Hello, Myname is Travelling PenGuin only I mostly drop the “pen” part. But you couldthinkof me as a possible pen-pal (blog-pal?). My real name is Peng Guin:I have a (discrete) label that says so. To be very honest it is spelt ‘Peng

uin’but as people always ask me for a first name and a last name I made it intoPeng and Guin.  You might wonderwhy I chose 'Peng' not 'Pen' - but if you think about it – its pretty obvious.  Travelling because in my 20 odd (& they have been rather strange)years I have visited every continent – starting (of course) in Antarctica andending up ‘down under’ (I live in Australia)– which was actually ‘up above’when I started as I came here by way of California and England.

I findtravel can be a metaphor for life and vice versa.  Think for example of the (now famous) Wilkins ice-shelf thatis hanging by a cold-berg’s equivalent of fingernails to the edge of myoriginal South Polar home…. once the last remaining 6 km of ice snaps(likely to occur in the up-coming southern summer around Xmas this year—yes itis true southern hemispherics really do have Christmas in the middle of summer– which is a bit weird but like I said life and travel can be a bit oddsometimes).  Anyhow – the penguinson the break-away ice either swim for it or stay onboard and have their movinghome melt beneath their flippers as it floats north. The melting producessea-level rise that affects loads of people around the world.

In an Irish pub in Perugia (yes honestly) not long ago Iwitnessed a great illustration of the difference between the Arctic sea-ice andAntarctica ice-sheets melting effects. The guin who demonstrated this used a drink – safer with a glass ofwater – and a few ice cubes.  Placethe ice cubes into the glass first and then top it up to just full, as thecubes melt no change happens in the level of the water – this is the Arcticsea-ice.  If however you fill theglass brimming full and then slide a couple of cubes into it – well of courseyou get drink everywhere – this is the Antarctic (& Greenland) ice-sheetsthat are grounded on land or sub-marine islands, so he said.  I noticed that the guins in the bar whohad been becoming tiresome in their denial of the reality of global warmingseemed convinced – I was really glad he used their drinks!