Visit to Whipsnade Zoo

Up until a couple of years ago we used to have membership of Z.S.L. (Zoological Society of London) which meant, having paid around £100 a year we could then visit either of their zoos, London and Whipsnade, as many times as we liked during the year. Incredibly good value when you consider that a single entry ticket costs around £25 and you can get in free(I'm not so sure of the individual ticket price around 5 years ago when we first became members.) The cost rose astronomically, to near-enough £200. We didn't continue with the membership as our finances at the time would not allow it. We were also member of the National Trust (and re-joined that recently.) as you can also get into their properties free. Carol found out that she could become a Fellow of Z.S.L. because she is a science teacher. So she applied and we now can visit again, both getting  free entry. It also means she has access to a lot of Z.S.L. material which is in their library at Regent's Park as well as being able to attend lectures, as well as their A.G.M. and get discount in their shops and restaurants at both Whipsnade and London Zoos. 

We went today for the first time in quite a few years. We left Milton Keynes at around 9 a.m. and had to get petrol on the way at our usual Shell petrol station and then on to Boots outside Bletchley as we thought it might be a good idea to get sun screen as it has been really warm and hot, with particularly sunny weather. We drove out of Milton Keynes along the A5 towards Dunstable and then on to Whipsnade along the Dunstable Downs, where we saw a few gliders as well as kites near the visiter centre. We got to the carpark at the zoo to find it filling up rapidly. We haven't seen so many people at Whipsnade, but considering the warm weather it's not surprising. We then found that there is now a completely new building at the main entrance which houses a state-of-the-art shop, booking hall as well as toilets (which, incidentally, were never the best feature of Whipsnade.) We had to get Carol's Fellowship car sorted out. Which meant she needed a photograph to put on the card. When we both had membership we had to have photographs taken and these were printed on the cards. This time it was just Carol who needed a photograph (I have to be 'signed in' as I'm not officially a Fellow). Fortunately they were able to find the old photo on their computer system, which was not too out-of-date to be used on the new card.) It means we can not only enter free each time, but can take the car in without further payment. As Whipsnade is quite a large zoo, it can take quite a while to walk from one enclosure to the next, although there is a bus which ferries you around if needed.

We have seen the Birds of The World presentation several times before, but we saw it again today and as usual it's really great to see some of the birds that you never get a chance to see in flight, such as some really colourful parrots and a little owl as well as some kestrels. Amazed at the speed these fly at.

A walk-through exhibit called 'In With The Lemurs' always delights as lemurs are such lively little creatures and we were surprised to find that there were baby lemurs on view, clinging on to their mothers (as you can see from the photo I took, above. We took more photographs that was absolutely necessary, but they are so photogenic it was worth taking every one of them.

 A new butterfly house  has recently been opened, much like the butterfly house we saw at Twycross Zoo a few weeks ago. In the middle of it is another display which housed a miniature crocodile in a glassed space which allowed you to see beneath the surface of the water. You walk into this heated  structure, rather like a vast plastic greenhouse. The butterflies fly around inside and some settle on you. It's an amazing experience. It is heated by some sort of steam system which keeps on billowing out over the centre of the building.

We walked around the zoo and within 4 hours we managed to see tigers, elephants, penguins, bears (several varieties) as well as camels, bison, hippopotami, rhinoseros and giraffe. There is now a new feature, a sort of walk-way which allows you to see the giraffes at near enough eye-level as well as going inside their house and I took the photograph you see below.  Made a change to be able to see these animals like this.

Not like you would if you stood at ground-level. You can virtually see them at eye-level.

Quite a few improvements generally at Whipsnade since we were last there. It was generally looking rather shabby and some of the animal enclosures were looking somewhat tired. They have built a wooden fence around the penguin pools, which seemed rather odd and you have to go in through a gate. There are a couple more shops and some lodges where you can book and stay in overnight as well as some toilets which are far more clean than they have been in the past.

We walked back towards the entrance and had a look in the new shop and then had tea in the cafe. By which time we had completed our visit and then went home via Dunstable. We didn't manage to see everything, particularly the elephants, but it does mean, with the membership, we can return anything we want to which may be over the summer holiday period. It is merely a 45 minute drive from Milton Keynes.

Can't Start . . . won't start . . .

Drove over to Arcana Studio hairdressers in Shenley Brook End early this morning. Carol wanted to get her hair done and we went on the off-chance she could get an appointment. We arrived in the carpark at 8.30 and they weren't yet open, but once they came to open up we went in and managed to get her an appointment for 11.30, which meant we could go into the city centre as we needed to go to the bank. On returning to the car we then found it wouldn't start . . . we're back on this again, unfortunately. After several more attempts it still wouldn't play ball. Our car insurance is with Swinton and fortunately we have breakdown cover and after a bit of phoning we managed to get a call-out and the breakdown truck arrived. Carol re-arranged her hair appointment while the driver tried to get the car started. Still nothing as regards getting the car to start. He suggested it was something to do with petrol getting into the engine or something. Having spent quite a bit recently, first getting the car through it's MoT and then getting the clutch cable replaced, we imagined the car was going to be fine for a little longer. It had been fine yesterday when we went shopping in Sainbury's and then when we went to Toys R Us for the bicycle. To cut an extremely frustrating and drawn-out story short . . . the car was put on the transporter and I went with the car back home where it was dropped off while Carol remained to have her hair appointment and came back via taxi . . . we later telephoned Mark who had repaired the clutch cable and who told me on the telephone that we we attempt to come out and look at the car-not-starting situation and, hopefully, tell us whether he could resolve the said situation. So our outing to Whipsnade is on hold until the car is back up-and-running, which hopefully won't be too long or costly. The joke is, now we've got the bikes we probably don't need the car as much. We need to get locks so that we can cycle to various shopping centres and leave them and lock them without the fear of them being stolen. Also, I would like some sort of pannier-attachment on mine so I can carry shopping. It will also be easy to cycle to church on a sunday and leave them outside as there are cycle racks. No point going to all the effort of getting these bikes if we don't use them. We should also be able to get to D.W. Fitness near the stadium which will mean we get a double benefit of exercise- swimming and bicycling there and back. I have noticed that there are cycle racks outside when we've been recently. Also, when we were waiting for the bus to leave the shopping centre I saw quite a few cycle racks near the shopping centre.
No sooner had the car been unloaded from the wagon than Carol turned up in the taxi. I was surprised how quickly she had managed to order the taxi and the then get her lift home. On arrival back home we decided to get the bus into the city centre as we still needed to get to the bank as we are going to need to pay our landlord our deposit in monthly instalments and needed to get to the NatWest branch in the centre to set up a direct debit.
We got the bus from the bus stop near the Academy. We went a different route into the city and got off the bus near Midsummer Place shopping centre. We walked through the shopping centre to NatWest and managed to get the direct debit set up. Having finished in the bank we came out and went back into the centre, going through Marks and Spencer. On the way through there was a lady doing market research on a new range of Mexican food, and it was great to be asked our opinion on this. I did think, though, that some of it was very expensive. For example, a sort of 'mix-and-match' platter of food 'bites' was rather over-priced at £7. I think they are getting customer feed-back on future 'buy two meals for £10' or something. Actually very good value when you consider they usually include a bottle of wine which separately costs around £4-£5. It seems most of the major supermarkets do these 'meal deals.' We quite often buy them, especially at the weekend.
Having bought a card for Steve and Chloe's first wedding anniversary which is this weekend (can't believe it will be a year.ago. How time flies.) we decided we wanted something to eat. At first we were going to go to Pizza Hut, but there was a queue and changed our minds and opted for Giraffe where we've been before. We soon got a table and the meal was served quickly. Having been somewhat frustrated and annoyed with the car breaking down it was good to relax for a while.
We walked down the shopping centre and ended up in Waterstone's and looked at their 'buy one get one half-price' book offer but then decided we'd go to The Works where we ended up buying three books for £5. Then we walked down towards John Lewis and out towards the bus stop near the theatre and caught a bus back home.