Royalty visits the Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Australia!‏

Back on Tuesday March 25th, the King & I woke up, got ready & we enjoyed another hearty breakfast at the DeVere Hotel we stayed at in Potts Point while we spent time in Sydney, Australia. 

We took the advice that David Schaffer gave us the night before when we met him at the Lord Nelson Brewery in the Rocks. With that being said, we decided to spend the day at the Taronga Zoo. We left the hotel & we walked over to Kings Cross so we could pick up the train. For the second day in a row, we decided to buy the unlimited one day pass for $23 each. That way we could ride around the City & the surrounding suburbs however we wanted to all day long.

Taronga Zoological Park

Unlike the day before, this time we knew exactly how to get to Circular Quay. Once we got there, we boarded a ferry that took us to the Taronga Zoo this time. For a change, mother nature cooperated for us. The sun was even shining on us in the Southern Hemisphere. It must have been our lucky day. After taking a 12 minute ride, the ferry we were on docked at the Taronga Wharf. We got off the boat & we walked over to the lower level entrance of the Taronga Zoological Park. We went up to the window & we purchased tickets to see of our other friends. In other words, the animals.

Sky Safari

In order to get started, we needed to take a ride in a cable car which was called the Sky Safari. By doing so, we went up an incline to get to the main entrance where we started our tour of the zoo. On the way up, we got to see an aerial view of the gorgeous Sydney Harbour & the City of Sydney in the distance. What a spectacular view it was as you can see for yourself in the picture I took. 

In order to gain entry into the zoo, we had to show our receipt to the person on guard who marked it for us. After that, we began our walk around to see the different exhibits they had on display. We started with the alligators that were in the swamp & we went on from there. 

We then continued on to see the area called the bush birds where we saw a variety of various birds that they had on display in a number of different cages.  

Koala

After that, we proceeded to see the koalas who spend around 20 hours a day sleeping. So it wasn't a surprise that we didn't see any of them awake. They stretch out on branches of a tree & sleep. They have some life.

We then moved on to the area which was designated as reptile world. That exhibit consisted of an array of frogs which included the corroboree frog which is Australia's most endangered species. We also saw some white lipped tree frogs. In addition, there were turtles, iguanas, rattlesnakes & lizards. We even got to see a komodo dragon which is the world's largest living lizard. 

Giraffes

The next stop was the African Safari which is where we got to see giraffes, a sumatran tiger which is the smallest surviving subspecies of Tiger. We also saw zebras which are unique animals because like us human beings their fingerprints aka stripes are all different. In other words, no two zebras have the same stripe pattern. Furthermore, we saw bongos, barbary sheep,  chimpanzees, lions & a sun bear.

Spotted Deer

As we continued making the rounds, we got to see some Asian elephants, spotted deers & a fishing cat. As we kept walking along, we got to take a stroll through the gorilla forest. 

Once we finished seeing the gorillas, we followed the dotted path which lead us to the water animals. I'm referring to the seals who like to put on a show & the penguins who only live in the Southern Hemisphere. When got done there, we passed by some Australian pelicans.

As we looped around to finish seeing the rest of the areas we missed, it started to rain for a change. Luckily we saw the majority of the exhibits while it was dry. Regardless we didn't let mother nature dampen our day. We dodged the rain drops as we continued on to care of some unfinished business.

Tasmanian Devil

I went all the way to Australia to see some kangaroos & the tasmanian devils which are only found now in Tasmania. When we finally got to the tasmanian devil conservation centre, the two tasmanian devils that we in there were sleeping.

Red Kangaroo

After we left there, we wrapped up our visit by going to see the Australian walkabout. By doing so, we got to see some kangaroos who reside in Australia. in other words, we saved the best for last. It should be noted there were a few different kinds. One was the red kangaroos which are the largest. They live in family groups called mobs which are ruled by a dominant male. They also have other ones that are known as eastern grey kangaroos. They prefer to rest in the shade. Kangaroos in general, live on grassy plains. They have square shaped heads & broad square snouts. On the other hand, there are other animals that resemble kangaroos. They're called swamp wallabies who are smaller & more maneuverable. They live in damp forested areas. They have cone shaped heads & narrow pointed snouts. One thing that they both have in common is that they both hop around. 

In retrospect, it turned out to be a wonderful learning experience for us. When we finally got done after spending five hours there we went back down to the ferry area on a Sky Safari cable car. We timed it right as the park was getting ready to close & a ferry was getting ready to leave. All in all, it turned out to be a great educational day.

When we returned to Circular Quay, I was able to get WIFI again. As a result, I was able to finalize plans for a special get together that night.

Stay tuned for a special post that will go into further detail about how that turned out.

Thank you for reading & following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman