There are baby elephants in the city......

really there are, 50 of them all placed around Melbourne waiting to be discovered.  Why are they there - let me explain.  It is Melbourne Zoo's 150th birthday and as part of the celebration there was a free public art exhibition inspired by the zoos baby elephant, Mali.  The event was called Mali in the City and apart from celebrating the zoos birthday it hopes to raise funds for the breeding and conservation work done by the zoo.  The life size sculptures had all been decorated by a variety of artists making for a very colourful display.  One was even painted by Mali herself.

Before we left to visit Perth I had noticed a few of these sculptures in the city and managed to take some pictures of them.  On our arrival home I discovered that there were 50 of them to be found and so started my two week elephant hunt as I scoured the city looking for them.  The zoo made it very easy with an awesome phone app that showed them all and pinpointed their locations on a map.

So armed with this wonderful piece of technology I tracked them from Carlton, the Fitzroy and Botanic Gardens, Queen Victoria Markets, all around Melbourne city and Southbank finally finishing up at the zoo.  It was great fun.

Bill joined me on my safari on Saturday and we spent the afternoon in the Botanic Gardens on a lovely spring day.  Bill was happy with the birds while I went in search of the 3 Mali's that were hiding there.  We crossed the river and walked home through Birrarung Marr and Federation Square finding 6 more before we called it a day and went home to rest our weary feet.

The following day I left Bill at home and went in search of the 10 that were located around the Southbank area.  Another beautiful spring day and a quirky way to keep the excercise routine up.

 I had to return to work on Monday so I continued my safari each night following my map and choosing a different area each afternoon.  There were a couple of them that were a bit of a challenge, one in a hotel foyer and another on the 2nd level of Melbourne Central which had me scratching my head for a while but I got there in the end.

Almost at the end of my hunt when I got a bug that stopped me in my tracks and I was unable to get out and find the last 5 before they were all rounded up and returned to the zoo.  So I did what any self respecting hunter would do the following weekend.  Jumped on a tram with Bill to visit the Zoo and had a great afternoon in the sun and completed my mission with the final 5.

Of course there are lots of other things to see at the zoo and one of the highlights was seeing the 'real' Mali with the other elephants.  Also seeing the young male Ongard practicing his moves on the big bull elephant Bong Su.  It kept us amazed for ages watching and the old guy was so patient with the little kid.  Just like dad and the kids.

 The seals were great fun too and the new seal enclosure lets you watch some of their training procedures like a show.  The two seals training that afternoon were so entertaining and beautiful.  Both are seals that have been rescued and were not suitable to be released back so they have a pretty good life in their new home.  It was a fun day and with my hunting days over we returned home for a well earned rest.

The night before we had joined the family at The Sportsman Club Mordialloc for dinner where we celebrated Bill's birthday and said our farewells to Jarrod who is leaving for 2 months in Thailand.  His first trip overseas.  Have a great time and stay safe.  Can't wait to hear all about your adventures.

So with only one week to go til it's Grand Final time, Bill might be going but I'm not, I'll leave you now

until next time.......