"Huff huff - Hello Everyone!" Russell_the_Wombat's Profile

G'day mates - I'm Russell the Wombat. I want to take part in that stuffed plush animal subculture that is going on here! After seeing the homepages of some other furry VT members, I told Mommy that I want one, too. She's helping me with the typing, as my paws are great for digging holes but too big for the keys on the keyboard.

Seems there are many more of us around. Plushy fellows, please feel free to contact me, I want to get to know you...

I'm an Australian born in China who is now living in Germany. So I've done quite a bit of travelling at a young age. I don't remember much about my birthplace in China and the big overseas trip when we were stuck in a pitch-dark container. Luckily I didn't get seasick in there.

The first place I really remember is a shop in Margaret River, Western Australia. I was sitting on a narrow shelf together with five or six of my brothers and a bunch of kangaroos. We often wondered what would happen to us, where, and with whom, we would end up.

Then one day I saw her walking in. When she took me in her hands I knew: This is my mommy. But she said, "No, I think you'll have to stay here, little chap." I was heartbroken. Luckily a heavy rain poured down outside, so she lingered in the shop and finally came back to our shelf. I looked at her again and managed to convince her into adopting me!!!

Looking up information for Mommy

We then travelled a bit round the South West of Australia and on to Perth. There we boarded an airplane and went on a loooong night trip till we finally reached my new home on the other side of the globe in Karlsruhe, Germany. I'm now living on Mommy's desk, keeping her company and helping with her work. She is travelling a lot to see places, and I always try to persuade her to take me.

I love photography and modeling for photos. My favourite game is playing King Kong.

Two Aussies chatting

I even met a fellow Aussie citizen here: Platy the Platypus from Adelaide, who came over with Mommy three years earlier. She told me a lot about life in Karlsruhe and, of course, Mommy's habits and secrets. I won't betray these here, though!

I've made a personal album to present some more friends and colleagues I met at Mommy's.

Always ready for takeoff

I want to go out and explore the world!
Mommy has already taken me out on some trips in the meantime. You'll find photos of my adventures on my travel pages. More plans lie ahead of us!

Our trips in 2008:
Weinheim - including a VT meeting
Rheinbach, staying with Mommy's Grandma
Münster
Leipzig and Dresden with excursions to Görlitz/Zgorzelec, Pillnitz, Bad Schandau including a 'hiking' trip in Saxon Switzerland
Braunschweig
Basel on St Nikolaus Day - my first time in Switzerland
Braunschweig again for Christmas and New Year's, with side trips to Wolfenbüttel and Goslar

Travels in 2009:
Two days in Zürich, including a little VT meeting, in late winter
Easter in Braunschweig with a side trip to Halle
3 days in Marburg in May
A week in Kühlungsborn on the Baltic Sea coast in June/July with side trips to Schwerin, Wismar, Rostock, Bad Doberan, Heiligendamm, a very short stop in Hamburg and a congress in Paderborn afterwards
Wissembourg/Alsace, my first visit to France
A week in Estonia in September
VT Meeting with my friend Kimi the Bear in Göppingen
Pre-Christmas trip to Dresden in mid December, including side trips to the Ore Mountains and Meißen, and Christmas and New Year's in Braunschweig including a day trip to Berlin

In Vienna with my VAs Shawn and Dippydora

Travels in 2010:
3 days in Basel for the Fasnacht
Another visit to Braunschweig in March
VT Euromeet in Krakow in May, with pre-meet in Vienna, and a visit to München on the way back
Nürnberg
Meeting my friend Kimi in Esslingen
Essen
Ingolstadt
Bad Pyrmont in lousy November weather
A very snowy 10-day trip in Saxony in Advent: Görlitz, Pirna, Freiberg and side trips

Travels in 2011:
Würzburg in March
Exploring lots of small places in the surroundings of Karlsruhe with a pass for the regional transport network
Another trip to Saxony in September, this time to the western part of the Erzgebirge. Bases: Schwarzenberg, Annaberg-Buchholz, Chemnitz and Plauen, and lots of day trips including a hop into the Czech Republic to Karlovy Vary. Still busy working on many new pages...
In Advent we spent one and a half weeks in Braunschweig with side trips to the cities/towns and the Christmas markets of Berlin, Celle and Hannover.
Christmas was again spent in Braunschweig.

Travels in 2012:
For a sniff of real winter, a four-day trip to Garmisch-Partenkirchen in January.
I got to see the Fasnet in Villingen.
Wine and almond blossoms in Palatine in March.
Spent my 4th birthday at the Wilhelma in Stuttgart.
Another visit to Braunschweig in April.

Current travel plans:

A visit to Liestal/Switzerland in May
Euromeet 2012 in Bergamo, including the Kempten and Lago di Molveno premeets, and a couple of days in Valais on the way back

My favourite memory of Leipzig

Study abroad - yeah that's what I'm doing: study life in Germany, far away from my home in the Australian bush.

Archeology - what else would you call "digging"?

Culinary trip - yum! I love eating!

Photo safari - I want Mommy to take many many photos of myself and my adventures to upload here.

Other luxury travel - well I hope Mommy will see to that. I'm a wombat with ambition!

Kimi and me in Esslingen

In the meantime I had the chance to meet some of my furry colleagues here on VT. This is always big fun.

My best friend here is Kimi the Bear. Unfortunately he is living on the opposite side of the globe, in New Zealand. Nevertheless we have already met twice when his mama came to visit her old home in Swabia. We always pick an interesting place that is worth a day trip. In 2009 we took a trip to Göppingen and Hohenstaufen, in 2010 we met in Esslingen. Another meeting is scheduled for 2012.

On July 5, 2008 I went to my first VT meeting in Weinheim. I made friends in real life with Koala, Nobby and Luciano and their mommys.

During the 2010 Euromeet in Vienna and Krakow I got acquainted with Teddy, MsChubby and Noelle, the travel companions of BorneoGrrl.

On a very hot summer day I also met Shawn and Dippydora and their human dudes in Staufen, their favourite place in the Black Forest. Those two had been my VAs during the Krakow Euromeet.

When Aussirose and company came to Ettlingen, I met AussieBarney!

My favourite profile shot

I'd like to mention that all my photos are for real, we are not doing any montages. I have really been to these places!

All photos, unless otherwise stated, were taken by Mommy, VT member Kathrin_E, and are copyrighted. Please do not use any photos or texts from my pages without our permission.