We went to Taronga Zoo

A couple of weeks ago we drove down to Eastwood to link up with my mate Phil Stallard from the old days. Phil and I used to play in The Quarks together back in the late 80s, and now he is the driving creative force behind Big Fat Squid, as well as being a successful and critically acclaimed artist. Not that that has much to do with going to the zoo.

Phil and his wife Lisa have two boys, Jim and Max, around about the same age as Zac and Tash.

From Eastwood we all drove to Meadowbank and caught the ferry down the Parramatta River to Cricular Quay, from where it's but a short - and spectacular - ferry trip across Sydney Harbour to the zoo.

This was the first time we'd been in the heart of Sydney since we'd arrived in Australia, and the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House looked fantastic.

It's hard not to feel a bit sorry for some of the animals in the zoo - the tiger is clearly completely mad and spends the whole time padding back and forth in its cage with a crazy look in its eyes. And I've never liked the idea of elephants in cages, they're too big for that caper.

So it goes.