Taronga Zoo, Sydney Harbor

It is zoo day!  We are catching the 9 am train, second door first car to connect with Suzan’s daughter Charlene and her three daughters, Alex, Lucy and Sophia.  Suzan had talked her into bringing the double baby stroller not so much for the girls but for all the stuff for lunch.  I had to laugh when Charlene said “the only reason Mom wanted this double stroller was to have a place to put stuff”.  But it was a good choice since everyone had brought food along with changes of clothes for the little ones.

We got off at the harbor and walked a short distance to the ferry.  It reminded me of a smaller version of the Staten Island Ferry.  We had a nice ride across the harbor, passing the Opera House and docking at the Zoo.  The zoo is on the side of a hill with a steep incline to the top and the entrance.  Unfortunately the Sky Ride (Gondola) was closed, so we took the bus up.  A short ride but pretty much straight up so it was nice to be deposited at the top.

Sydney along the harbor

Sydney along the harbor

At one time the longest suspension bridge in the world.  According to an Australian guide, when the US found out this was longer than the Golden Gate Bridge the US added a few feet to make the GG Bridge longer.

Sydney Opera House

After a little sorting out of tickets and passes we were off.  First stop was Komodo Dragon.  After a tour of the reptile house and some of the really nasty snakes that reside in the topics – and a big diamond back rattler that, like in CO, resides in the grasses of the “bush” as they call any undeveloped areas fringing urban areas, we exited the reptiles and somehow Lucy, who is 5, slipped away from all of us.  As we fanned out to help a panicked Charlene find her little girl, seems she had just jogged down the hill to visit the giraffes who, after all, were just calling to little girls like Lucy.  A few sharp words from Mom and a few more minutes for Mom’s heart to calm down, we were off again, all of us keeping a sharp eye on the elusive Lucy.

Komodo Dragion

Huge snake

Huger snake

Poisonous Australian Brown Snake.  Poisonous but protected because it keeps the Red Snake population, the other Australian poisonous snake, in check.

The giraffe that lured Lucy away.

 We watched the feeding of the Giraffes, then went down to a lovely shaded area with picnic tables for lunch.  Apparently that signaled lunch for the wild turkeys, pheasants, peacocks and Bob, a very colorful lizard (looked similar to an iguana but with a blue chest) that entranced Alex (11 years old) which is how he came by the name “Bob”.  Shane, Suzan’s son arrived with his wife Laurel and daughter Bethany and we were off again to see the rest of the zoo.

Feeding giraffes.

Wen lunch came out so did the pheasants along with the turkeys

And peacocks

And Bob who could dash under the table and grab a piece of food before any of the birds

The zoo seemed to have quite a few exhibits closed or in the process of being restored and I’d guess overall it had maybe half the exhibits of the Denver Zoo but was quite nice.  Of course there were Koalas and Kangaroos, elephants, chimpanzees and gorillas, some exotic birds including to huge, beautiful condors.  We finally made it to the bottom of the hill and the zoo’s exit, which was a short walk to the ferry back to the train.  We left later than planned so we got on just as the evening rush was beginning, but since we were at essentially the start of the line, the 10 of us and 2 baby strollers found a spot before the crowds arrived.