My route to work in the mornings now takes me right past the zoo. In the misty morning from the slightly elevated vantage point of the tram I can peer over the fence and get a glimpse of a few animals each morning. Mainly kangaroos and wallabies, but also my new friend, the elephant.

I�m not sure which elephant it is - Mek Kapah or Bong Su � but one of them is standing in its little house (or car port, which is what it really looks like) each morning as I go past.

Sometimes he (I�m going to go with he, though I�m actually not sure) looks perfectly content. Other days he stands facing the enclosed barn like a dog demanding to be let inside. Which, when it�s 7 degrees, I can�t blame him for. After all, his car port only has a roof, and no walls, and I�m sure an Asiatic elephant is more suited to tropical locales.

Anyway, going past and watching the elephant in the mornings is a nice little bright spot on my tram ride through the park. I imagine that during the summer when it�s light when I go past on my way home I will also get glimpses of other animals. Which all might be part of a clever plan by the zoo to get me to join as a member because it�s so close it might as well be my new back yard, and perfect for wandering around at the weekends.

My actual backyard underwent a substantial change yesterday. Next door to my apartment building is an old house on a big block that they were planning on tearing down and turning into a group of townhouses. When I left for work yesterday morning they had torn down all the out-buildings and taken the tiles off the roof. When I returned last night there was nothing left but the fa�ade. It took me a moment or two to figure out why everything looked so different � basically I could see my whole building from the street.

The speed was quite amazing, particularly given that there was no giant pile of rubble left behind. And now to months and months of construction going on next door. While that could be a pain, all work done to date seems to have taken place while I�ve been at the office, so I don�t think the disturbance should be too bad. And I knew when I bought the apartment that they would be developing next door � in the long run I think it will class up the neighbourhood a little, so I�m willing to endure the constant dust in the air in return for what will hopefully be a long-term gain. Also, unlike everyone else in my building, I don�t own a car, and therefore the dust factor isn�t going to bother me nearly as much as everyone else.

In other new house news, I have almost settled on a choice of couch. I have settled on the style, now I�m just debating between a couple of fabrics, but I might even get so far as to put in an order this weekend. Maybe. Alternatively I�ll make use of my first weekend in about eight weeks without constant plans and obligations to just hang out in my new place. Maybe go for a run and start that much needed exercise program.

Or I could just go and visit the elephants.