Hello and Welcome to the Downunder Dolls/Gumnut Girls!

Dearest reader,

Hello! I am so glad that you are here. You must be tired after your long voyage. May I interest you in a warm cup of tea and lamington cake? It is the least I can do. Here is your sweet tea and lamington. Drink up and eat up, be my guest!

What you have found is rather extraordinary. You seem to have come across the elusive key; the one made of sterling silver with the gumnut-shaped top. You know, the one you have in your hand? Gosh, seeing it up close, it sure is pretty. It shines ever so marvelously... Anyway, back to the point!

As I was saying, you have found something wonderful. The key to unlock the world of the Downunder Dolls/Gumnut Girls! Who are the Downunder Dolls/Gumnut Girls? Well, that is a great question, and I am happy to answer it. They can take on two different forms and meanings. The former is how they are best known, on a particularly amazing Instagram community; AGIG (that is American Girl Doll Instagram, for those of you who are not as familiar with AGIG). On the surface, they are a bunch of 18-to-20-inch dolls of which I have collected over an eight year period. There are twenty-three of them in total, and they are my prides and joy. But there is so much more to them than just being stationary and lifeless dolls; quite the opposite, in fact. Enter the world of the Gumnut Girls, and that is where the magic, wonder and imagination is sparked!

Each of my dolls is a physical representation of a perfectly imperfect young girl. Each of these girls are the product of my laborious ways, and it brings me great joy to introduce them to the world at long last! You can find the Gumnut Girls scattered all across Australia; just lovely, good and kind spirits who I believe mirror the equally amazing real girls they are based on. Each girl is between the ages of eleven and fifteen, and they are just beginning to discover who they are in this crazy, seemingly relentless world. Each girl has a story to tell, and they are all linked by one common factor; they are so insanely proud to call Australia their home. This vast and sprawling land, as unique and varying as the people who live there, is where these select spirits roam. They also share a love of learning, and an intense longing to share the stories of their home with the rest of the world. They have had their fair share of highs and lows, but they have chosen to turn every stumbling block in their lives into a stepping stone towards their future.

You will find them in all corners of Australia; from Sydney, to Adelaide, down all the way to Hobart, stretching across the sea and the land to Western Australia's Pilbara, to the tippy-top of Darwin, and down into the heart of rural Northern Territory. One girl even calls the Torres Strait Thursday Island her home! Now as all young girls of this age group do, they have their imperfections and insecurities, and they certainly vary in temperament, that's for sure. Believe me, I have to live with them! Embarking on telling the stories of twenty-three diverse preteen and teenage girls is no easy choice to make; rather exhausting, if I am to be truthful. But if I can do just one thing in life, just one thing of meaning, it is to allow these girls to be heard loud and clear. Because my goodness, our Aussie girls are never heard as much as they should. They are our future women of Australia, after all. As far as I am concerned, if I can give these girls the voice they deserve, then I have succeeded, and I could live quite comfortably with that knowledge.

As for me? I too am one of the many girls of Australia. Well, technically and legally speaking I am an adult woman. But I am only eighteen, and I am far too immature to be trusted with such an honorable title, so I will stick with "girl" for now! I hail from New South Wales, and just like my beloved Gumnut Girls, nothing could possibly warm my heart more than to share the stories of my amazing country, its people and its history to the rest of the world. Oh; and to become a secondary school teacher and children's author one day. I hope that by embarking on this mission, and introducing my select spirits to you all, I shall be able to fulfill that dream.

But for now, I must go and get some rest. I am going to need all the energy I can muster to wrangle all of the girls, and get them to share with you all the colours and songs of their lives! I shall see all of you again sometime soon!

With all my love and best wishes,
Erin; your Gumnut Girls storyteller xoxo
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Characters You Are Yet To Meet:
 New South Wales
Matilda and Florence of the Blue Mountains
Sarah of Parramatta
Judith and Georgie of Newcastle
Austral of Sofala

Victoria
Jasmine of Melbourne
Helen of Ballarat
Zienna of the Dandenongs

Tasmania
Alannah and Aria of St Helens
Janet of Hobart
Karmein of Cygnet

Queensland
Elysia of Toowoomba
Merridy of Cairns
Norah of Thursday Island

South Australia
Amy of Adelaide
Zaidee of Coober Pedy

Western Australia
Celia of Fremantle
Lanie of Tom Price

Northern Territory
Penelope of Darwin
Marcia of Tennant Creek

Australian Capital Territory
 Iluka of Canberra