17th December 2019

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One common tree growing all along the Australian East coast is the banksia. The ones we have seen here have a lovely lemon-coloured flower, almost like a candle, sitting on a branch. But when the flowers die, they turn firstly into green cones, and finally into brown cones, with lots of hollows where the seeds have fallen out. As they get even older, they shrivel up and form strange shapes on the branches.

Australian children are sometimes told stories about these little shrivelled-up cones. They call them ‘Banksia men’, and the stories are about how these cones become little creatures. If you look at our second row of photos, you can see Banksia men we found on a coast path from Bondi Beach to Coogee in Sydney. Look really hard at the third one, which is a little hidden – we thought it looked like a hedgehog with a pointy nose!

One set of stories about Banksia men is called Snuggle-Pot and Cuddle-Pie. I was going to tell you the story, but when I read it in a bookshop in Wollongong, I thought it was rather dull and boring. So I made up my own! It involves a character you know well, and I slightly altered the names of Snuggle-Pot and Cuddle-pie. Have a listen!