I love penguins. While Australia may not have any of these delightful creatures in our alpine regions in mainland Australia, if we include the Australian sub-Antarctic territories and occasional mainland vagrants, eight different types of penguins can be found in Australian territory.

Only one species of penguin (the Little Penguin) permanently breeds on the Australian mainland and its surrounding islands. The Little Penguin (Eudyptula minor), also known as the fairy or little blue penguin, is the world's smallest penguin (standing just 30–35 cm tall) and is the only species that builds burrows and nests along the Australian coastline. Major colonies are famously located on Phillip Island (Victoria) and Penguin Island (Western Australia).

The remaining seven species do not breed on the Australian mainland, but they either breed in Australian sub-Antarctic territories (like Macquarie Island) or occasionally wash up on southern Australian shores as rare visitors:

  • King Penguin

  • Royal Penguin (Endemic to the Australian sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island)

  • Gentoo Penguin

  • Southern Rockhopper Penguin

  • Macaroni Penguin

  • Erect-crested Penguin

  • Emperor Penguin [1]

My love of penguins can be attested to by the number of penguin related products I have in stock: key rings, board games, build-your-own penguin toys, penguin kitchenware, blankets, earrings, tea bags and at least one book. 


But fuelling my love of adorable penguin products, are a couple of internet videos showing the highly capable actor Benedict Cumberbatch’s struggle with the word "penguin”. It stems from his narration of the 2009 BBC documentary South Pacific, where he unintentionally mispronounced the birds as "penwings" and "penlings" several times. The mispronunciation flew under the radar until years later when Graham Norton played the audio clip on The Graham Norton Show, after which it quickly became a viral sensation. 

The hilarious blunder followed Ben to Hollywood. When he voiced a wolf named Classified in the 2014 DreamWorks animated film Penguins of Madagascar, he reportedly struggled to say "penguins" in the recording booth, repeatedly falling back to his famous "peng-wing" pronunciation. Try watching Penguins of Madagascar now and really listen to how Ben pronounces the word penguin. It’s entertaining. 

If you share my love of these adorable little creatures, come in store and see my penguin homewares. Because don’t we all deserve something adorable to make us smile?

You can see what’s happening in store on Instagram and Facebook. Come give @spot.sir.spotsalot the dog a pat & a dog treat. 


Cheers, Nyree 

www.idreamofsnow.com

Above Foodworks, turn right through the public seating, head towards the bathrooms & up the short flight of stairs.