THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2017
TARONGA ZOO
Taronga zoo was also on my list of things to do. I had read that it was better than the WILD LIFE Zoo near Darling Harbour. It boasted great views and had a variety of animals. It’s more of a family friendly activity. Looking back, I think I could have skipped it. The ticket plus the round trip ferry was 55 AUD. You can save 20% if you buy online. The smarter option probably would have been to go on a Sunday when the metro card is at most 2.50 AUD.
I woke up later than I planned, but that’s okay. I grabbed a muffin, got on the ferry and rode the gondola (sky safari) from the ferry to the zoo entrance. The weather unfortunately was not on my side and was raining kind of hard. I surrendered to the rain and purchased a poncho from the zoo gift shop. On the bright side, because of the ugly weather, there were very few people at the zoo.
SEAL SHOW
There’s a lot going on at this zoo. They had a couple of special shows that only happened twice in a day. So, even the zoo trip was a bit planned out. (Seal show at 10:30am, Giraffe Encounter at 11:00am, Flight Bird Show at 12pm) The seal show was pretty good. I think I’ve seen better, but it’s been awhile. One audience volunteer even got to get her picture taken with a seal.
GIRAFFE ENCOUNTER
One of the reasons why I was attracted to Taronga Zoo was because they had giraffe encounters where you could feed the giraffes. I thought that would be a really fun and cool experience. Luckily, by 11am, the sun was coming out and the giraffes were out and about. Giraffes actually don’t like rain, and they’ll hide in their little shelter when it rains. The encounter was about $25 AUD, but it came with a photo of you and the giraffe and 10% off any purchases at the gift shop.
QBE FREE-FLIGHT BIRD SHOW
The best seats in the house. I’m not particularly a fan of birds, but I am a fan of the views and this was the best view at the zoo. The only other view that might compare might be the giraffes with the Opera House in the background. It was beautiful to see the Opera House, the Harbour Bridge, and the city from the other side.
The flight show was kind of impressive as well. I didn’t know such large birds existed. They are also trained really well to fly from one designated place to another, making the show kind of pretty. Lucky for me, the rain seemed to be holding off for the time being.
AQUARIUM
I don’t know if it’s because I went to the SEA LIFE Aquariuam before the zoo, but the aquarium was not really impressive. They had seals and penguins. That’s it. Watch the seal show, skip the aquarium.
LUNCH
For lunch, I just ate at the “cafeteria” at the zoo. Prices are usually higher. I got a lot of food. My favorite were the $5 sweet potato chips. Yeah, they were expensive chips, but they were also really good.
AFRICAN AND AUSTRALIAN ANIMALS
I really should have left after lunch, but I paid so much money to get into the zoo, I thought it would be better to see as much as I could. So, I did a quick stroll through the African animals exhibit and the Australian animals exhibit. Looking back, I could have skipped the Australian animals because I saw most of it at the Featherdale Wild Life Park from Day 1.
My overall thoughts of the zoo were big space, few animals. It’s great that the zoo gives the animals so much space. The enclosures are big. However, it’s like Noah’s ark. There are only three female elephants, one male elephant, one bear, two dear, etc. The only animal that was at a higher count than 4 was probably the barbary sheep (pictured above). I left the zoo around 3pm, but the ferry didn’t come until closer to 4pm. I was carrying a bit too much on my hands and the giraffe photo was surprisingly big. So after I got off the ferry, I went back to the hostel to drop some of the stuff off and made my way to Madame Toussands. It closed at 6, but I figured I could get there around 5 and stay at least an hour.
MADAM TOUSSANDS
After debating what the quickest way to Madam Toussands would be, I decided to walk there. I arrived at the door at 5:03pm. However, the door was closed. I was informed by the Aquarium employees next door that the last entry was at 5pm. Despite my pleading, they were unable to let me in. At this point, I was feeling very disappointed. I really wanted to go to the wax museum and I had spent the money on the 5 attraction pass and only made it to two, not really making the package deal worth while. After taking 5 minutes to get over it, I decided to walk around Harbourside, which is on the other side of Darling Harbour. I couldn’t go far, knowing that everything closed around 6. I would get at most 30 min at any given place.
HARBOURSIDE
Harbourside is a shopping mall at Darling Harbour and it was on my itinerary for Day 1, but I never got to it. Given, it’s not a large shopping mall, but it’s got some shops and a food court. The stores were actually affordable. They had a couple items on sale for $9.95 AUD, which ain’t too bad. I was able to find a couple things I liked. Shopping was a success!
OPERA BAR
As I was eating a small meal at the Harbourside food court, Sophy texts me and asks if I wanted to join her and some other people to go to the Opera Bar. I really wanted to see the Opera House at night, so I walked back to the hostel and joined them for a drink at the Opera Bar. Definitely go see the Opera House at night. I think I actually liked the view better at night. It was gorgeous!! If you have the time and the means, I recommend going to see a show at the Opera House. Maybe in 10 years, I’ll come back and see a show.
GLENMORE
Drinks were kind of expensive at the Opera House, so after one drink we went to the Glenmore, where Sophy and Sebastian bought another drink, while Meika and I made plans for Friday to do the Bondi to Coogee walk.
REFLECTION
Everything happens for a reason, right? I might have missed the wax museum, but I was able to pick up a last minute dress for a Friday night out. Traveling solo isn’t as bad when you meet new people. It’s one of the best parts. I probably would have stuck to my travel buddy if I went with someone. But I’m surprised at how I was able to click with some people. Given, I don’t know them that well, and I’ll probably never see them again, but it puts into perspective that there are people all across the world with the same travel interests and if I really kept in touch with people, I could have friends all over the world. Easier said than done.
Much love, Tina. x.
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Umm travel buddy here reading this blog….see you do keep in touch! 😛 xoxo