On Saturday we braved the crowds and went to the Taronga Zoo (http://www.zoo.nsw.gov.au/) - My blog site is different here in Australia...I don't seem to have all the regular tools. We saw every kind of animal out there. The zoo sits upon a hill that overlooks the city of Sydney. The views were amazing! We took quite a few pictures. Some are posted below. We saw some really neat things like:
* Elephants forming in a line, grabbing the tail of the elephant in front of them, and walking.
* A meerkat sitting like a person.
* Some seriously large lizards...the Kimono Dragon.
* A chimpanzee putting it's finger up its butt, pulling out poo and eating it. (It was pretty gross)
* A giraffe licking its lips over and over again for about 5 minutes.
* We learned that a male platypus' tail can be poisonous.
To get to the zoo we needed to take the harbor ferry across, well, the ferry! It was very cool. Apparently, Sting, the music artist was on the water too. We saw a picture of him in the newspaper that night! All the celebs are coming into town for the big New Year's Eve bash. Sydney is one of the first big cities to change over into the new year in the world.
My dad works for a news company. So, Saturday evening we went to a printing press and saw the Sunday paper being printed. What a place! It was huge! It's so crazy to see all that goes into a newspaper being printed. The only time any of us had seen something like this was while watching Mr. Roger's neighborhood.
On Sunday we had a relaxing day. We cruised through the Sydney Bay up a river into Palamatta - one of the first settlements in Australia. We toured the oldest building in Australia called Old Government House. It was the home of governors. Very interesting! One of the rooms we went it had a very dark history - a murder took place there and Dave was the only one in the room to identify the spot (should I be scared) and a servant spent a suspicious 9 months in the room at one time...hmmm...wondered what happened there? Australia has such an interesting history being that when it was found, it was a place that England sent the convicts. Food was scarce and in Sydney, the ground was not suitable for crops. Palamatta was colonized because it could grow crops.
We spent the day in this cute little town, headed back to Sydney for dinner at a Pub. Back in the day, establishments that served alcohol needed to have a room or rooms for people to stay in. So, most of the pubs in Australia are called hotels, but very few if any, are hotels anymore. Dave and I both had Bangers and Mash translated: sausages and mashed potatoes. Not my favorite, but very authentic! Then we went home, watched a movie and headed to bed.
Here are some pictures from our weekend.
A view of Sydney from the zoo.
A "Roo". There was only a rope separating us from him. He was a little guy.
Me and a Koala Bear. They were actually pretty active when we saw them, which is good since they sleep about 20 hours a day!
Dave and I at the zoo - look at the view!
The giraffe - not the one, I don't think, that was having a tongue issue, but look at its view!
Inside the printing press. This is only a very small part of it.
Here we are with our tour guide. My dad's taking the picture. We all look a little tired. It was about 11:30 PM and after a long day, we were ready for bed. Mike is the only one that looks awake!
Here we are outside of Old Government House.
4 comments:
Looks like so much fun! IS that the zoo where Steve Irwin was from??
We are having a blast! This is not the Steve Irwin zoo. His is up north and I guess amazing!
Hey Becky - it looks like you two are having a fabulous time. Enjoy and travel safe!
Great pictures! Suitable for framing I would say. How was New Years Eve? Miss you both!
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