Away from home

As soon as someone tells me that they are off to the zoo, these lyrics just come floating through my mind:

Were going to the zoo, zoo, zoo
How about you, you, you?
You can come too, too, too
We’re going to the zoo, zoo, zoo

What I hadn’t realised, until I sat down to write this, was that there were so many more words to this song!  The zoo has always been a special place, memories of wandering with packed crowds, the weather was always hot, and all I ever wanted was an ice cream. I also remember the ice cream cone that the hot chips would come in. The vinegar would soak through from the chips, and make the edible bucket all soggy.

I think that the zoo never held as much of an appeal to the men in the family. I struggle to convince the husband to go for a day. Even when we travelled to San Diego on our honeymoon, I had to choose between Sea World or their world famous zoo.  I could probably count on one hand how many times the family went to the Melbourne Zoo. Although we’ve travelled to the Wildlife Park in Ballarat, and there are numerous photos of my brother trying to make friends with the kangaroos that you would hand feed in Merimbula, I’ve still never made it the Werribee Open Range Zoo.

So when Jack and I were invited to the Melbourne Zoo to celebrate Aunt Abbey’s 25th birthday, I gleefully accepted and counted down the days! Abbey had set us small tasks to take some photos around the zoo.

Leanne and I had to attempt to take a selfie with an animal photo bombing in the background. Here’s our very poor, but numerous attempts throughout the day:

We also had to take a photo of an animal starting with one of our initials. This led to Leanne having her photo taken with the Lemurs. We had to find the historic horses  and had to donate our dollar!

We also had to take a photo of a butterfly on us. The butterflies loved the green of the pram canopy, and Sam’s white shirt. Jack was asleep at the time that we made it to the butterfly enclosure. Unfortunately, the butterflies seemed to avoid me like the plague!

I’m looking forward to becoming a zoo member and taking Jack along to many family outings, even with a screaming husband.

We had a great day out and about, so thank you Aunt Abbey for inviting us 🙂

February 28 – March 2

We travelled to the Gold Coast for a mini holiday – it was our first family holiday, unfortunately without Benny the wonder dog. James needed to gather a few points to make the next stage of Virgin’s reward program and when he suggested a trip away there was no way I was going to say no!

We ended up booking the accommodation through Wotif and their mystery hotel deal as we’d figured out that it was the Marriott. We chose a Junior spa suite and it was simply lovely. It was situated on the corner, the balcony overlooked the pool complex below, and had beautiful ocean views as well. The spa bath overlooked the Gold Coast Highway and I spent quite awhile watching the car headlights and the lights at night, with a glass in hand of course.

We also had access to the Elandra Club Retreat which served breakfast, evening  beverages and canapes and general coffee, cakes and biscuits during the day. We were greeted at reception with complimentary chocolate pearls, and a glass of bubbly (well, water for me). We also had chocolate truffles and a bottle of bubbles delivered to the room. The service was fantastic!

The pools and gardens were simply a sight to see! There was something for everybody –  the saltwater lagoon pool with beach entrance that deepened into the reef system where you could swim/snorkel with the fish, through to the chlorine pool that snaked it’s way around the bar. The currents were strong enough to knock me off my feet and would make a fantastic lazy river. There were several spas dotted around the complex, and sun loungers were plentiful. The husband was happy to disappear for ages swimming with the fish, and he was even more excited when he found out that the bar delivered cold beverages around the pool.Next time I go I hopefully won’t be breastfeeding and will be able to partake in a poolside cocktail too!

We didn’t venture out too often. We caught the tram to Cavill Avenue for dinner on Saturday night, and drove to Marina Mirage on the Sunday. We marveled at the boats moored at the marina and came to the conclusion that we wouldn’t be able to afford most of them, or even the dinghy’s on the back of the boats. James went on the Vomatron for old times’ sake. He did try to convince me to leave Jack with the operator so that we could both go on it. I thought otherwise…

We stayed in at the hotel for dinner on Sunday night. We went to Benihana Japanese Steak Restaurant – my first teppanyaki experience, and Jack’s of course. We ate bugs, scallops, prawns, chicken fried rice, wagyu steak and fish. James even surprised me by attempting to eat the salad, onion soup and barbecued zucchini, mushroom and onions!

All in all, it was a lovely break – the weather was hot and humid, but it was a pity that it wasn’t slightly longer! We kept seeing all these references to Benny – Lobby (one of his favourite toys), Labrador, and even car rego plates stating “Dog”. Maybe our next family holiday will have to include the fur baby too 🙂