Lions and tigers and bears - oh my!

Last Sunday my BIL was due to arrive into Sydney from Germany, to join Beloved's sister and their three teenage daughters who have been staying with us since the day Princess Grace was born.

So we all decided to take the train to Sydney from Canberra, ostensibly to meet him, but with the added bonus of a trip to Taronga Park Zoo.

It was a weekend of firsts for PJ: train, ferry, zoo. He was pretty excited about the whole adventure, and we unashamedly used the threat of not going to keep him in line all week. (This may be why I am yet to be offered an authorship deal on a parenting guide)

It was his first train trip. He nearly burst with excitement every time the train's horn blew. He wanted me to take him to the driver so he could drive the train.

We arrived in Sydney late on Sunday afternoon. Apparently there was another event on that weekend too - there were "youth" everywhere. Pilgrims, they called themselves. Central Station was packed, the park outside Central was full to bursting, roads were closed and there were more people with guitars than a Fender convention.

We walked to Surry Hills against the tide. This is looking down Albion St towards Central, if you are familiar with Sydney.

The upside was that at least it wasn't a crowd of football fans or post-Christmas -sale bargain hunters, so it felt pretty benign and non-threatening.

The next morning we were up bright and early and caught the ferry to the zoo from Darling Harbour. Another first for PJ. He wanted me to take him to the captain so he could drive the boat. (I wonder if he has his mother's control-freak tendencies??)

At the zoo, there were a few must-sees on the list. Elephants, monkeys, seals, kangaroos (well, for the tourists), lions, meerkats and tigers. But these guys were the absolute favourite.
And of course we had to wave to Mama's favourite animals.

We caught the train back to Canberra that evening, exhausted but full to the brim with exciting new experiences.

And Princess Grace, now well-travelled for 4 weeks old (especially if you include the trip to my parents, 450 kms away, when she was a week old), slept through it all.

I know you're all just here for the baby eye-candy now, so here you go:

That's your lot for this post, you'll have to wait for some more! Hopefully now that my computer is back working again after a week on stress-leave, and I'm not competing with three teenagers for use of it, or travelling around the countryside, I'll be able to answer my emails and post a bit more often.

Hopefully!