111. Taronga Zoo

I really don’t know where to start with this one.

Firstly, to get there you have to take the most beautiful trip, by far, across the harbour on the Taronga Ferry and of course you can combine your return ferry ride with the cost of entry into the zoo for $31.

When you arrive your first port of call is the cable car which takes you up to the top of the zoo as it’s on the side of a hill. The views of the zoo are great but also this is probably one of the best views of the Sydney skyline from the north side of the harbour. Make sure you’ve got your camera ready as it’s a short trip.

Once we were at the top we grabbed a map from the info booth and did our best job to see as much as possible. The place was only open until 5pm and we arrived late at 1pm so time was of the essence.
Our first stop was the chimpanzee enclosure. It was really interesting to see them being fed and watch how there interactions were so similar to humans. After lunch the adults all seemed to chill out and were lazing about in the rock pool and literally sunbathing on the rocks. There was a short talk by one of the keepers but nobody really paid attention to her as they were to busy watching the youngsters jump around the park.

Next stop was the giraffes which were unbelievable and totally surreal. There was nothing particularly special about the animals themselves or their pen (which seemed tiny next to these 18 foot tall beasts). What was incredible was the fact that they probably have one of the best views in the whole of NSW with the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House as their back drop. Again some bloke was giving a chat about why they had such dark tongues and things but everyone was too busy taking photos of the background to really pay attention to him.

We went to see the seal show next which was hilarious and informative. There were a couple of animals involved and as well as getting them to do tricks and show off, the trainers and use them as a teaching platform for the audience. The set was quite small and not on the “Florida” scale but still was a great deal of fun and certainly worth watching.

Over the rest of the afternoon we saw Kodiak bears, red pandas, clouded leopards, millions of birds, fruit bats, deer, mountain goats and elephants to name a few. The day ended with one of the best show ever. In a little amphitheatre in at the south west corner of the zoo was the bird show with a backdrop to rival that of the giraffes. It started suddenly with flocks of parrots and doves flying over head like a John Woo movie then the handler came out and the show proper began. There were about 12 different birds that they talked about from parakeets to eagles and they had them flying about the amphitheatre, swooping low over the heads of the audience. Some of them even flew up to volunteers and stole money out of their hands, returning to the trainer to drop the cash in her breast pocket.

It was over too soon and it was almost closing time so we walked back up the hill to catch the cable car back down for one more look at the view. Spectacular. With out a doubt one of the best things to do in Sydney and I’m surprised it took us 4 months to get round to it.