Taronga Zoo

So as I was telling you, yesterday was zoo time for us. We had an appointment with the zoo keeper at 10am so we had to get up at 7am - as you can guess it wasn't a problem for me, just the standard getting-up-early-to-do-stuff regular kind of weekend. Sophie was a bit tired so we stopped for a breakfast drink. "Two redbulls please, no sugar".

Then we had a lovely day, except for the crappy weather. There was a lot to learn and a zoo actually seems quite different when you see it from the inside: preparing the food, feeding the animals, walking on the wrong side of the fences! Oh I forgot to mention, he was a keeper for the Australian section, so it mostly involved marsupials. You don't want to walk on the wrong side of the lion fence.


On the ferry, then arriving at the zoo


A small kangaroo


And a big kangaroo (on steroids?)


Believe it or not, a "tree kangaroo"


After the tour, we wandered on our own between the giraffes and the lions and the rain. We finally got home the same way we got there - on the ferry, with a beautiful sunset over the harbour.




It's not always about kangaroos!



This is also the day I learned more about using depth of field
(+ check out Timon looking for Pumba in the last picture)


On the way back home, it's amazing how quickly the sun sets.



Facts to impress your friends at dinner parties:

1. I've always thought that platypuses were the only egg-laying mammals. In fact they're not - the order of monotremes is composed of two living species: platypuses and echidnas. Both have very special abilities like being able to perceive electric impulses.



2. It is a known fact that eagles have an incredible eye sight. But you never really picture how incredible. The guy hosting the bird show was telling us that from where we were standing, they could probably see a rabbit walking in the botanic gardens, which is the green area at the bottom of the buildings (about 2.5km away).



Of course, this is most handy when an eagle mate runs late at the bar. "Hey I can see you're still at the nest! Step on it!". But of course they don't have mobiles which renders the whole thing pointless :D

3. The mom kangaroo's pregnancy only lasts 36 days. At birth, the baby only weighs about 1g, and looks nothing like a kangaroo yet. It's just a small jelly beans with two little arms and black spots where the eyes will be. The joey then continues his growth inside the front poach. A joey, that's how a baby kangaroo is called. About 6 months later, he starts going for hops and coming back to the poach - until her mom decides it's over and closes the poach altogether. Poor little thing!