Australian Zoo's

We visited two zoo's while in Australia- one called the Taronga Zoo, in Sydney, and the other called Cairns Tropical Zoo close to Palm Cove. Enjoyed both!

 Taronga Zoo
Our friend was sweet enough to drive us and let us use her membership to get into this large zoo. We did it during her free time while both kids were in school, we're especially grateful!

Such pretty plant life!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This shot was funny- we were laughing at the snake- the lizards were clearly showing off, trying to show the snake what he couldn't get. The snake was slithering all over the glass, banging it trying to get to their side. Clearly a hungry snake!

 

 

 

View of Sydney from the zoo

 

 

 

 

 

We got to see a joey (baby kangaroo) hop into its mother's pouch. Neat!

 

Oh, and did I mention we saw Angela Lansbury there? (of "Murder She Wrote" fame) She was walking around, getting a tour. We found out (and saw advertisements) that she's in town to do a play. Cool!

 

 

Cairns Tropical Zoo

 

Lastly, we visited this zoo up north near our resort in Palm Cove. It was a neat, small and tropical (duh) zoo!

 

 

Feeding kangaroos!

 

 

My favorite moment at the zoo- getting to snuggle a koala! They're only out for a limited time. So soft and cute!

 

 

Meet Humphrey-9 month old. Aaron would have loved him as a souvenir :)

 

Death Adder snake-yuck!

 

More koalas-the zoo had a ton of them

 

Wombats

Australian crocodile

 

Ummm...by chance any food for little ol' me?

 

Croc show. Did you know that they feel your walking vibrations through the ground? (even if they're sitting in the water) That's how they getcha!

 

 

 

This guy sure is brave

 

Cassowary

 

Josh said the zoo's were his favorite part of the trip. It was cool to see all the different animals that we aren't used to seeing at home!

 

 



Sydney, Australia

 

From our friend's house were able to take a bus and ferry to get into Sydney. We first visited the Royal Gardens- nice walking/running trail with beautiful trees, plants, by the harbor.

From the ferry

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next we took a tour of the Sydney Opera House and had lunch there. We got to sit in each of the three different theater rooms, but pictures weren't allowed in those :P

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We didn't climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge, but we went to something called Pylon Lookout which allowed us to climb up and get a bird's eye view of the harbor (and a good look at the bridge, it's pretty high at the top!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lastly, on Day 1, we visited the National Maritime (naval) Museum.

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Day 2, we started with Hyde Park. So beautiful! I could have sat in the shade of the trees all day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We also visited the Australian Museum. Did you know that Australia has a lot of the most venomous spiders and snakes? So very thankful we didn't run into any of those critters :)

 

Newport, Australia

Once we got into Sydney, we waited for my friend who picked us up from the airport and took us to her home in Newport, a suburb about an hour away. She has a gorgeous home overlooking the water!

Enjoyed seeing the different birds

 

 

 

 

 

 

She has ocean views from about every room of the house, except for the kitchen that is situated towards their front yard and the guest bedroom. We enjoyed many mornings watching the sunrise, eating breakfast/sitting outside on the balcony, it was neat.

 

We spent a lot of time with our friends eating out, getting to see the kids' school, going to a zoo, going to a few beaches...we miss them already!

 

Our cute friends

 

Nate's gal pal Lauren, kindergarten

 

The kids absolutely LOVED Josh! They liked to the play the "jumping on Josh" game. Always wanted to sit with him, hold his hand, it was cute.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Newport was a cute beach town. Kids seem to wear uniforms to school, and in Australia you drive on the left and the wheel is on the right :) Locals are so friendly. Missing our friends already!