitors a fabulous time.  Here are a few photos of the boys getting acquainted with her “Bluppet” Cousteau, which a friend made for her.  He made a great addition to the group, and for a while they were known as the “4 Amigos.”

Wait til you see what else they got up to.  Kangaroos are in their future.  Stay tuned!

The 3 Amigos had quite an exciting visit with their friend Jenny in Newcastle.  All good things must come to an end, and the boys are looking forward to their next adventure.  They are on their way to meet another Australian host, named Barking. Here they are, bags and all, at the Newcastle, Australia train station.

The boys have fond memories of their time with Hamish and Poppy, who welcomed them with open paws and took them for a stroll on the beach.  I will let Jenny describe their adventures, including trips to a nursing home and helping register folks for a triathlon.

Hamish & Poppy

Nobbys Beach

“You really need to see the three amigos in the flesh to see just how exquisite they are.  They arrived safely in Newie today from the Wombats and I took them home to meet Hamish and Poppy.  I had worded Hamish and Poppy up of course.  DONT TOUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  NO PLAYING!!!!!!!!!! SIT!!!!!!!!!!!!  I think I overdid the rules of diplomacy and you can see how nervous my two were meeting the amigos.  Still better than the reactions of some world leaders I have seen recently.

We took the three Amigos to Nobbys beach and then walked them down the breakwall to pose with Nobbys headland with the lighthouse and signal house behind them.

I have to say that the Three Amigos were a great hit.  Quite a few people stopped and admired them and I was pleased to tell those that enquired  that the amigos were on a world tour and had already been to Sydney, the Blue Mountains and Bathurst.  I have promised myself in the future to get a few shots of their interactions with the locals which might be a happy memory for them of their trip.”

“The pooches are exhausted.  They came to the Nursing Home with Hamish and me in the morning and were much admired by the residents.    In the afternoon, they helped out at the Triathlon registrations (the firm I work for are a major sponsor of the event and tomorrow I am doing the photos so it will be a big day for me.  The Amigos are going to have to stay home with Hamish and Poppy). ”

“I had some spare time at lunch today and so decided to take the Three Amigos into the Hunter Valley wine region.  It is about 35 minutes in good traffic from Newcastle so not far.  It’s wines (shiraz and semillon) are regarded as quite good.  The first plantings in the region were in 1825 by James Busby who collected extensive cuttings from Europe and South Africa.  Of course the area was long inhabited by the Wonnarua tribe who got there about 30,000 years ahead of the Europeans –  well before any dreams of wine were thought of.

This is a spot I like to take people to because you get a good view over the wineries looking back East towards Cessnock which you can see better in the second extra..

Kelso, no wine tasting was allowed and the boys were all under strict control.”

The adventure continues.  Stay tuned…

After we finished the registrations  I think they had their first experience in an Aussie pub (second extra).

The 3 Amigos are really turning into daredevils in the land down under.  Look at them showing off!  (Look closely at the surfboard and you’ll see them hangin’ 10!) They are visiting their friend jen in Newcastle and she took them down to the beach for a quick dip.

“I promised the Three Amigos I would take them to surfest.  Surfest is an annual surfing competition at Merewether beach and has attracted world class surfers this year.  The finals will be held over the weekend.  The heats have been going on alll week.

The comp was over for today but there were a few out practising.  This chap who gave the Amigos the ride of their lives was practising for the air competition.  He certainly was getting plenty of air here.”

“Meet the 3 Sisters in Katoomba. We decided it would be a tragedy if the boys didn’t get to view the iconic “Three Sisters” in Katoomba. We decided we would go to our sneaky lookout where there are usually no visitors instead of having to struggle through hundreds of tourists at Echo Point. We found a very obliging photographer who was only too happy to take a shot of the five of us. It did take a bit of explaining as to why It’s a pretty tricky business though. The little guys are just that and if they managed to fall over the edge it would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack!! Imagine trying to convince the State Emergency Services to come and rescue them!! Rest assured we were taking no chances and we both had a very firm grip on their hind legs 🙂
Can you imagine the uproar from blippers around the world if we had allowed them to tumble into the canyon below!!

They almost had a close encounter with Wilma the Wallaby  this morning.”

The landscape of Australia is stunning.  I wish I was tagging along with the 3 Amigos as they are enjoying incredible vistas!

“Wow, what a day the five of us have had today. We decided to take a break for the Alternative Olympics Stadium and take the “Three Amigos” to one of our most iconic Lookouts in the Blue Mountains. As you can see, we weren’t taking any chances with our precious visitors and CCN had a firm hold on their hind legs. I think the boys were absolutely blown away by what lay before them and we couldn’t have picked a better day to show them the Grose Valley and Pulpit Rock.”

“In the morning we took them to visit our two wonderful friends Jim and Marg. We wanted to introduce them to show them the wonderful tapestry work that Jim does. They were very impressed to say the least when we told them that Jim who’s 90 in August always wins the tapestry section in the local Craft Show. Jim thought they would be interested in seeing a Kookaburra for the first time.”

Australians are the coolest people ever.  The 3 Amigos have had a wonderful visit with Walking Wombat and CCN, who have taken them on delightful adventures.

Did you know that Australia is hosting an Alternative Olympics? Well, not really, but I love their sense of humor. Read Walking Wombat’s description of the event:

“We promised we would treat the “Three Amigos” like Royalty and we were able to deliver in spades when they found themselves in the front row seats at the Water Acrobatic Event a the Alternative Olympic Games. It was a bit grim for a while as it seemed the Aussie Fantails were a bit thrown by the arrival of having three Americans at such close quarters. I was doubtful that they would make an appearance at all. But being the little troopers that they are they soon made up for their tardy entrance and produced a Gold Medal performance. I have added an extra of the team who took silver and I’d love your opinion as to whether they should have actually taken the Gold!! All in all, Gold and Silver for Australia is a mighty effort and has given the rest of the Aussie Team a big boost. We’re really looking forward to introducing the “Three Amigos” to Harriett Bailey tomorrow. It’s not often an 8 week old Schnauzer puppy would have had the experience of meeting overseas visitors so it’s going to be quite an event.”

The boys needed a bit of a rest after the Olympics, so they had a quiet visit with the beautiful Harriet.

Oh wow, the boys are getting more and more daring.  They took a trip around the racetrack at Mt. Panorama.  Our friend, 59, describes the day:

“What a fun day. After lunch we toured Mt Panorama our famous race track. Here are Kelso, Rowan and Trigger on the starting grid ready for the 6.213km journey. We tried to beat the record of 2 minutes 1second but came in about 20 minutes late after stopping to admire the view and escape the police who sit at the bottom of the main straight to catch anyone going too fast.”

After this adventure, the boys stopped by to visit a church in Kelso.  So happy to have a picture of Kelso in Kelso!

“The main picture was taken at the Holy Trinity Church in Kelso which is a suburb on the eastern banks of the mighty Macquarie River. If you walk across you get wet up to the knees….but it is pretty “mighty” as it keeps on flowing all the way to South Australia thousands of miles away. Kelso was settled in 1816, previously inhabited by Aboriginal people from the Wiradjuri Nation. This is the oldest inland church in Australia ( 1835). We were thrilled to find a sign to take with the Amigos.”

The boys are continuing to have the time of their lives in Australia.  Their third stop on the tour was with our friend “59” who actually took Kelso to the town of Kelso.

The pictures feature our friends WalkingWombat, CCN and 59, and the handsome pup, Tommy.  What incredibly wonderful hosts the boys have found down under.

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Kelso, Trigger and Rowan arrived in Sydney, Australia, to visit our good friend, Beckett. Beckett is coordinating the tour of OZ for the boys.  He arranged for a warm welcome from members of the Blackheath Photo Group, pictured above.

Here is his description of their first few days in Australia.

,,,, after a good rest, the 3 Amigos World Tour took on a surprise meeting today!

Kelso, Trigger, and Rowan  were keen to head out and watch some of the Alternative Olympics after the fantastic Opening Ceremony last night, and after a tour of the mighty  Nepean River area it was time for some more R & R! (commonly called jet lag after travelling the long haul down under).
Blossom the whippet from next door went into “overdrive” when she spotted the guys coming inside. Well, what can you do, we went into have a chat with Blossom.
The guys were spoilt and welcomed onto her favourite rest spot for a chat!

3 AMIGOS AT THE RACES …

…. our Blackheath Photo Club had a fun day today at the Bathurst Race Cup Day. Country Races days anywhere in Australia are fun, as no doubt they are anywhere.
The 3 Amigos on their World Tour had a super day, helping out the Bookies taking bets, etc etc, but I liked this one of them saying hi to Kaylee jockey of horse Danish Lace.
Rowan, Kelso and Trigger have really settled into the Aussie way!

The story continues…

The 3 Amigos are my dogs: Irish Wolfhounds Kelso and  Rowan, and Trigger, a Greyhound.  They have their own Instagram account (@wolfhoundgreyhound) and I post photos of them on Facebook and on Blipfoto. I love my dogs so much I had miniatures of them made in felt.

I’ve made a lot of friends on these social media sites and I wish I could visit all of them.  That’s not possible, so I decided that my miniature felties could travel the world on my behalf.

Friends from all corners of the world have offered to host the 3 Amigos and post photos of them.  This blog is the place where I will capture their adventures.

I hope you will enjoy watching the 3 Amigos as they travel around the world.  Thanks for joining us, and please sign up to receive notifications when I publish new posts.