Drive Through Safari Park, First Cinema Trip and Decorating Update!

A quick trip to see family after nights and a jam packed weekend after three shifts in a row!

Click here to watch the vlog or see below!

After 3 night shifts I was completely and utterly exhausted. I had about 3 hours sleep before having to get up after my last shift and then got ready and dressed, ready to head to Yorkshire. The entire immediate family was visiting and we had a little barbecue. The weather wasn't great so we ended up spending most of it indoors and finishing the night with a quiz.

With redecorating all the bedrooms the next day, we spent most of the Sunday taking down my sister’s room and finishing off the spare bedroom which will now be grandma’s. My room had already been dismantled bar a few bits and the wardrobes had been taken apart and rebacked, as the backs had caved in. I was hoping to go to the farm shop but in the end, we all had a Chinese takeaway for tea which was nice. We didn’t stay too late, but just as we were getting ready to leave, some guests came so we stayed until about half 5 and then set off as Luke had work the next day.

The next day we celebrated a reunion with a lovely meal at Bill's, followed by some belated celebrations for Sam's birthday the next day. It was a little last minute and I was caught a little off guard so this was the only picture I got sadly!

After three shifts in a row, it was the last weekend I properly had off for a while. With moving and working every Sunday for a month, Luke had booked the Friday off work and the original plan was to head away on holiday for the weekend. It turned out it was August Bank Holiday weekend so that wasn’t really an option as last minute, everything good was taken or very expensive. I was personally happy to pay £500 for the 4 nights but the other half wanted £100 so it wasn’t going to happen. Instead, he planned a packed weekend.

On Friday, we headed to the West Midlands Safari Park. It was so lovely to see so many animals up close and outside cages. Of course, some of them were and with a lack of cleaning facilities in the car, I didn’t personally feed any of the animals whilst driving through the safari. Luke did though and had lots of fun!

There were lots of animals there and personally, I didn’t recognise a lot of them. There were some signs up with details of the animals but for most of them, there weren’t. At one point, Luke was feeding one of the antelope like animals and it’s entire head was inside the car. I’m impressed I managed to get a clip of it as Luke threw the bag of food on me and I screamed. I think he was more concerned about his car getting damaged, but now it’s over, it’s definitely a funny story to look back on.

I love seeing the lions and the tigers. They had a few different varieties of them both and their enclosures were by far, the most creative. Whilst most were pretty bare minimum and lack lustre, the lions had a Rocky Mountain that was shaped like a lion and the other had a beautiful waterfall and some raised levels especially designed.

I’ve never been so close to a rhino before so that was quite cool! Some of the animals were in cages, but others just had signs up saying to keep windows closed, and others you could pet and feed. The tigers were all separated individually, but there were at least 3 types. Sadly, we didn’t see any cheetahs but we did think that about the dogs as well, and it turns out they were hiding in the shade shelter against the sides of the enclosure.

The littles deers were very sweet and delicate. Not too greedy and not much slobber. They were slowing the cars down so parts did come to a stand still but I think that’s to be expected. There was a very rude car who kept beeping their horn which was a shame.

My favourite animals on the safari have got to be the elephants. Loads of people were quickly driving past them but they were absolutely gorgeous and it was so fun to watch them play. There was a pair and a baby. When we first drove up the mum and baby were played and then the keepers called them inside, whilst they unloaded the food. They’ve obviously been trained and I wasn’t very happy with the keepers having spiked sticks to keep them in line but it was very cute, seeing them lock tails and follow each other. 

After the safari park aspect, we parked up and headed inside the ride area and more “zoo” like part. There were a few shows we went to see and I felt very safe as they limited numbers and stuck to social distancing guidelines. The reptiles talk was funny and interestingly, I learnt about the snakes forked tongue it for prey direction and also, that they don’t dislocate their jaw, but instead have a jaw that opens in the middle. The sea lion show was amazing. It was fun to see the tricks but how they linked them to the health of the animal and education. The hippo talk wasn’t that great but it was fun to watch them eat before hand. Because they’re so deadly, understandably they don’t want to get too close.

Finally, we walked through the rides which looked great for younger kids. They were cheap, fun and didn’t have super long queues so it would be great for children under 10 I would say. There were also some other animals, like meerkats, goats, lemurs and penguins. We somewhat fast forwarded through them because by this point, it was pouring down with rain. We also walked through the ice age and dinosaur displays, fed the lorikeets and attempted (failed) to see some bats.

I had wanted to eat at the zoo because the food look relatively reasonably priced and actually quite yummy. I also liked the themed restaurants but Luke didn’t want to stay any longer. We ended up calling in at his house to pick up some new shoes as he said his were too wet and then went to a Weatherspoons. I was so sad they were out of stock of their cookie dough and every other dessert, but we both had pizza. They ended up getting a delivery just as we were leaving and I was genuinely devastated.

The next day called for another early morning start. Luke has a house viewing for just after 9am and was really excited. I wasn’t so much but it’s nothing to do with him. In the end, the house needed too much work and there were a few issues with it. I don’t think he’s 100% yet but more than likely, it’s a no.

From there we headed to brunch at a local deli. I’ve been wanting to go since I moved to Nottingham but usually try on a Sunday. I messaged and booked a table in minutes and it was really nice. I also picked up a few treats for dessert later. On the was back, given the gloomy weather, we decided to head to the cinema. I was excited when I saw the live action Pinocchio was showing at the de Lux. I was ready to chill for a couple of hours. I’m going to share the cinema experience after a pandemic and Pinocchio film review later this week so stay tuned!

From there we went to Highfields. We had a lovely walk around the lake and then it got darker and windier and the rain looked like it was about to pour so I didn’t particularly fancy going on the rowing boats or playing mini golf.

It was a nice walk whilst it lasted and then we went home to chill for a few hours before tea. I had some freezer food in that needed eating, before moving house, so we had veg, new potatoes, chicken goujons and a slice of pizza (leftovers) each.

After eating, and devouring the Costa brownies, I dropped Luke off at the pub. I wasn’t very happy about him leaving but I thought for an hour it would be fine. It ended up being over 4 hours so I ended up doing uni work and editing a vlog or blog post, instead of having my romantic night I’m watching a film in bed. Not quite how I had planned the night sadly.