Perth Zoo

Yay, I finally managed to squeeze in a trip to the zoo! I've been meaning to go since I arrived in Australia and today provided a surprisingly sunny day to see everything without getting rained on. The zoo is really close to the apartment, so I enjoyed a nice lie-in and slap up breakfast with the surrogate family before making my way over. I'm going to stick with my excuse that a whopping fry up was necessary for all the exploring and meeting new furry friends I had planned. Feeling the sun on my skin as I left home was amazing after a whole week of gloomy skies, rain and gale-force winds! The zoo is situated right in the middle of a really built-up part of South Perth; it felt bizarre walking through an entrance flanked by skyscrapers and shopping malls.

I paid at the gate, grabbed a map and set about wandering around the enclosures. I probably looked like a lonely old spinster walking around by myself, and the others offered to come with me another day, but I loved the fact that I could take my time seeing everything I wanted to at my own pace. Moreover, considering I've been going through the whole introductory thing with everyone at work at trying to appear interesting at home, I was excited to not have to be sociable for a few hours!

It must be said: children are rubbish aren't they. I would quite like the zoo to put on a special day when they're not allowed in. I only say this because, as an avid animal fan, you couldn't get a good look at one enclosure without some screaming brat scaring away every living thing in the vicinity. There is also considerable evidence to suggest that doing things together on the weekend causes parents and their kids to despise each other, so they should probably just leave them at home and let the rest of us get on with things in peace. Hosking, you will appreciate this: I could have done with a supply of toddler traps to keep them at bay!

Animals are such a source of amusement for me. I'm going to be predictable and say that my favourite was probably the koala. He was so cute chilling out in his tree, which didn't look nearly strong enough to hold up his chubby body. Others I enjoyed were the wombat who I caught wiggling up against a rock to scratch his bum, the massive orangutan playing with a watering can and a white-cheeked gibbon on speed who was going absolutely nuts in his cage (see video). Those gibbons with the sore-looking red butts are always a crowd pleaser too.

I had a very pleasing vegetable frittata and salad for lunch, before having one last look at the wombats, a mong around the gift shop (filled with the usual array of naff ornaments and monkey puppets) and eventually heading home for a spontaneous afternoon meander round the marine. Woohoo for the zoo!