Taronga Zoo

Hi everyone, sorry for not updating recently! So I've recently found the diary I kept when I went to Australia (I missed a bit of school, so I had to write a diary for some reason?) and I wrote a bit about Taronga zoo, which is featured in this chapter, so I thought I would put a bit in. I was seven so I wasn't particularly good at writing...

"Friday 19- Sydney
I went to the zoo. First I went on the cable cars. They are little cabins on wires. Next we went to the seal show. We sat at the front and got very wet! We also saw some koalas and had a photo with them! I asked about them and they sleep 20 hours a day! We saw the bird show. My favourite one was the one that broke the egg with the stone. After we got an ice cream because it was so hot. I came home on three buses! It took ages. I bought a toy koala." (Spell checked)

Enjoy the chapter!

Issy xx

Zoe heard shuffling next to her, she turned over and opened her eyes, Max was "trying to get comfortable" by the looks of things.

'Max? What are you doing?' Zoe mumbled.

'I can't sleep.'

'What time is it?'

'3am' Max mumbled back to Zoe. Zoe let out a groan, she felt like she'd been asleep for ages. Stupid jet lag. Keeping her up again. She leant over and gave Max a kiss on the cheek before putting her head next to his on the pillow and falling back into a light sleep.

After a night of tossing and turning, Zoe and Max finally got up at seven. Max was fussing around, "finding things" as he'd told Zoe. He had something planned for today. Zoe, however was taking an age to get ready, as usual.

'Zo? Are you nearly done? We need to leave soon, got a bus to catch!' Zoe was fiddling around with trying to put sun cream and makeup on at the same time, it was very frustrating, the sun cream was so runny and going everywhere, while the makeup was sitting all over the bathroom in random places, where Zoe couldn't find it.

Max walked into the bathroom and saw what she was trying to do. He sighed, picked up the bottle of sun cream and started putting it on for her. She smiled and carried on with makeup.

Finally she finished and went to grab her heels.

'Nope' Max shouted across the room where he was putting on his safari hat. Zoe was always embarrassed when he wore it, it had dangly strings hanging around it, and Max always "by accident" flicked his head and hit Zoe with the flying strings. Zoe let out a sigh and reached for her sandals.

The two managed to get out of the flat eventually and make their way down to the bus stop at the end of the street.

'Are you going to tell me where we're going?' Zoe asked Max.

'Ok.' Max smiled and reached into his pocket and pulled out a leaflet which he'd seen at the airport the previous day. He handed Zoe the leaflet and a grin spread over her face. They were going to Taronga zoo! It was one of the biggest zoos she'd ever been to! On the booklet it said there were 2600 animals there.

The two boarded the coach and it drove off to the zoo, eventually stopping outside a huge building, with a sign that read: Taronga Zoological Park. There was a big green logo of a platypus on a nearby sign post as well. Max pulled Zoe off of the coach and hurried inside.

They stood in queue and waited until they could enter the park.

Finally the two of them made their way past all of the queues, an reached the line for a cable car, this would take them all the way over the top of the zoo, and give them a stunning view of Sydney. After a short wait, the two climbed into the small car. It set off and as the hill that the zoo was on dropped away, they stayed high in the air. Max put his arm around Zoe and the two enjoyed the view.

Zoe pulled her phone out of her bag and took a selfie. She wanted to remember her days with Max when she was older.

'Let's make a photo album of our honeymoon when we get home.' Max suggested as he saw Zoe flicking through the photos of them on her phone. Zoe looked up and smiled at Max.

'Great idea!'

'I'm full of good ideas!' Max joked. 'Oh, before I forget, I have a present for you.' Zoe frowned and looked at Max, it must be a pretty small present because he wasn't carrying a bag.

'Look in your bag.' Zoe rummaged around and stopped, pulling out a small rectangular shaped parcel, the size of a book, wrapped in silver paper. There was a small tag on it: To keep at work so you can always look at my beautiful face. Zoe smiled and tore the paper open. Inside was a wooden frame with the picture of when they moved into their new house, when Max had kissed Zoe unexpectedly and secretively taken a picture. Zoe flung her arms around Max's neck and kissed him.

'I love it, thank you.' She said as she pulled back. Max smiled and Zoe put the photo back in her bag carefully.

They reached the end of the ride, and got out at the bottom.

The two made their way around the park, watching the bird show, seeing the amazing things the birds did, and the seal show, watching the seals jump up to touch their damp noses to the beach ball. They walked through the area with kangaroos roaming free and basking in the midday heat, and passed the giraffe house, where two tall giraffes were eating from a tree on the dry landscape next to the house. Then they reached the koalas. Inside the area they were able to have their pictures taken next to a koala in a tree.

Max put his arm around Zoe's shoulders and they both grinned into the camera. They bought the photo and Zoe put it in her bag to save for the photo album.

Finally the zoo was about to close, and Zoe and Max made the walk to the exit. They were incredibly tired and worn out from the busy day, and from the jet lag.

Both of them went straight to bed when they got in, and fell asleep to the gentle breeze from the fan blowing over them.