going to the zoo..how about you?
From Rachel -
Charlotte spent the weekend with Kevin this weekend and caught up with a few of her friends. She is a lot more active now and is enjoying playing like a normal little kid again... I got Charlotte back on Sunday afternoon and her bowels are moving again. She is eating and drinking with a bit of encouragement, which has helped a lot. The lactulose worked a bit too well tonight, so will call PMH in the morning and we will probably reduce the dose again.
Charlotte and I had a fantastic day at the zoo today. I organised for a Behind The Scenes Australia Experience and Giraffe Feeding. We were to be at the zoo at 7.45am this morning to start the tour, but managed to get there about 20 minutes late with all the traffic and the rain. Luckily for us we were the only ones on the tour, so they waited for us. One of the keepers and the Event Organiser took us on the tour. We started off at the Education & Discovery Centre where we met the two rock wallabies. They were very cute and we gave them lots of pats and fed them some breakfast. We then went in to the reptile enclosures and patted a spiny dragon lizard, which felt very bumpy. We passed on meeting any snakes. Then we were shown the baby radiated tortoises, which were so tiny and cute. We learnt that they could feel us patting their shells, as they are actually part of their bodies. They move reasonably quickly too, which was a surprise. Then off to feed the tree kangaroos. Unfortunately, the two tree kangaroos didn't want to meet us, as they had to be caught yesterday and weren't going anywhere near any people today. Even the keeper had to stretch right up to the tree to feed them their favourite treats. It was great just to be so close to them in their own enclosure anyway.
Then we met the two gallapagos tortoises and fed them some celery and we were able to pat one of them on his head and neck. We were warned not to let them walk too close, as if they stand on you they weigh about 200kgs and don't pat at the bottom of their necks or their legs, as if they get a fright and retreat into their shells, they can crush your hand in there very quickly. We were very good though and followed all the instructions. All the way through meeting the animals the keeper was telling us all sorts of information about the animals and we both were really enjoying the whole experience. Charlotte even asked some questions too. Then off to the Nocturnal House and we met even more animals - the potaroo, squirrel and ringtail possum. They were all so soft and Charlotte loved how the ringtail possum curled his tail around her finger when she patted it on the tail. As it was Behind The Scenes we met other keepers feeding the animals and got to see some very yucky food ready to be fed to other animals, like dead mice and baby quails. We went through lots of staff only doors and gates, etc, so Charlotte thought it was pretty cool. Then on the way back to the entrance we saw the two dingoes being walked just ahead of us, so we caught up to them and got to meet them too. That was a bonus! We were told not to pat them, but the dingoes can sniff us, etc. They were very friendly and walked straight up to both of us and sniffed us and gave us both lots of licks on our hands. And of course, tried to push under our skirts, just like domestic dogs. Their keepers walk them every morning and train them, so they sit and stay, etc. Very clever dogs and very pretty up close. If you ever get the opportunity to do one of these Behind The Scenes Experiences it is well worth it for those animal people. We really enjoyed ourselves and learnt so much from it. One of those "once in a lifetime" sorts of things that isn't too expensive really for a special occasion.
Once we finished our Behind The Scenes Experience we met Aunty Sam and Kevin and visited some other animals and then did the Giraffe Feeding. That was very cool too. We stood on the platform with our branches and the male giraffe, Imani, went along to each branch and ate the leaves off. He is very strong and you have to hold on to the kids to stop them being pulled over. Its only $5, so definately worth a go! Amazing to be so close to a giraffe and to see just how big and strong they are. He was very gentle too.
We saw the keeper training one of the male elephants on our way past too. He was very clever doing all sorts of tricks. We were lucky there weren't too many people at the zoo today, as the animals were all out and about and there weren't really any crowds around each of the exhibits.
Of course, we had to stop in at the zoo shop on the way out to do some shopping. We came out with two more soft toys - a lemur and a zebra. Charlotte doesn't have any of them yet. I think she has every animal possible now, but I'm sure she will find more. I think she is seriously addicted to shopping.
The Make A Wish volunteers visited us tonight and gave us our itinerary for Qld, so it is all go. We are very excited, as they have included a visit to Seaworld, Dreamworld and Movieworld and Charlotte even gets a special experience at Seaworld. I'm going to look up the hotel we are booked into tonight, so I can show Charlotte in the morning.
