December brings with it a last visit for 2025 to Alpha Auer’s Alphatribe Island. I did so to spend a little time wandering through Quollidays, Alpha’s end-of-year setting which continues a theme seen with Ginger Bread and the Woodies, Quirklewick Hollow, and Critterflop Hallowpop, and which here is inspired by quolls.
For those who didn’t know – like me, so I’m relying totally on the likes of Wikipedia here – quolls are carnivorous marsupials found in Australia (4 species) and New Guinea (2 species). Furry and tailed, adult quolls tend to be between 25 and 75 cm long in the body and between 20 and 35 cm in the tail. They vary in size by species, with the northern quoll being the smallest, an adult male averaging 900 grams; and the spotted-tailed quoll being the largest, with males averaging around 7 kg. All six species are denoted by long snouts, pink noses and spots across their black, brown or sandy fur.
Once numerous across Australia, numbers have declined since European settlers arrived, with all six species suffering predations from feral cats and from foxes, with urban development destroying many habitats and many quolls falling victim to pest control poisons. In the wild, things have been made hard for them by the introduction of the toxic cane toad to Australia in the 1980s. As a result, quolls are now considered endangered species and subject to conservation protections and programs, including attempts to reintroduce them to areas where they have previously been thought extinct.
By nature, Quolls are apparently solitary creatures, generally only coming together in winter months – which makes Alpha’s Quollidays high suitable in nature, as it brings together quolls in a celebratory mood and within a wintry village setting. Here visitors can wander along the little winding streets between snowy cottages and houses there green roofs often decorated for the season, stands of bare, frosted trees gathered around them as snow drifts down from above.
Along the streets and among the trees the local inhabitants can be found, individually or in pairs or groups, often wrapped up warm against the cold and / or sporting colours of the season and touches of fancy dress. Some have clearly been having fun building snowmen whist others are content to stand and chat, noses truly pink in the crisp air.
Travel far enough along the paths and you’ll likely arrive at the Christmas carousel guests can ride upon. The carousel sits alongside a little skating rink, complete with a sign offering skates for those wishing to join some of the locals on the ice.
Easy to explore and offering opportunities for photography, Quollidays is a charming, easy-going location to visit; one bound to bring a smile to the face and lift the heart. For those interested in Alpha’s workflow in making these settings, do make sure you grab the information notecard from the snowman at the Landing Point. Should you wish to go home with one one of Alpha’s quolls as your own, make sure you visit the Alpha Tribe store in the north-east corner of the region.
SLurl Details
- Quollidays (Alphatribe Island, rated Moderate)
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 