I’m so lucky to have friends that give a middle finger to the rules of what an adult should and should not do. This is how I came to spend the night at Wellington Zoo with 30ish other adults and two kids at the type of sleepover usually reserved for school groups and children’s birthday parties.

Our zoo minder Kim did her best to change her usual sleepover routine into something more suitable for the big kids and we had a lot of fun despite the wet night, thin mattresses, and snoring. The morning after was beautiful and bright; the animals were out and about celebrating the first sun in days. We explored the grounds before the zoo opened and forgot that we hadn’t slept the night before.

During our morning explore I added a new animal to my favourites list. The Nyala males are beautiful punk looking antelopes and the females are pretty and Bambi like with their red fur and white markings.