Sydney Australia

Taratonga Zoo/Darling Harbor

This has to have been one of my favorite days ever! I got to do some of the most incredible things ever! Anyway, now I’ll start telling you about it! Neeley, Hannah and I decided that we wanted to go to the zoo! Whenever I told anyone that we were going to Sydney, they said, “You have to go to the zoo!” So this was something I really wanted to do. Along with this, I didn’t just want to go to the zoo, but I wanted to pet and interact with a lot of different animals!  So that was what we decided to do! We went on the wild Australian tour! This tour was for all of the different Australian animals, and then got to go up close and personal with a lot of the different animals.

Anyway, we woke up around eight. The zoo opened at nine, so we wanted to get there for the opening! We left our house around eight thirty, took the train to the Quay, then took the Ferry over to Manly, and we were on our way! Just taking the Ferry over was incredible! Once again we got to see an incredible view of the Opera House, and the Harbor Bridge!  Well worth the trip over!  Anyhow, we got off the ferry and we were at the bottom of the zoo. We went in the lower entrance, and then we had to figure out where to meet for our tour. Well our tour was completely at the top of the zoo (Noting it’s on a really big hill, and it built to start at the top and work your way day), so we decided that we would take the sky safari up to the top (this is like gondola rides up to the top.) We got to the top and we were a little bit early,  and we waited for our tour group to start!

A few minutes later, we met our guide! His name was Ben! He was going to be our Aussie Tour guide today! It was really sweet, we were only in a group of six and got to have private tour! Anyway, the tour set off and he asked us what we wanted to do on this tour. I said I wanted to pet a kangaroo, and a Kola bear! Our guide told us he would see what we could do!

The first animal he took us to see was a platypus! Now this sounds really weird, but I think I always thought platypuses were fake. I would hear about them, and I have seen them on Phineas and Ferb, but they were just a weird creature so I thought they were fake. Well guess what!? They aren’t fake and I got to see one! Yup that’s right I got to see one!  First thing I learned was that they are nocturnal animals, and they are the weird creatures. They are mammals yet lay eggs, have webbed feet, and the males have a poisonous thing on their back legs to protect them! It was so neat! I decided they are strange little buggers! It was really cute to see these guys swim around and play! I was amazed! Like I said early I was pretty sure that they were fake animals!

 (Not the best picture but it's there. It was hard since they are nocturnal.)

The next thing we went to was to see the wombat! Guess what! I love the wombat! I never thought I would say this, but the wombat is the cutest little fellow! This was another animal I wasn’t really sure what it looked like or anything, but it was so cute! Ben just jumped in the cage, picked him up like a baby and brought him out to us! Oh my goodness it was adorable! He told us a little bit about wombats, and then we got to pet Marcel (the wombat I think that was his name) and play with him a little bit. It was so much fun, the wombat rolled over stretched out his legs and arms, then we got to scratch his belly! It was so cute! Marcel just shook a little bit and in a weird way he looked a little bit like a dog rolling around on the ground! I never thought I would say this, but I love wombats! They have got to be one of the cutest animals!

After we had played with Marcel for a little bit, it was time to go over and visit the Kola Bears! Now if you thought Marcel was cute, these guys were just as cute! I learnt a lot about Kola Bears! First did you know they have to sleep 18-20 hours a day! I couldn’t believe that! Also, they are often times thought of being aggressive animals but that’s actually false. They get the name of being aggressive, because when people approach them to pet them or anything they take that as a sign of aggression. Even though people don’t feel like they are being aggressive to animals that sleep majority of their life, this is a very aggressive move! I found that interesting! Anyway, I learnt a lot about things like that! Then we got to take pictures with the little guys. Ben gave us some leaves and we took them over and we woke up the Kola bear and then we got to have our pictures with them! They were so cute! But of course they had to be, I mean their closest relative is the wombat so of course they had to be cute!  This was definitely one of my favorite things!

Following this we went into the Australian walk around! This is where I got to meet my friend Aly! Now I must say, she was one of my favorite friends I have met on this trip! We walk through the gate and there are just heaps of Kangaroos just jumping around. Then Aly just comes hopping up to me! Oh my gosh! She was the cutest thing ever! Ben handed me some little treats to give her, and from that moment on we were best friends! I got to feed and pet her, and then she even jumped around me for a little bit! It was like we were playing together! She was so cute! I got to play there for quite a while! After I had played with her, and the other people in our group had played with her and some other Kangaroos, Ben called us over to another location. He said, “here is my special friend.” Then there was a Kangaroo, and a Joey in her pouch! It was the cutest thing ever! We got to pet her, and then pretty soon guess who else wanted to come out and be pet! It was her little joey! This was so cute! We got to sit and listen to how they trained her to let us be able to see the joey and everything, and that was really neat! Then after it was time to move on.

We kept going in the little Australian walk around and then we came to a giant bird! It was an emu. Ben handed us a handful of food, and we were able to feed them. Now I must say unlike all of the other animals, I was rather scared of the emu. I don’t know why, but I was so scared! It had little beady eyes, and the bird was taller than me, and it kept poking at me even if I didn’t food! I was so scared of this. At the first of the tour Ben asked us if there were any animals we were scared of. No one said anything, but I learnt I should have said I was scared of emus! Who would have thought out of all the animals the emu is the thing that scares me the most! Although it scared me, it was still really fun to pet the emu and to feed it.

After we had pet several of the animals we went for a little walk. Ben took us over to another bird. This one was far away though. It was a bird native to Australia, and it was about the size of the emu, maybe a little bit bigger. It kind of looked like Kevin from up. Anyway, this bird had huge heavily fenced area around him. I didn’t understand why so I asked. Well guess what, in zoo’s they different classifications of how dangerous an animal is and if they get out what precautions they need to take, well this bird happens to be on the same level as a tiger or a lion! How scary is that! I didn’t believe him, but after he explained I was even more scared of this bird than the emu! This bird on the bottom of his feet has almost to switch blades. When he feels pressured, he kicks they enemy with these switch blades. Once a worker got kicked by one, and it sliced through thigh clear to his bone! I definitely don’t want to come into contact with one of these birds when I am traveling! They are rather scary!

After we had visited this animal we went in and we got to go to the kitchen where they prepare all of the food they feed the animals. I found out, that I am pretty sure the animals eat healthier than I do. They only feed them the best foods, and if the workers wouldn’t eat it, then they don’t feed it to their animals. Also, everything that the animals eat gets weighed and has certain amounts of each food it can eat in a day and in a week. I know they have a more strict diet than I do, and yes they are much healthier than I am.

 After we were in the kitchen, it was time for us to see hold and play with all of the nocturnal Australian animals! The first one that we got to go play with was the flying squirrel. Or at least I think that is what it was called. It was a little rat like thing but then has a feather tail that grip on to things when you hold it. Then on the sides it has extra fat. This is so they can fly through the air! They were so cute! They fit in the palm of my hand! It was really soft too! Ben told us about how they keep their young ones. They also have a pouch, and their young ones stay in there. Although with the young ones in the pouch they can’t fly, so they can’t get food. For this reason, they leave all of their kids in one spot, and have one or two of them stay and look after them while the rest go out and get food. Can you believe that? It’s about a 4 centimeter inch animal and it has organized day care! I couldn’t believe that!

 We got to hold some other nocturnal animals, but there were way to many to name, but the next one I want to talk about was the Bilby! I know most of you probably haven’t heard of the Bilby, or if you have, you know more than me. I hadn’t heard of the Bilby before now either. The Bilby is like a bunny rabbit only with bigger ears! It was so cute! We were in this little back room sitting on stumps in sand, and all of a sudden these three little Bilbies come running up to us and we get to feed them and pet them! They feel just like a rabbit! They were so cute! We were able to play with them for a little bit! As we were playing with them, Ben told us how a while back they were very endangered and how they had to come up with a donation plan to try and get people to donate money to help save them. This was a great plan, but nobody knew what the Bilby was, so this created some major difficulties. No one wanted to pay money to help something they have never heard of. This is when they came up with a plan. It was around Easter time, so to try and save the Bilby this year for Easter instead of having chocolate Easter bunnies, they would have chocolate Bilbies. Well the plan worked and now the Bilby is well know and they are raising money to help save the Bilby. Needless to say many Aussies get chocolate Bilbies in their Easter basket! If I could have found a chocolate Bilby, I would have gotten one to bring home just so I could show everyone! I thought that was so funny!

After the Bilbies, we were getting near the end of our tour. The last thing Ben took us to were the Tasmanian Devils. These animals are so much cuter than any of the cartoons make them out to look like! They are kind of like the red fox, were they are absolutely adorable, yet very powerful and harming to people! Anyway, they were so cute, and I kind of wanted to bring one home with me. Not as much as a wombat or kangaroo, but close. Anyway, we went in and got to see them. We couldn’t go in with these animals because they probably would have harmed us, but we did get to have a very good view of them. Also when we were there they started telling us about a cancer that they have. There is a cancer that these animals get that effects their face. It deforms their face and then within three months they are dead. Also, if their faces touches another Tasmanian Devil, it spreads to them, and then they are dead within three months. This is huge problem, because these are fighting animals and they often fight each other. This means they are spreading this disease quickly. They suppose Tasmanian Devils will all be extinct out of Tasmania in about 15 years. That is why at this zoo they are building up a program and have quite a few! I quite liked these animals!

After we had seen our animals our group went back and enjoyed a light morning tea at the café. We had chocolate cake, and then hot chocolate. I don’t know if I am just so use to milo that I forgot what hot chocolate tastes like, or if it really was good, but the hot chocolate I had there was abosolutely incredible! One of the best hot chocolates I’ve ever had! It’s right up there with the Bear Claw Café in St. George!

Anyway, after the tour, we were on our own to go explore the rest of the zoo. We started over with the Alligators and the Reptiles. We even got to see a Kamoto Dragon. This reminded of me when the Salt Lake Zoo had one of these and it was the big thing! I was really little at the time, but I remember thinking how scared I was. It seemed like such a scary thing, it was a Dragon! Anyway, we got to see lots of snakes and some creepy spiders. I learned, spiders scare me really bad. I also learned that snakes intrigue me and I kind of find them fascinating! As I was looking at them, I thought what would it be like to be Dudley and be leaning up against the window have it disappear and then have the snake crawl out of it. It would be a little bit creepy.  As I was in my Harry Potter mood, I found  the Baskilisk. I thought this was a made up creature, but guess what! It wasn’t! I even have the picture to prove it! At this point Neeley told me I was a nerd. She said, “Nanc, really two Harry Potter references in about 5 minutes, you are a little bit Nerdy.” We both laughed and just thought it was funny! It’s okay though, I won’t hide it I love Harry Potter and I am a little bit of a Harry Potter Nerd!

Anyway, after we went through the reptile house we went down and we got to see giraffes, lions, tigers and bears! Then we got to see Elephants! These were so cute! Now I thought it was cool when Salt Lake had baby Zuri at the zoo because he was a baby elephant, but here they had three baby elephants! They were so adorable! I love baby elephants! Even thought they are bigger than me and way heaps more than me I think they are the cutest little thing ever! I would bring one of them home with me too!

After we saw the elephants we went and saw the hippos! Now you can call me crazy, but I have never seen a hippo outside of water before, this was a monumental day for me, because I saw TWO hippos outside of water! It was so cool! Also while we were walking by I sang, “I want a hippopotamus for Christmas.” I think Neeley and Hannah thought I had gone crazy, but that’s okay, it was a lot of fun!

 After we had seen the hippos we went to the seal show! This was really cute! It was your normal seal shows were they balance and play with the ball, jump and flip and splash the audience. It was a lot of fun! It was really funny though, the star of their zoo was the California Seal. It was a little bit funny to hear them playing Beach Boys, and see a California Seal. Neeley said, “Weird. I can drive about ten minutes from my house and see those at the beach.” But over here they are a rare thing. It was interesting to see how the things we found fascinating were different from the things natives thought were fascinating. I guess it shows how much you become accustom to your own animals.  Anyway, the seal show was really cute!

Following the  Seal show, we went over and saw the bird show.  First off the bird show was the most amazing view of the harbor yet! They weren’t kidding when they say they are the zoo with a view! It was gorgeous to look at! Then above and beyond that they have some of the prettiest colorful birds to view. This was a really incredible show!

Anyway, after the bird show, we finished up the zoo and rode the Ferry back over to the Quay. Once we got to Quay, we rode the Ferry and met Nicole and Emily back up at the hotel. Once we met up, we walked down to Darling Harbor for dinner! We wanted to have dinner on another Harbor! I love having dinner on the Harbor! It is one of my favorite things! Just looking out at the ocean and the boats and everything, it’s so much fun! Then at night it’s all lit up and it’s just such a fun atmosphere! We at the BBQ Bar. I had a bbq hamburger! It was really good! We had so much fun! This really was one of my favorite days here!