Taronga Zoo - The beginning of a day at the zoo

Taronga Zoo

So it's a bit strange to be doing a beginning post when it's the second one (I posted about the bird show a week ago), but I did want to write more about a day out to the zoo, and I've decided to break the day up a bit as I've got way too many photos I want to include for just 1 post!

I met up with my friends at circular quay to start the day off with a ferry ride over to the zoo. It's the easiest way to get there, and gets rid of the hassle of having to find a park near the zoo.

^{One of the cruise ships is hiding some of the zoo, but most of it is the wooded hill the left of it.}

Once you've docked and are walking to the cable car station (a great reason to buy your tickets beforehand!) you can take a look back for the first of many awesome views that don't involve the animals you'll get in the day.

^{Not many zoos can boast this sort of view. And this is just what it's like at the bottom of the hill!}

I do love the cable car to start the zoo visit off. You haven't technically entered the zoo yet, though they do need to see the ticket to let you through to it. The enclosed cars take you up and over the zoo, looking down at various parts and you can see some of the animals from an angle you never normally get to see. Unfortunately it wasn't good for taking photos from and it's over all too quickly.

^{My friends in the gondola ready for the ride up to the top. Makes most of the day downhill!}

When you get to the top, there is the zoo shop. There's a little one down the bottom too for those that aren't returning to the top at the end of their day, but you don't get this sort of view on entering the store down the bottom

^{I'm not sure how close to life size they are, but that stuffed giraffe is over 6 foot tall. And there were many others too.}

We did our shopping at the start of the day, having plenty of backpack space to carry things in, and not actually getting anything large (as much as some of them wanted a life size big cat) so it was easy enough to buy new things first.

We then headed into the actual zoo and straight to the reptiles area so that we could attend the reptile talk and see all the interesting reptiles they have on display.

^{I love my snakes, but forget quickly what they actually were. These 2 have a massive enclosure, but choose to be together in one corner}

^{some of the less scary reptiles, with a turtle with some kind of crustacean, some corroboree frogs, and a chameleon that only just managed to get his head in my photo}

But there were quite a lot of snakes (I only have a few photos of them though)

^{This little guy is a massive python. and he was just chilling in a pile}

We made it to the reptile talk, and discovered that because it was school holidays at the time, it was packed with kids and parents, and unsurprisingly directed towards them. It was still really good, but it was very much for the children. The staff member giving the presentation was a lot of fun and really enjoyed what he was doing.

^{Do you want to pat a snake? We did, and so did many of the audience members. They aren't all dangerous, and when the environment is controlled, relatively safe}

^{Or maybe this little guy is more your speed. The blue tongue lizard is just as scaly and a lot less bitey}

After the talk, we wandered back into the reptile area to finish off seeing the exhibits, including one of my favourites, The Komodo Dragon. They're freaking huge and generally slow, but can get a good turn of speed up if they need to.

^{When we first when past it was inside the shelter, but was great to see it out in the sunshine before we moved on}

^{Upgoats made by the talented @ryivhnn}

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Actual Shave Date is looking like being the first weekend in March