Tarango Zoo and Sydney Tower

Monday morning, it was back to work for Tim and Liz, so Rachel and I walked down to Circular Quay and caught the ferries to Tarango Zoo, which is located across the harbor from downtown.

The zoo sits on a bluff, which has great views of downtown Sydney. Tim commented that it was a good thing that the zoo was built many years ago because the land is worth a FORTUNE now. The layout of the zoo was very good. From the ferry dock, we caught a gondola up to the top of the bluff. The koalas are located at the top. After the disappointment of not finding one in the wild, it was fun to see them in their zoo habitat. They are really cute.
From the top of the bluff, you wind your way down several paths to see the various exhibits and get back to the bottom of the bluff (the exit). In addition to watching the live animals, Rachel and I were able to get some photos with the great stuffed animals shown here. She thought that my picture with the giant stuffed koala was especially funny.


The kangaroos at Tarango Zoo were sad. It was a little disappointing to see after being so close to them in the wild. We may be over-reacting, as it was mid-day when we saw them. Kangaroos are active at dusk and dawn and not much the rest of the time, so they may have just been napping.
We also got to see a wombat. They are nocturnal animals and are really cute. This one is obviously asleep. Some of the other cool exhibits included the birds, which were an open air exhibit. Although the rainbow laurikeets were a bit agressive (dive bombers), it was cool to walk through the exhibit. The snake exhibit was also good (Australia is home to 9 of the world's 15 most poisonous snakes). The chimps, orangutans and gorillas were all lethargic when we visited unfortunately. All in all, I would say that Tarango is a good zoo, but it can't measure up to the San Diego Zoo.
After the zoo, Rachel and I caught the ferry and toured Sydney Harbor. We got off at Darling Harbor and walked to the Sydney Tower, which is a blown up version of the Gatlinburg Space Needle. We actually decided to go there that Monday afternoon to watch the Queen Elizabeth II leave Sydney for the last time. It was a great view.



After dinner at Hart's Pub, where we met a nice couple from Connecticut. They told us that they cheered for Connecticut, but they think Gino Ariama is an arrogant jerk. We agreed. After dinner, we went back to Tim and Liz's and turned in for the evening.

Reflections - Videos to This Point

I am taking the easy way out on this one. I am using this "Reflection" to post the videos that would not post earlier. Enjoy.

The first video was taken at our cabin. Rachel spotted a kangaroo under our deck early Sunday morning. When we looked closer, there were actually 3. We put some food out for them, and they came out. The dominant one was boxing the others to keep them away from "his" food.


Here is a video of a hopping Kangaroo.


Another hopping Kangaroo.


Singing magpie.


Bat in Botanic Gardens - In the background, you will hear me say, "I can't see your mom going into politics." This was actually a compliment to Liz's mom, Jan. We did not know that Tim was videoing when I made this statement.


Wallaby crawling by me at our cabin at Eaglereach. He smelled the food we set out for him. By this time, he was not spooked by us, so he moved by really close to us.


Rachel and Kangaroos - This was shot on our way back from breakfast at Eaglereach on the first Saturday morning we were in Australia. I love Rachel's "Roo Dance".


Koala at Tarango zoo. He is so cute.