Sparkle!

A busy day. I started out going to training. My team are playing in Adelaide this weekend and I've decided not to follow them. I had originally intended to go and spend a few days driving round the area (it's about 7 years since I last went there)... but stupidly, I didn't bring my driving licence with me! (Nor my maps and other useful cards and papers)

After training and a stop at the market for lunch, I headed off to a new (ish) bird sanctuary out near the racecourse. The area was quite small and there were only a few birds on the water, blue-billed duck as well as Pacifics and Chestnut teal, coots, moorhens and swamphens. Around the back, however, there were a few eucalypts full of mainly wattlebirds and lorikeets. As I was looking at them and taking a few shots, this appeared in the sky. Skywriting doesn't work too well when there's a wind! Before he had completed his sign (Sparkles) the first S was almost gone.

After the bird sanctuary, I carried on through Royal Park and went to the Melbourne Zoo. I haven't been there for a few years and there were some new areas to explore. There were some beautiful blue (and green) peacocks roaming free...amazing colours especially in the sunshine. The great aviary and the butterfly house were fantastic. I saw my first bower-bird, a midnight blue one with feathers that looked like satin. I'm unlikely to ever see one in the wild so this was good.I was more interested in the native wildlife than the exotic. I only went around half of it so I may venture out there again before I leave. But I do want to go out to one of the wilderness parks.

I was very tired when I got back but did manage to crawl around the corner to a little Nepalese restaurant to have a meal before going back to the apartment.