A day at the zoo...

My mum was lucky enough to win a weekend away in Sydney and was kind enough to take my sister and I as her travel buddies.  Included in her prize were tickets to the Toronga Zoo which I was thrilled about.  I couldn't remember the last time I was at a zoo and there were going to be animals there I'd never seen in the flesh before.  My highlights of the day would have to be the elephants (the baby was just too cute and was playing while we were watching) and giraffes...

When we first passed the tiger enclosure, we weren't able to see much for the crowds of people and the fact the tiger was having a nap way up the back.  Later, as we were leaving and had another look in, he was pacing the entrance.  Apparently, there are 2 tigers but only ever one in the enclosure at any one time.  When it is close to change over time, they pace about which for me, was a perfect time to grab a beautiful shot of him.

These little finches were just sitting on a walk bridge that we passed and were just so cute there together I had to snap them.  The walk bridge was gorgeous too with the moss covering some of it.

This next fella is a red panda.  Before I saw him I had no idea what one looked like and if I had to guess, he wouldn't have looked like this.  He was more like a fox than a traditional panda or bear.  As I snapped this, he was reaching for some leaves and looked right at me.... kind of looks to me like he's waving.  HI!!

Next were the gorillas.  When they weren't in their play pen, they were actually quite depressing.  Such gorgeous creatures but they look so much like people to me (older people) that to see them "trapped" (in a sense) is what was sad.  When they were outside, running and moving about, they did seem happier and "easier" to look at.  But they are beautiful and there was a baby here as well. 

We were lucky we even got to see the bear!  For the entire day, he was laying on a rock, flat on his back with one leg resting up.  He looked so funny, like a discarded old rug, but not worth taking a photo of until later when it must have been close to feeding time because he was up and moving about and looked to be on a mission!

 

The lions were a touch disappointing, although it wasn't their fault the whole time.  Everytime we went to see them, there were so many people, you couldn't get closer than about 10 feet from the glass and they weren't doing anything.  I was able to snap just one of the female lion and I was just so pleased with it.  She too, appears to be on a mission.  He on the otherhand, is just hanging out!!

 My favourite was probably the giraffes.  I wasn't ready for just how big and how spectacular they are.  Their beautiful coats were so shiny and looked like a perfect painted surface, I wished I could reach out and pat one!!

That was our day at the zoo.  That afternoon, we headed home and exhausted after a big day with all the animals.  Coming soon will be photos I took at the aquarium with some super pretty coral and a gorgeous dugong :)