Giraffe Girl

Last week, I had to take a bird to Taronga Wildlife Hospital (for the full story, have a look at my wildlife blog).

We have a Zoo Friends membership.This means we paid lots of money up front and then you can go to the zoo any time you like. So I left the kitchen sink dirty. I left the huge pile of laundry. I packed up Pinecone the bird and Boo Boo my daughter, dropped the boys off at school, and drove to the zoo. I handed the poor little birds in at the Wildlife Hospital (who performed a miracle over the next few days) and then took my daughter to the zoo. It was absolutely lovely.

It was the first time ever I had taken her to the zoo on her own. Normally we have the boys there, and between them, they pretty much dictate where we go and what we do. Not today! The madam was calling the shots, and she was loving it. We saw the Koalas. Their cages were being cleaned, and Boo Boo pulled a funny face and said "wee wee" and crumpled up her nose at the smelliness. We saw many birds she knew from my aviary, we had a look at the lions, monkeys and elephants. When we got to the giraffes it was their feeding time, and Boo Boo was intrigued to note that hey eat grass.

She pointed at the grass on the side of the giraffe enclosure, near to the bench we were sitting on for a sip of water. So I picked her some grass, and she promptly popped it in her mouth. And there was Boo Boo the giraffe. See?


But probably the highlight of her trip to the zoo was the ride in the little pretend train. I have to say, the train is a silly little money spinner. It is a short ride and costs $5, but boy, it was worth every cent. Boo Boo sat in the train (on my lap) like a princess and looked left and right, commenting on everything she saw (in her mix of basic words and sign language). She waved at everyone. Human and animal alike. This girl was surely a queen in a previous life! At the end of the ride, she gave the driver a big smile and said "an-ouw" (translation: thank you) with the sweetest face which melted the driver's heart – and had him waving bye bye until he was out of sight.

She charms the pants of anyone, that girl.