A year in the life 2016 #169: cheeky monkeys at the zoo

I went with this cheeky monkey and his class to the zoo for most of the school day. It was gloomy and damp and my group spent a fair bit of time in the reptile house which wasn’t a bad choice after we had all gotten wet waiting for the bus.

The meerkats were huddling against the cold and wet.

And the penguins were a big favourite with Zac and his friend Henry.

Panda-monium (ok I know that isn’t original)

We went to the zoo. The daughter of a colleague was in town and her dearest wish was to see a panda, so we took her from her school group and went to the zoo. Wang Wang was about ad active, while Funi was hiding and recovering from her near-pregnancy experience (apparently it takes some recovery, even when not pregnant).

We spent quite a lot of time watching Wang Wang. It must be said that pandas are totally adorable, so watching them get about is quite a relaxing way to spend a morning.

Got our compulsory with-Panda shot in too.

Jude and Alexandra took panda love even further.

Zac wasn’t entirely outdone (pictured later).

Despite spending quite a bit of time with the pandas, we did wander about the rest of the zoo and enjoyed seeing the host of other creatures. I particularly like the serval kittens (who I couldn’t get a photo of properly), amongst other favourites. A lovely way to spend a morning.

Weeks! #40: Big city, beautiful country

So on Monday morning Jude, Zac and I loaded up the car to head off to Melbourne. James and Sebastian were flying there from Adelaide, so we had the car.

The drive wasn’t too bad – half the time, with Zac and Jude watching movies or playing on the iPads, it felt like I had the car to myself and could sing along to my music as loud as I liked.

We stopped for the traditional lunch break at Holbrook and arrived in Melbourne before dinner to reunite with James and dine on Italian food in Lygon Street.

Tuesday morning it was breakfast at James’ favourite hipster Brunswick cafe, Industry Beans.

We then went to see Sebastian play in his hockey tournament. Sadly, the ACT team was significantly outclassed and the week involved a number of thumping losses. But the boys played as hard as they could.

Jude, Zac and I headed off to see The MazeRunner at Melbourne Central while James had to fly back to Canberra to give a speech.

Next morning we headed off to visit Annabelle – while she and I gossiped, the boys had a lot of fun bonding.

Then it was off to zoo.

We liked the butterflies…

…and lemur island where we could walk around with the lemurs was cool.

The gorillas managed to elicit many sounds of disgust from small children as one gorilla proceeded to eat its poo, straight out of its bum.

We spent quite a lot of time looking at the reptiles.

And I always love a good seahorse.

Penguins are always a big hit.

And who doesn’t love a giraffe….

…or a zebra bum?

Zac tried another Lygon Street restaurant’s lasagne for dinner.

And both boys were excited to try the churros.

I caught up with Melanie my former roller derby buddy who has been living in Melbourne for a year or so now for breakfast. Afterwards I didn’t feel well and ended up sleeping all morning while James took the boys to see Sebastian play.

And then it was Luna Park time.

The boys particularly liked the giant floating balls.

Jude came for a ride with me on the ferris wheel – here we are at the top.

We all had quite a few rides on the purple dragon.

Zac didn’t like the dodgem cars at all (but James did)..

…but he won the day by going on the scariest rides – including the ride that just drops you from heights, and the wheel thing that goes from the horizontal to the vertical. Jude and I were both like “No. Way.”

It was then off to see the filming of The Project – as Natasha’s guests we had front row seats, then the boys, along with Conrad, got to try out the desk for size. And be taught how to shoot baskets with paper balls by Rove and Peter Helliar.

It was also lovely to catch up Natasha and Conrad afterwards.

On Friday we watched Sebastian’s last hockey game…

…before heading back to Industry Beans.

The boys in Brunswick…

Once we collected Sebastian finally, we headed for the hills…stopping in Daylesford for refreshments.

It was then off to the farm of the Jonai and some wonderful farm times and excellent foods.

It was wonderful to finally get a chance to visit Tammi and her family at the farm. It is an absolutely beautiful spot, and wonderful to see the happy pigs and their beautiful surrounds. And to eat such fabulous fresh food and enjoy such lovely hospitality.

The boys absolutely loved the dam and spent many hours playing on it with Atticus. My job was to supervise which suited me fine.

James helped out with the moving of the old chook shed. Here is Tammi looking delighted by its absence.

The boys were also pretty keen on the trampoline.

There was also the great installing of the dam jetty which involved much drilling and nailing and all hands.

And as evening comes, time for a gin and tonic and some beautiful sights.

Tammi made us some absolutely delicious baked eggs on Sunday – just a sample of the many wonderful foods we ate.

And we spent some more time visiting the pigs. It was a lovely couple of days – great friends, great spot, great food – and such a stress antidote!

Adelaide Odyssey: Day 4 – Pandas and beer and Chinese food

Adelaide trip 172

Dateline: 28 January. This morning the small boys and I head to the zoo where we meet Jasmin, Rachel and Michelle on a visit to the pandas. Meantime, the big boys met up at Alfrescos and went off to spend a couple of hours shooting zombies.

We lined up for the pandas which didn't take too long and once were in found there was plenty of room and it was not too crowded. While Funi was having a big sleep, Wang Wang decided to parade around for us. We decided he must have had a bit of a crush on Jasmin, as he did spend a fair bit of time displaying himself right in front of her.

After watching Wang Wang wander, pose, eat and wee (lucky us), we wandered off to visit the other animals of the zoo. Zac was particularly taken by the flamingos who were clsoe enough to touch. And so old – first came to the zoo in the late 1930s. The older flamingo was bashed a couple of years ago and left blind – it is hard to imagine what kind of total idiocy and cruelty would lead someone to do that.

The meer cats also posed for us – again, a lack of moats and so forth meant we could virtually touch them if we wanted. It was rather cool to be able to be that close. We also got lucky and were at the seals in time for feeding. This was a bit a of moment of nostalgia as I remember the seal feeding always being on of the highlights of my childhood zoo trips. Now of course they have been rather overshadowed by the pandas.

After the zoo we tromped up the (mild) hill of Frome Road to meet james, Andrew and Steve at the Austral for lunch. This was a place I spent almost every Friday night during university, so, as with much of this trip, there was mild cognitive dissonance at being there with my Canberra friends. Tragically, the beer lines weren't working, so beer had to be consumed from bottles. Jasmin and Rachel tried out the ciders however, and I was happy as they had Rockford's Alicante Bouchet by the glass.

We then parted to go our separate ways for the afternoon with shopping high on the priority list for the (female) visitors to Adelaide, while James and I took the boys home for a bit of a rest. The wi fi at my parents' house was finally restored, so our resting involved some internet accessing…

Adelaide trip 220

For the evenings events we all gathered at the McEwen family favourite Chinese restaurant, the CitiZen where we were joined by by family. We had the Splendid banquet, which was indeed splendid, then it was time to head home and rest up for the big day…out.

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