(no subject)
Two parents on two hours sleep + two nuclear powered kids + school holidays = ....the zoo?
Mama packed a huge pull along trolley of picnic rugs and lunch and took us to the zoo. The boys go every three or so weeks, but they really love it.
The crowds were not terrible, but crowds + boys + sling made it hard to get nicer photos, but I enjoyed the day so much it didn't matter. The only thing that annoyed me was that the Tiger was out but there were so many people in the way with their reflections in the glass...grrr.
I'm sorry if these images are small/huge - I shrunk them to 'tiny' on my laptop and photo hosting site...
It's been a few years since I was last at the zoo and it's lovely! There are more eatery areas, but there were also a lot of little tables set up with touch and feel things.
It seemed the zoo used the items people had tried to smuggle through customs - ie snake skins/cat pelts. It's a very clever thing to do, allow people the tactile access to the animal, but also show the animal alive and beautiful - it makes the skins/pelts very sad and the message of conservation clear to everyone very quickly.
The Koala's are pretty much the smelliest animals in the zoo, also the laziest, sleepiest, most self absorbed and disdainful of the general public. They are, just like celebrities
By far my favourite show of all the shows at the zoo is the free flight bird show. We got there an hour early, had lunch and got front row seats. It's always worth it. Seeing a Wedge Tail Eagle soar out over Sydney Harbour and then come back for meat treats 2 meters from where you sit is brilliant.
The grand finale of all the incredible native birds in all their colours is unreal too.
This beautiful bird collected money from people at the end and dropped it into a box. Felt a bit sorry for the poor thing having to use it's mouth to collect something as filthy as money - but it's for a good cause...
This is a shot of our healthy lunch provided by a Grandma who doesn't believe in spoiling children and doesn't need to be told to stop.
(We had actual food too of course - not just cake!
)
This is the guilty Grandmother with my tiny 8 week old son.
The meerkats are actually really really tiny and hilariously cute. I was never a fan, but they are so opportunistic and optimistic about people feeding them whatever they have - that they perform like little clowns.
I still like the otters more, but the meerkats would be easier to steal for a pet
. The enclosure is more open.
The boys ran 400 hundred steps forward and 400 hundred steps back and saw everything 4 times over by the time I caught up with them.
Also, the little details the zoo has included now are very beautiful. Little touches and accents from whatever country the animal is from.
This room and all the beams are like a paper parasol, it's beautiful.
And this was a huge carved wooden piece that was sadly in the dark...
And more animals....
The Giraffe enclosure looks out over the harbour, I guess they are putting those long necks to good use with that view!
The new Elephant enclosure is beautiful, the last time I was there it was still the horrible concrete thing with the moat. Also when I was younger one of the Elephants ate my sisters hat.
Mama also remembers when people used to ride the Elephants, 6 kids per ride!
I missed out on a few things having to pit stop for breastfeeding - I cannot walk and feed. So I missed seeing the snakes which was sad but I did get to the see the Komodo dragon who's enclosure is a bit boring...but omg, so easy to fall into!! I was horrified. How many children has this thing eaten??
Also got a sheet of glass away from some lovely freshwater crocodiles.
It's actually nesting season for the Penguins at the moment, which is fine as I really am not a fan after being attacked by a gang of them, but I got a photo for Nano.
Notice the lack of cute - but rather the shark like evil that is the fairy penguin...(jaws music)
Much more lovely were the Pelicans which Nano loved. He's a big fan of Storm Boy
Toward the end, I surrendered Galileo to his father's good baby wearing intentions...
Because near the exit is a fantastic little wadding pool that is another new addition since I visited last. I was so excited by it that I made the mistake of letting the boys wade in the water which quickly turned into totally drenched and eventually near nude children.
This is the pool....
It has fake seaweed and starfish and so on and would only come up to the ankle of most adults, but after a long walk uphill it's so nice to wade in.
Testament to Birkenstocks, an tourist couple who came by just walked right in wearing their sandals, apparently they are the 4WD of footwear
Anyway - the day ended soggy and lovely. We got the Sky Safari back up to car and came home where everyone (except sick Mummy) fell fast asleep.
