After a long road trip yesterday, we decided to take it slow and visit the famous
Taronga Zoo. Check their website for directions to get there by car. If you'd like to travel by ferry, simply purchase a
ferry ticket (AUD$20/adult) and board Ferry F2 to Taronga Zoo (see
Sydney ferry routes).
Our drive there took approximately 20 minutes. The parking at the zoo costs AUD$17 for the whole day (the first 90 minutes is free), which is relatively cheaper than Sydney city.
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Level 4 is the designated stroller and wheelchair friendly level so park here if you're bringing kids along
(we didn't know and parked at Level 3) |
After buying our tickets (AUD$44/adult; child under 4 is free) from the counter, we proceeded to explore the zoo.
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Taronga Zoological Park
(Opening hours: 9.30am to 5pm) |
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| Awesome view of the Sydney Harbour |
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| We all look so good in this weather don't we? =) |
Our first stop was of course the
Kids Trail, where hopefully my girl will get to see and touch animals that she will ordinarily not get a chance to interact with.
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| Turkeys wandering around freely |
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| I don't think we've ever seen a turkey so up close and personal before. We were actually kinda scared of them! |
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| The Pat a Pet area of the Kids Trail is where you can pat various rabbits, guinea pigs, etc |
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| She's a bit apprehensive of patting a guinea pig |
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| Getting up close to sheep, feeding and patting it |
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| Getting close to goats |
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| And feeding them! |
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| Free roaming chickens anyone? |
It reminded me of the Singapore Zoo in the days when we were kids and there were still sheep, goats, rabbits and chicks in the kids zoo. I'm so glad that my girl has had a chance to experience the same thing, albeit in a different country.
Of course it wouldn't be a kids trail without a playground for the kids, would it?
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| Playground for the kids |
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| The sister didn't have to join her but she did anyway. I think she wanted to have fun too *laughs* |
A lot of the animals in Taronga Zoo were allowed to roam freely (they are tagged though, just in case they get lost or stolen?) so you can get really acquainted with them. There was even an area where you can walk among emus and kangaroos!
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| Once you cross to the other side of the fence, you'll come face to face (literally) with one of these emus! |
The family did not believe me when I said we could enter the enclosure! They said a dangerous animal such as the second largest bird in the world (the largest being the ostrich) would never be allowed to come into contact with humans. But lo and behold, we found an entrance to the enclosure where we were actually close enough to touch one!
Sad to say,
all of us were too afraid to go near them, even though I'm sure they will do us no harm! Because of that, we didn't manage to interact with the smaller (but not any less aggressive) kangaroos.
We moved on to other enclosures, such as the fox, tigers and lions.
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Cute little fox!
(Photo on the right was taken by my brother's high resolution camera of course) |
We walked pass one of the many Parent Rooms located across the zoo and I decided that it was time for me to pump.
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| One of the parent rooms |
The room was enormous! There were ample space for nursing cubicles, a waiting area with a TV and kid-friendly toilets! (More details on
my nursing room review page).
While I was expressing milk, the rest of the family went to check out the giraffes. I joined them soon after and yes, of course I had to have a photo with my favourite animal! =)
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| The giraffes look like they've got their "heads in the clouds" |
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| So pretty aren't they? |
We visited the elephant and mountain goat enclosures as well.
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| Please stop the buying of ivory! These poor animals are dying by the hundreds everyday! |
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| The brother's awesome camera & photography skills make you think we were right below it and it was ready to pounce on us. We were not. |
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| Monkeying around |
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The few sleeping koalas in their tree;
If you can't see them, well, we couldn't either |
The koala enclosure was pretty disappointing as we couldn't see them up close. The family was not interested (and probably too tired) to walk the rest of the park to see the penguins and seals as we have seen plenty of them in the many zoological parks that we've been to all over the world including our own Singapore Zoo.
So we went to take the free cable car for a joyride instead =)
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| Cable car |
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All of us squeezed into the cabin
(Note: you have to park your stroller at the cable car station as they are not allowed on the cable car) |
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| Beautiful view of the Sydney Harbour from the cable car |
I quite enjoyed the ride! :)
Although I would've liked to explore the zoo a bit longer but the family was bored (and tired) so we left. We headed to
Woolloomooloo Wharf, which was just 5 minutes away from
where we were staying.
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| Boardwalk directly above the waters |
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| Boats of the rich docked at the harbour |
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| Very expensive restaurants lined along the wharf |
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| Selfie with my Olympus camera (left); The sister with her neice (right) |
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| Exploring the Wharf and learning about its history |
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| The building actually houses residents and some of the old cargo belts were still preserved |
It was leisurely and fun =)
We went home for a homecooked dinner by the brother as usual.
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| So much food! |
We need to rest up as it's another long drive ahead tomorrow!
*snore*
Continue to >> Sydney Day 5: Blue Mountains
<< Back to Sydney Day 3: Shoalhaven, Greenwell Point & Kiama
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as well as other travel itineraries!
