Presenters and Reporters

Reporter Sitala Peek got fluffy, Matt Botten got vocal and Adam got hot and steamy- all as part of job swap day.

Sitala got to trade jobs for a day with the Lemur keepers at Cricket St Thomas Wildlife Park. It was 'Eyes down, look in' for reporter Matt as who went to call bingo in Taunton and Big Breakfast presenter Adam Thomas got to drive a steam train on the West Somerset Railway.

Adam Thomas 'the tank' engine

Being born at the very start of the 1970's, I missed the whole steam train era in Britain, which came to an end in the early 60's. However this didn't dilute my excitement at the thought of driving a steam train one bit.

Adam had expert tuition

Not only was there a buzz in taking control of the big steaming beast and driving through Bishops Lydeard station as we got it ready for the return trip to Minehead but there was also a slight feeling of guilt as I realised that I was living out the dream of so many (mainly) boys down the years.

What amazed me was how sensitive the controls were whilst at the same time realising that there's a heck of a lot of effort needed to get these beautiful engines underway.

So under the superb instruction from Ian Wright, I reversed the engine out of platform 2 to get water on board, drove through the station alongside platform 1 and then reversed it again back across to platform 2 to pull up in front of the carriages full of passengers waiting to head off to Minehead.

All in all the whole experience took around 15 minutes and I shall never forget it. Ian said I had done extremely well for my first time in charge of a steam train...well my name is Thomas after all!

Two fat ladies? Nope it's just bingo caller Matt Botten

A month ago, I would never have given bingo a moments thought. But then I was introduced to "the Big Game", and a new love affair started.

'Legs 11' - Matt tried bingo calling

Building a sense of anticipation, turning two digit numbers into an enthralling story, and promoting £10 wins as "big money" - all skills the bingo caller excels at.

So with trepidation I took to the mic in a bingo hall in Taunton. "Two and four - twenty four. Seven and nine - seventy nine". This was great - and a lot easier than I'd imagined. What had I been worrying about? "Nine and zero... urm... I mean... nought... um... it's.. ninety... blind nine zero. It's ninety everyone - just ninety". Pride, it would seem, does precede a fall.

But I enjoyed it - and gave away a whopping thirty pounds. They're a discerning bunch, bingo goers, and while most had tidbits of advice for me - the best feedback came from one player, who told me, "you tried, you were all right, and we'd love you back!"

Sitala's safari

I've always been interested in animals from a lay point of view. Maybe its because I wasn't allowed a pet until I was old enough to leave home.

Unfortunately a career in veterinary science was never really a possibility given my complete lack of any sort of scientific understanding. But I have seen every episode of the Blue Planet, Big Cat Week and Walking with Dinosaurs and yes, I've got all the books that accompany the series on my bookshelf.

So imagine my delight when I was told that I could work as a keeper for the day at Cricket St Thomas Wildlife Park in Chard. The primate keeper Tracy Mason took me under her wing and showed me how to make the Lemurs' breakfast.

Cricket St Thomas has the largest outdoor Lemur enclosure in the world.  As most of the keeper's day is taken up with food prep and washing up that's what I did. The reward was seeing the Lemurs' close up eating out of my hand!