Charlie Bunny

Coming back to Geelong from Wellington a couple of weeks ago, my journey was plagued with long delays. Two hours at Wellington airport, slow queues coming through customs at Melbourne airport, missing the train at Southern Cross Station and waiting an hour for the next one. Then that train got cancelled due to a fatality. One hour wait before the replacement bus arrived and an hour and a half bus ride to get back to Geelong. I wasn't a happy camper. My last night in Wellington involved drinking too much, coming home too late and well, too much fun. What had been a minor headache earlier in the day turned into a pounding migraine by the time I was finally on the bus to Geelong.

There were a few screaming kids on the bus and the woman across the aisle was talking so loudly I could still hear her even when I turned my noise-canceling headphones on. Not-so-noise-canceling, apparently. I tried listening to Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures but the throbbing bass lines did nothing to soothe my throbbing headache. 

The one thing I wanted to do when I got home was to get into my bed as soon as possible, even if it meant skipping the part where I take off my coat and shoes before snuggling under my duvet (or doona, for the Australians reading this) and falling into a happy slumber. 

Walking through the door, I must have looked as exhausted as I felt. A white rabbit poked its head around from behind the couch. I forgot all about my bed as I dropped to the floor and  squealed with delight, frightening the poor fluff ball. It was Charlie, a dwarf lop rabbit my flatmates had bought while I was away. 

Charlie has been with us for three weeks now and he never fails to make us smile, even when he's being naughty.

 

We can't stay mad at him for long, he's just so cute. He's certainly got personality, he likes to run around the lounge with sporadic bursts of speed and sometimes twists and flails himself around the room. 

When we let him free in the backyard he goes absolutely crazy and hardly finishes a mouthful before moving onto the next patch of grass. Only three weeks ago he was too scared to jump out of our hands when he was barely off the ground - these days he's jumping on and off the couches before we have a chance to scold him. He's very curious and sticks his head in everything, including glasses of wine and chip packets. It's just like having a child, we have to rabbit-proof the house and move everything out of his reach.

A black cat has been hanging around recently and we have caught him sitting on top of Charlie's cage. It's quite tame and seems nonplussed by our shooing noises and erratic arm movements. The cat just sits there meowing at us. Poor Charlie. He only ever moves one of his ears, we're yet to decide whether this is because he's lazy or has a defect. We love him either way.

Some of my favourite rabbit pictures from recently: