A day at the zoo

As I shared on Friday, I have been feeling a bit mentally fragile this December. While I know it doesn't work for everyone and I would never, ever tell someone who is depressed to just go outside, what always helps me when I'm feeling pressured is just removing myself from the situation that is causing me distress. In this case, it meant breaking my usual routine and…

*excited drum roll* 

..GOING TO THE ZOO!!

I love the zoo more than words can possibly express. It is one of my favourite places in all of Melbourne.

My No.1 favourite zoo destination is the elephant enclosure.

I was literally 10 metres from an elephant that was bigger than my car! 

And a younger one who adorably kept showering itself in sand, then water.

Why? I don't know, but it was adorable.

It was possibly not the best exhibit to start with when I was feeling a bit down because the sight of these lumbering moving around made me cry because they are still being poached today and their natural environment destroyed. Humans are seriously the worst.

But then I realised that although humans are without a doubt totally the worst, there are some good ones who are helping species reproduce and care for them. Watching this little week-old baby elephant (who is not quite as big as my car but not far off!) feed made me cry happy tears. It was a really beautiful sight and I am amazingly lucky to have seen it.

My second favourite location was the butterfly enclosure. As always, I resolved to plant butterfly-friendly plants and stop complaining when caterpillars eat all of my basil and bay leaves.

And, as always, it was hilarious to watch the big, manly Sam get freaked out by all of the shiny but harmless birds. At Melbourne Zoo, there are peacocks that wander around on the paths hanging out with all of the visitors.

And there are birds that hang around in trees, looking fantastic.

Neither of them look scary at all! What a weird, being afraid of birds of paradise.

Sam's favourite animals to visit are the Giant Tortoises. There's two tortoises whose home is off the main thoroughfare, which meant that there isn't a lot of traffic through there and, for a short time, it was only Sam and I hanging out with these amazing beasts.

We were quiet, like the signs said (apparently tortoises are shy) and we were lucky enough to see this one literally come out of its shell and start to eat.

I felt unbelievably better after my day out. I really am a very lucky person :)

By the way, you see that rail in the photo above? That is literally the only barrier separating the giant tortoises from everywhere and everyone else. I think even in the wild it would not be possible to get this close to the animal. It is truly wonderful and amazing.