Day 4 - Taronga Zoo (Fri, Feb 23)

What - no comments on my funny faux blog posting?  You guys suck. 😢   Anyway, I was just running behind on my blogging, and thought I'd throw you a little appetizer... here's the real day at the zoo:

Today, we're going to visit the zoo!  Perhaps I should say we are going to try to visit the zoo - our animal navigation luck has not been stellar.  No - let's follow Yoda's advice - we're gonna do or do not, and we are gonna DO this zoo thing today.

We started out a bit earlier today, heading out the door by 9 a.m., and walked to our ferry station in Darling Harbour.  Because we are crap at timing things, we have about 25 minutes to the next ferry - but that's okay, because JQ wants her coffee.  For someone who gives me grief about my Diet Coke, she sure does seem fixated on her source of caffeine.

A few yellow leaves on the ground.  Is it fall?

Anyway, off to the wharf to catch the ferry.  Just an FYI: You access public transit with your Opal card (which is not made of opal, but is made up of your money).  When you get to a departure point, you "tap on" (put your card against a device reader) to enter, which doesn't charge you anything but basically just registers your presence.  Then you ride the bus, rails or boat to your destination, and you "tap off" to exit at your stop.  The device reader will then calculate your fare and deduct it from your card, all of which you can see on the screen, so you always know your remaining balance.

So, here we are at Pyrmont ferry station:  I tap my card and proceed into the station.  JQ says, "I can't find my card."  She sits down, and methodically (because she's a researcher) goes through her purse.  No card.  Maybe she left it at home.  Fortunately, we have 20 minutes left before the next ferry, so she goes to buy a new one.

Off to Circular Quay, where we transfer to the ferry for the Taronga Zoo.  There's so many people here, this ferry station is a zoo - or a zoo-preview.  I think that this ferry just goes back and forth all day, no other stops.  Zoo - Circular Quay - Zoo - Circular Quay, etc.

Fort Denison, aka "Pinchgut"

The day is sunny and hot already, and I have my hat firmly anchored to my head as we zoom over the waves.  JQ has a far more fashionable hat that does not stay put.  I offered to stab her in the skull with a hatpin, but she declined my assistance.  She is very fashionable, but I am much happier in the sun.

It's a 12-minute ferry ride, and for the first time we're heading out in a different direction past Circular Quay.  We pass by a little island/ fortress, which is called Fort Denison, aka "Pinchgut" (which was pointed out to us while sightseeing during the Bridge Climb).  It looks like it has a harbour, but I'm not sure how you get there other than private boat.

In no time, we are at Taronga, and the whole boat empties, with everyone making a beeline for the zoo.  Because we have pre-paid passes, we get to go straight into the line for the Safari Skytrain, which is a cable car ride up the hill to the front gates of the zoo.  We zip along above the trees, looking down on elephants as we pass by overhead.  Once we get to the front entrance, we finally activate our iVenture cards.  I venture to say, this is the start of a great adventure.  😀

The first area is the reptiles.  We've got iguanas and lizards, turtles and long-necked turtles, crocodiles and snakes - the usual reptilian assortment.


We veer off course when we catch sight of a giraffe.  A very tall giraffe is wandering around.  Oh wait, that's the baby!  There are two even taller giraffes, which must be the parents.  Yes, as a matter of fact, giraffes do live in very tall houses.


We are right on time to see the elephants, as they are just ambling our way, picking up a bite to eat from the fresh greenery that's been left for them.  JQ adores the baby elephant, which is admittedly very cute.  Just around the corner, we find an elephant being bathed by zoo workers.  That elephant loves her bath.  When they're done, she opens her mouth, waiting for a drink of water from the hose, and then stays there, waiting for her reward, which are some veggie treats.

We also took in a free-flying bird show, which was fabulous!  Two zoo workers stand in an ampitheatre, and the birds fly in.  For example, the one worker put an emu egg on the ground.  Poof, some kind of eagle flies in and pounces on the egg.  Very impressive to see these birds flying up close, and there was a lot of humour in the show.  The birds will fly right above the crowd at times, so it's a fun experience.


There was a unique entrance to the tiger exhibit, which I presume is designed to manage visitor flow.  It's almost like the entrance to an amusement park ride.  You line up and wait, then are loaded into a faux plane.  The interior is designed to resemble like a plane (except with no seats - standing room only) with a video screen up front, as well as on the "windows" on the side walls, to simulate a flight.  Scenery speeds by outside the windows of the plane as we fly to Sumatra, to see Sumatran Tigers, of course.  After "landing", we exit the plane to a mock-up of a Sumatran village, complete with food stalls and motorbikes (sadly, no one is selling food from the food stalls).  Like I said, I think these distractions are meant to pace the flow of visitors, or give them something to do when there are too many gathered around.

There were two tigers visible, one chilling out in a pool of water, ears twitching to swish away the flies, and the other stretched out snoozing in a shady spot right up against the window.  Very beautiful creatures, but wow, those are big cats (with big teeth).  I wouldn't want to get up close and personal.


As you depart, there's an interactive exhibit where you can look up which products are friendly to tigers, and which are not.  And you can also email the associated companies to ask them to improve or to commend them on their business practices.  For example, Tim Tams are good, and Nestle is greatly improved.  Not to go too heavy on the theme, they also have 'tiger' songs playing on the radio in the background (we heard Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger", and Abba's "Tiger").

Moving on, we were just in time for the lemur feeding.  Those lemurs look a little manic, don't they?  Afterwards, JQ asked the zoo worker how she could get a job working in Australia with the animals.



Finally, the iconic Australian animals.  Yes, the koalas and kangaroos are a big draw, so there were a lot of people running around - I had to step on a few children and knock down a few old people.  You gotta do what you gotta do.

The kangaroos were mostly lounging around and relaxing, but a few were up and about.  They look quite funny when they "walk", as they use all four legs to kind of crawl-hop around.  When they're moving fast, they get the hopping motion going, but the rest of the time, they perambulate on all fours.  There were emus and other birds wandering around with the kangaroos, so I guess they all get along.  The Koalas are just ridiculously cute teddy bears who fall asleep in trees.

Also, I did see a bilby and platypus, but as they are nocturnal, they were in very dark rooms and I could not possibly get a proper photo.  But the platypus is smaller than I expected, and it's a funny little creature with that bill.  It looks like a very small duck-billed otter.  The bilby is like a cross between a rabbit and a bunny rabbit and maybe a rat?  Small and cute, with those big ears, long nose and tail, and it hops.  Definitely unique.

VOGUE AUSTRALIA

With that, we have seen what we came here to see, and its been pretty much a full day.  Catching a ride on the Safari Skytrain, we head back to the ferry, and then on back towards the city.  For those of you keeping track, the cruise ship Arcadia is in port today. 😎

After catching the ferry home, we are quite tired of walking.  I'd thought about visiting the Sydney Fish Market today, but we're late enough in the day that it's closed, so we just go home to relax.

How far did we walk today?  I don't know.  My stupid watch erased all my steps for today, and says I only walked 102 steps.  I am somewhat irked by that.  102 steps?!?!  Oh well, it was a productive 102 steps.

Time to chill out at home.

P.S.  Hey, Meric: this one's for you!

😃