Z is for 'zadnji' & 'zooloski vrt'

"Zadnji" for all those that don't know, the word is Croatian for 'last'.
And yes, today is the last post of the A to Z Challenge for April.

"Zooloski vrt" is also Croatian for 'zoo'

We have a zoo in Hamilton, a very nice one too.
I visited a few times when we first moved here but had not been there for over 4 yrs.
They never did family annual passes and so therefore it cost us direct money everytime you wanted to attend.
In Auckland we were able to buy an annual pass and then you attended as many times as you wanted throughout the year. Much better as you didn't require money everytime, just pack a lunch and some drink and away you went for 2 hours or 4. With the boys being so little at the time, we happily lost an afternoon watching elephants and tigers!

However during the school holidays my cousin asked if she could take the boys to the zoo?
Yes, take them all day, even over night if you want? Which she sadly didn't!
However due to vehicle trouble on our part I ended up going with them.
It was great, I thought we would only be there for 2 hours or so, so was quite surprised when 5 hours later we decided we had completed the zoo, seen all we wanted and were ready to leave!
They have even started to do annual family passes as well, so we have decided that we will attend as a family soon and secure ourselves a pass, as we know that once we have it we will happily use it.
So what follows is some pictures of the animals we saw on our trip to the zoo.

hello are you looking at me?

this little green bird was very friendly

not sure on this species, but couldn't find the cage they came from to return them either! Who lets animals roam freely like that anyway!

This one happily talked to us

Fun day had with family (Alex took the picture)

Zoo

When we lived in Auckland, we use to visit the zoo all the time.
They had wonderful annual passes available.
At the time we were able to get 2 adult passes because the kids got in free.
Once they turned 5 then we would have got a kids pass and then become the accompanying adult that got in free.
All in all it always worked out a very decent thing to buy for the year and it got well used.

When we moved to Hamilton we checked out the zoo here! What a disappointment, they didn't do annual passes, just Friends of the Zoo, which you had to pay to be and this only gave you half price when ever you visited, so you had to have the money to be able to go.
Consequently we have not used the zoo at all whilst living here.

However I have just read on Facebook (and checked out on their website) that they have just introduced their  'New' annual pass to the zoo.
They now have on sale annual passes at a very reasonable price that allows you to go as often as you want for the whole year. Yea, we will definitely be looking at getting one of those.

When you have nothing else to do, it is always great to take the kids to the zoo. For the price of the Family Pass we would have to visit 3 times in the year to get our monies worth but that would be easy to do.
The amount of times we use to load the pushchair with drink bottles and a packed lunch and spend an afternoon at the zoo, was great.

Think we might just be visiting Hamilton Zoo much more next year

The Zoo

As a committee outing for the children we went to Hamilton Zoo the other day.

Now I can't say I really like this zoo, think I have been spoilt by Auckland Zoo.

They have lovely giraffes and rhinos, the walkway round the zoo has been done ever so nicely and the chimps have a wonderful enclosure but the rest I just don't like.

It is this maze of paths that seem to go nowhere.

The enclosures are very impressive but due to this the animals can all hide very well in their homes and you can't see them.

So you spend the whole time searching and telling the kids that "apparently a lemur lives here, or a red panda etc"

My 2 love the tigers, but unfortunately their enclosure is so big we have never seen a tiger on all the times we have visited, which doesn't sit well with Ben as this is all he races around the zoo to see!

They do have a playground that sits well with my 2 and the giraffes are so big and right there that you can't miss them.

The Zoo

Our family still really enjoys a good day out at the zoo.

These birds are so colourful

Ben and Alex just love this place, they know where they want to go and what they want to see.

They both love the giraffes, and have had the pleasure of feeding them.

Mummy, as taken by Ben. (the picture above, not the rhino below!!)

There Has to Be An Easy way!

To celebrate mummy's birthday, oh and also the elephants at the zoo, we went to the zoo for the day for the party and cake. Yum Yum.

We had lots of fun all day. The sun was shinning and there was lots to see and do.We found this wonderful rope walkway.

Alex had to make it harder than it really was!

This has to be easy than it looks, there must be another way to do this?

Ok, so now things are moving, knew there had to be an easier way.

Ok, so were you ever going to actually tell me I could walk on the rope?!

What's Been Happening Lately

I took the boys to the zoo last week. As you can

see the tiger was being very friendly behind his thick piece of glass. There he was dozing in the shade, and there was my two sat watching him.

On one occassion he actually had a big yawn and turned over. You should have heard all the kids around gasp at the size of his mouth and teeth. It was a great sight.

Ben and Alex sharing a quiet few moments

together reading some books.

Alex decided this weekend that he had to help us pull up the plants and turn the soil over.

Wish someone would tell him that our laundry bill is raising the roof because he insists on 3 changes of clothes a day!

But hey at least he was being helpful.