How We Almost Got Locked Into The Taronga Zoo!

Trip Start Jun 07, 2008
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Trip End Jun 28, 2008


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Flag of Australia  ,
Tuesday, June 17, 2008

On Tuesday, I woke up at 4am or so. I migrated into the living room and hung out with Mom for a while, Tricia joined us later. Mom made me breakfast and I finished a letter to Adam and we watched an old black and white movie. At some point, everyone else wandered in and joined us, and I crawled back into bed to nap, waking up around 8:40. Then, we all showered and got dressed and decided how we could get to the zoo using Public Transport since we hate driving here. Turns out it was very easy and their public transport here is pretty easy, safe and cheap. We walked 2 minutes down the street to a train station, hopped on and had to change trains once. Then, we arrived at the Circular Quay (pronounced Kay) part of Darling Harbour and took a ferry across to the Taronga Zoo. It was an overcast day, but pretty warm. We were all comfortable in our light sweaters. The ferry ride there gave us some beautiful shots of the bridge and the opera house, as well as the city skyline. By the way, the opera house is only pretty from the side, from the front it's ugly and brown Koala
Koala
 . The dock for the zoo itself looks like a little Gilligan's Island inlet.
Once you get to that side of the harbor, you can either take a bus or a skyride gondola up to the zoo. We chose the gondolas. At the top, when you get out, there's a gift shop where Larissa tried on masks and we took pictures with a big koala. Then, they get you with the koalas right after that. For only $19.95, you can take a picture with a koala. So, we did that, and once you're in the enclosure, you can take your own pictures as well. So we did.
Then, onto the rest of the zoo! Pelicans and crested pigeons and kangaroos and wallabies and koalas and penguins and seals and giraffes and lions and chimps and zebras and echidnas and dingos and lots of other animals.
We learned that Tasmanian devils eat animals from the inside out. Especially if the prey is large, like a cow, they'll climb inside and start eating from the inside.  The view from the zoo is crazy amazing as well. You'll be walking and randomly see the opera house through some trees or have a perfect shot of the bridge framed by giraffes. It's really surreal and I assure you our pictures aren't fake or doctored!
We got there about 12 and we closed out the zoo. We walked all the way back up to the top once we'd reached the bottom because we wanted to take the gondolas back down only to be told that the gondolas were closed Koala
Koala
 . So, we went to the gift shop and bought fun stuff, then were going to head out to the buses.
But then! As we were walking by the koalas, we saw one with a 5 month old joey coming out of her pouch. These videos are long, but they're priceless. We were captivated and had to find the one exit that wasn't chained up by the time we were done watching.
Once outside, we waited for the last straggler bus, and then caught that down to the ferry. The ferry ride back was beautiful at night with the full moon and the lights of the city. Tricia and I were looking for the Real World Sydney house but I think it's on the inside of the harbor (the other side of the bridge).
When we got back, we walked around the wharf for a bit and then headed across the street to an Australian made souvenir shop. We all bought lots of great gifts, including boomerangs, kangaroo pouches, and aboriginal art.
We jumped back on the train and when we got back into our area, we split up, Amy and I wandered around to see what was open and ended up getting gelato. When we got back to the hotel, Riss and Tricia were going to go out and look for food and we gave them a grocery list too. Amy made a sandwich from bagels and salad and lunch meat (she's very resourceful, especially with sandwiches) and I had cottage cheese and tomatoes.
Amy went to bed shortly after that, she was exhausted. I stayed up until 11, organizing all the pictures from the zoo and going through my souvenirs and watching cheesy TV.
Enjoy our plethora of pictures from the zoo and watch our videos as well! Please try to ignore our commentary, which is mostly bickering among us and silly comments.
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