Pasha Clicks a Pic

Pasha’s brother had got him a digital camera for his birthday. It was a sleek, shiny little thing. The best part was Pasha could copy his photos onto Facebook for all his friends to see.

“There’s so much to click in Perth,” said Pasha delightedly. He took pictures of flowers and towers, trees and bees, bright lights and historic sites. His photo albums got lots of nice comments.

But Pasha wasn’t happy. “I’m not in any of my own pictures,” he said sadly, as he sat on a park bench trying to get a duck to pose for him.

“Quack!” said the duck. “You’ve got a long trunk. Just turn the camera around and take your own picture.”

Pasha thought this was an excellent idea. He stretched his trunk out as far as he could. Click! What a wonderful picture!

Pasha’s mum didn’t think much of his photo though.

“Very nice,” she wrote, on his Facebook page. “What’s happened to your trunk though? You look like you’re blowing your nose into the camera.”

Which, of course, was not a pretty sight.

A Hitch in the Stitch

SNIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIFFFFF! Pasha had a bit of a cold. When an elephant has a cold it’s a terrible thing, because it takes an awful long time to blow a trunk.

“Have you got a cold, Pasha?” asked his Chinese friend, Lily. “You should dress warmly.”

“But I am dressed warmly,” snuffled Pasha. He was wearing a huge cardigan and a great black coat and two pairs of socks. How much warmer could he get?

“You need a scarf,” went on Lily. “I’ll knit one for you.”

“Thank you very much,” said Pasha politely, although he wasn’t quite sure scarves were quite his thing.

“Let’s see,” said Lily. “How many balls of wool will I need?”

Now that was puzzle indeed. How many balls of wool DID it take to make a scarf for an elephant?
“Well, I’m giving the sheep good business,” said Pasha to himself, and he trundled away, leaving Lily to work out the answer.

Lunch at the Library

Pasha trundled into the library cafeteria. He squeezed himself between the railing and the counter and looked at the menu. Pasta or roast lamb? He couldn't quite decide.

"Where are the veggies?" he asked, the lady behind the counter, nearly knocking over some French fries in the process.

"You could try the burger or salad," said the lady with a smile. People smiled a lot when they saw Pasha. Of course, some people looked rather wary, like the person behind him in the queue, who looked like she was afraid of being squashed.

"I guess I'll have the burger," said Pasha. He picked up the little buzzer and sidled off as best as he could to the cashier.

How strangely spice-less the cafeteria seems, he thought, sniffing hard.

"ATISHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooo"

Half a dozen people ran for cover when Pasha sneezed.

"Sorry," said the hapless elephant, giving wiping his trunk on a couple of napkins. "A fly went up my nose."

"Well, thank goodness it isn't hay fever," said the cashier, handing him the receipt.

Pasha Meets a Quokka

Pasha the elephant was in the library. He was looking for a book called How to Get a PhD. He squeezed himself between the shelves.

"Oooof!" he said, "Nearly got stuck there." He swung his trunk to the topmost shelf to pick up a book. Then he heard the oddest noise. A sort of thump-thump. Whatever could it be?

Suddenly something small and tiny squeezed between Pasha's big legs. "Oops, sorry about that," said the tiny creature. It looked like a rat, but it hopped like a rabbit.

Thump, thump, went the animal as it tried to hop up to the topmost shelf. "I wonder if you could reach up and grab that book for me?" said the quokka (for that's what the creature was called). "I'm a little short handed, you see."

So Pasha obliged. The grateful quokka introduced himself. "I'm Kip," he said.

"How do you do, Kip," said Pasha politely.

"It must be nice to be so large...very useful thing your trunk."

Pasha felt pleased. Perhaps there were advantages to being, well, a bit large.

"You must come over to my place, some time," said Kip. "I live on Rottnest Island - the only place in the world where you'll find quokkas like me."

So Pasha agreed to spend a weekend with Kip.

"Oh, and look, here's that book you were looking for," exclaimed Kip. For right on the bottom-most shelf, far below an elephant's eye, was How to Get a PhD.

Pasha Has a Problem

Pasha the Indian elephant woke up one morning and heaved himself off his bed. He plodded to the mirror and rubbed his eyes. “Dear me,” he said. “I’m peeling all over!”

Pasha was quite worried, so he called his new friend, Cookie the kookaburra to pay him a visit. The little bird laughed when he saw the blotchy elephant.

“It’s just sunburn, Pasha,” he said. “Don’t you know you must use sunscreen lotion?”

“Thank goodness,” said Pasha in relief, and he blew a sigh down his long trunk. “I was afraid I was turning into a snake – only snakes shed skin back home.”

So Pasha went down to Coles, his favourite supermarket, and bought a big tube of sunscreen lotion (SPF 30).

“One teaspoon on each leg,” he said, reading the instructions out loud. He squirted a bit onto his trunk and rubbed it over his feet. Of course, elephant feet are rather large, and one teaspoon didn’t go a long way. He soon ran out of sunscreen, so it was back to Coles for more.

When he was done, he looked in the mirror. “I’ve heard of white elephants before,” he said to himself, “but this is ridiculous!”

But the sunscreen didn’t work very well, because the next day poor Pasha woke up with stinging arms and more peeling skin.

“I look like the paperbark tree at Perth University,” he moaned to Cookie.

In fact, the white elephant was now turning pink in patches where the skin had come off.

“Perhaps you should wear a hat,” said Cookie.

So the next morning Pasha put on his best flowery hat (which reminded him of dessert) and ambled off to the uni. Whoosh! A gust of wind swept the hat off his floppy ears and up into a tall pine tree.

“Hoo...hoo...” whistled the wind, as Pasha huffed and puffed and tried to reach his hat. “Come and get it!”

“I most certainly won’t,” said Pasha crossly, and he trundled off feeling out of sorts. By the time Cookie rescued the hat for him, it was far too torn to be used again.

“You need an umbrella,” said Cookie. “Look, I’ll get you a nice large one as a welcome-to-Perth present.”

So Pasha was soon the proud owner of a big red umbrella with blue flowers. He wrapped his trunk around it and marched to campus proudly. The wind couldn’t snatch it away, for an elephant’s trunk is very strong.

You just might catch sight of a red umbrella bobbing over the crowds of students at Perth University. If there’s an elephant underneath, you’ll know it’s Pasha.

Pasha's Photos of Caversham

Pasha the elephant put his photos of the trip to Caversham Wildlife Park in his photo album. Of course, his favourite picture was of his new friend, Cookie the kookaburra.


There was one of the lazy kangaroo, and another of the sleepy koala.

His friend Cookie the kookaburra, was the only one who smiled for the camera!

Pasha Makes a Friend

Pasha the elephant was very excited. He was going to the Caversham Wildlife Park.

“It’s time to meet some REAL Australians,” he said to himself. He meant the animals, of course. He wanted to meet the kangaroo, the koala and the wombat. He had a lot of questions about Australia.

A lot of people were going to Caversham, so the Manager of Pine Tree House hired a bus. On a hot and sunny morning, a black bus called Night Rider arrived to pick up the group of visitors.

“How odd!” thought Pasha. “Shouldn’t it be called Day Rider?”

The students piled into the bus, and the driver turned on the radio. Then they were off!

Caversham Park was divided into different parts, each one like a state of Australia. The first stop was Molly’s Farm. Pasha heaved himself up into the stands, and sat down to watch the sheep being sheared. Then he learnt about how to swing a billy can to make tea, and how to crack a whip. It was all very thrilling.

Then Pasha trundled off to see the Wilma the wombat. She was sitting in a park keeper’s lap, and looking very plump and stuffed.

“Can I have a picture with you?” asked Pasha.

“Of course,” said the friendly creature. “I’m very popular, you know. Everyone takes pictures of me.” Sure enough, there was a long queue of impatient visitors.

The swamp wallaby wasn’t quite as friendly though – he tried to take a little nip out of Pasha.

“Watch out,” said his keeper. “He’s a carnivore you know – he likes meat.”

“Well, I’m rather thick skinned,” said Pasha, but he was careful to stay out of reach.

The kangaroos had a large area all to themselves, and lots of people were feeding them. Most of them were lying in the sun and looking lazy.

Soon it grew hot, and Pasha wished he could doze like the kangaroos. “There’s still the koalas,” he said. But to his disappointment, the koalas were having their afternoon nap.

Finally, Pasha wandered by the bird enclosure.

“What have we here,” cackled a large-beaked bird. “Oooh, I’ve never met a creature like you before!”

The bird turned out to be Cookie, the kookaburra. Once introductions were made, the chatty bird was more than happy to tell Pasha all about Australia.

“You must meet the Aborigine people,” said Cookie. “They’ve been here nearly as long as we have, and they have lots of stories to tell.”

“Perhaps I will,” said Pasha, with a smile, and he took a photo of his new friend.

Shopping at Coles

Pasha the elephant was moving into his new home in Perth. He was staying in a Campus Residence. He had a nice little room with huge pine trees outside his window. In fact, the Residence was called Pine Tree House.

“This isn’t too bad,” thought Pasha to himself. Suddenly his tummy rumbled.

“OOOer,” said Pasha, startled. Everything sounded much louder here, it was so quiet. “I must be very hungry.”

There was a supermarket just down the road, so Pasha decided to go shopping.

“You’d better hurry,” said his new flatmate, Morris the miner. “The shops close at six.”

So, the two of them hurried to Coles Supermarket. The supermarket was very large. Pasha nearly put a knot in his trunk, trying to pick up all the cans of food.

“Everything comes in cans here,” he said to Morris. “Corn, beans, peas, mushrooms...”

He squeezed his way into the vegetable section – elephants love their veggies. Such a lot of choice! Should he buy brown onions, or red ones? White bread, brown bread or Turkish bread? And look at all the apples!

“Frrribbble,” he said, for that’s what elephants say, when they’re at a loss for words.

There were all kinds of eggs to choose from too – barn-laid, caged, free range.

“You can buy everything here,” said Morris happily.

Sure enough, there were bright pink pyjamas (Pasha decided to pass), pots and pans, socks and stockings, paper and pens, dog food and cat food (why did they never make elephant food?), lots of make-up, and deals on all sorts of items.

But everything cost much more than it did back home. Pasha sighed, as he paid the lady at the cash register.

“How are you today,” she said cheerfully, as she put the food into bags. “Here’s your change! Next please...”

Pasha looked at the coins on the tip of his trunk. The $1 coins were larger than the $2 ones.

“How very strange,” he said to himself.

The Inspector Beagle

Pasha the elephant was in Perth! He got off the plane and looked around. The sky was the bluer than the rivers back home. The grass was greener than a parrot’s wing. But where were the coconut trees? There was not a single coconut palm in sight. Suddenly Pasha felt very homesick.

“You must go this way to meet the Customs Officer,” said a friendly airport official. So Pasha blinked away a tear and went into the airport. There were people from all over the world pushing trolleys and carrying bags.

Suddenly, an Inspector Beagle trotted over to Pasha. He was tiny dog with floppy ears and big brown eyes. He made Pasha feel huge and clumsy.

“I hope you’re not carrying drugs or food!” said the Inspector Beagle sternly. He sniffed at Pasha’s suitcase and looked down his long trunk.

“I wouldn’t dare,” said Pasha meekly.

"Shells? Butter? Fur? Muddy shoes?" asked the Beagle.

"I..I don't think so," stammered Pasha.

"Straw hats? Stuffed animals?"

"Well, I'm an animal - and I know I look a bit stuffed, but I'm just built that way," explained Pasha.

"Hmm," said the Beagle, and wrinkled his nose thoughtfully. “I'm not sure that counts.. Alright then, off you go.”

So Pasha hoisted his suitcase with his trunk and lumbered off to the Arrival Lounge. A young man was waiting there for him, carrying a sign that said Perth University.

“Hallo,” he said cheerfully. “You must be Pasha. Welcome to Perth!”

Pasha Sets Off

Pasha the elephant was off to Australia to get a degree. He was very excited indeed. He had an airline ticket, and a visa, and a suitcase that was so full, it looked like an elephant itself.
“That’s a lot of excess baggage you have there,” said the Ticket Lady with a frown. For you see, poor Pasha was twice as heavy as his suitcase.
“I can’t help it, I’m born this way,” said Pasha. What if they didn’t let him get on the plane. Was his journey going to end so soon? But the Ticket Lady was very kind.
“I don’t think you’ll fit in the passenger cabin,” she said. “But you can travel in the cargo hold.”
So she pasted a white sticker that said ‘PER’ onto Pasha’s tail. “That means you’re going to Perth,” she explained. “Now what kind of meal would you like?”
She put Pasha down for a vegetarian meal, and then told him to hop onto the baggage rack.
So off went Pasha, riding on the conveyor belt with the suitcases. He was put on a wagon and loaded onto the plane.
“The things people take on a flight these days!” said the pilot, looking out of the window as the elephant was heaved on board. He wondered if he’d be able to take off.
But the plane was sturdy, and the flight was uneventful.
And so it was, that ten hours later – after a long and delicious flight – that Pasha the elephant landed in Perth.