Camping Overnight at the Zoo

One of the highlights of our trip was a unique experience at the Taronga zoo in Sydney. Taronga is an aboriginal word meaning land by the sea.

As a special treat at the end of our trip, Aunt Mary organized an overnight camping adventure at the zoo. What an experience!

The Taronga zoo offers guests a chance to camp overnight with all the animals. We promptly arrived at 6:15pm after the zoo closed to the general public for the day. Upon arrival we were met at the front gates by some very nice zoo keepers who would become our best friends for the night. After a quick head count, the front gates were closed and locked behind us. We were now officially locked up in a zoo with all the animals.

With winter quickly approaching in Australia, the sun was already down by the time we arrived. Leon, our zoo keeper guide, escorted us down a dark pathway with the sounds of wild animals in the distance. It was really exciting to be in complete darkness knowing there could be a wild tiger just metres from you!

As we made our way down a steep hill and around a bend, we were quickly awe struck with the amazing view. For those that don't know, Taronga zoo sits on some of the best views in all of Sydney. Here's the view we were met with - sorry about the image quality but it gives you an idea of what we saw

After taking in the night view of the city all lit up, we walked a little further to see our lodgings for the night. It wasn't really camping - more like glamping! Our tent was about 12' x 12' with laminate flooring, comfy beds, and even an electric blanket.



Here's a picture of our tents.





We quickly dropped our bags off in the tent and made our way to the main tent for some nibblies and drinks. The zoo keepers then brought in a couple of small animals for us to see and pat - a snake, a shingleback lizzard (it's head looks like it's bottom, or it's bottom looks like it's head?), and some other neat creatures.

After meeting our first few animals, we were then instructed to head to the main cafeteria for dinner. What a feast - roast beef, chicken, lasagna, veggies, salad, bread and drinks.

With our belly's full, Leon then led us on a night walk throughout the zoo. It was so cool seeing what some of the animals act like throughout the night - some animals are more active at night.

At 11pm we made our way back to our tents to nestle in for the night. Before long the sun was waking us up to another spectacular view of the city. It was really fun watching the city wake up with ferry's zipping up and down the harbour. Here's what the night view from our tent looks like in daylight ... if you look closely you might spot the famous Harbour Bridge, or even the Opera House.

Can't see them? This picture might make things easier for you. You can even still see the moon if you look really closely.

After breakfast we were given the chance to get up close with a few animals. Kieran and Sean were even allowed to feed the Giraffe's right out of their hands.

The boys then went to visit the Sea Lions

At 9am the zoo re-opened to the genral public and we were allowed to spend the day there. The Taronga zoo sits on a massive hill sloping down to the harbour with a ferry stop. You can take a gondola ride from the ferry platform to the top of the hill where the zoo entrance is. Really fun in the gondola

hanging above all the animal enclosures - what animal do you see below?

Kieran's favorite animal was the Snow Leopard, Sean's was the Koala.

One the last beaches we visited was Barr beach in Newcastle. Here's what it looks like ... can you see how clear the water is? Can you spot the hang glider over the beach?

Our Australian adventure is now over and we would like to thank everyone for following along. We're looking forward to being home soon to see all our family and friends, and hope we don't struggle too much with jetlag at school on Tuesday.

Kieran and Sean enjoying a little snack before the plane takes off from Sydney. Kieran just loved the meat pies and Sean loved the fruit salads.

Sydney Harbour

Last weekend we all stayed in a hotel in downtown Sydney, which was great fun. We checked in early Saturday morning, and after parking the car and dropping our bags off, we were off to explore downtown Sydney and the harbour area.

Sydney is such a great city with tons of things to do and see. The boys loved riding the ferry's around the harbour, especially when it went right under the Sydney harbour bridge. Really cool!

We strolled around Darling Harbour and Circular Quay eventually making our way over to the famous Sydney Opera House. The city is filled with excitement and the boys especially liked watching all the street performers playing music and doing magic tricks.

We also explored an area of Sydney called the Rocks. This is the oldest part of Sydney and is right at the bottom of the harbour bridge.

On Sunday we went to Luna Park. This is Sydney's oldest amusement park with lots of great rides.

We even saw a pirate ship anchored in Sydney harbour as well as a passenger cruise ship!

Kangaroo Crazy

Last week Aunt Mary, mum, Sean and Kieran went on a kangaroo adventure. Little did we know the kangaroo's would be so jumpy and friendly.

We were amazed at the number of kangaroo's when we arrived, and in our excitement we quickly rolled down the windows of the car for a better view. Within seconds we were surrounded by curious kangaroo's poking their heads and paws into the car to get a better look at Sean's peanut butter sandwich. We were a little nervous at first but soon realized how friendly they were.

Aunt Mary took us to the grounds of an old hospital surrounded by fields and forest. This is where all these wild kangaroo's live. They gather in the fields beside the hospital every morning and evening to graze in the fields. Because there are so many, they have now become somewhat of a tourist attraction and are quite friendly as a result of all the human contact. It was really neat to walk in the fields with all these kangaroo's jumping around you. We even fed some right out of our hands and the boys also named a few of their favorites.

Look how many kangaroo's are here!

Here's a picture of Sean feeding the kangaroo's special food. Aunt Mary made a trip to the local pet store to get special food for kangaroo's. It was made up of grasses, seeds and a few pellets. They loved it!

Really Cool Playgrounds in Australia!

Both boys have really enjoyed the fun parks which are to be found all around the edge of Lake Macquarie, one of the largest saltwater lakes in Australia, and is twice the size of Sydney Harbour. 




Both boys love the variety of fun parks particularly the Lake Macquarie Variety Playground, voted best play space in Australia.

They are becoming expert at climbing, balancing, and zip lining where even mum had a go. The park had some large Moreton Bay Fig trees which just had to be climbed. 

Dad had to go to Canberra for a work this week, and while down there, spotted a really cool playground.











Canberra is the capital city of Australia and is about a 3 hour drive south of Sydney















Look how big the flag is that dad is holding!

Funny Name for Animal Reserve!

Blackbutt Reserve

Off we go to meet some more Australian animals at our local reserve. Blackbutt is the name of one of Australia's eucalyptus trees, and not a rude word although Kieran and Sean think it is and laugh every time they hear it. 












We arrived in time to meet some brightly coloured parrots, a little shy rock wallaby, a sleeping wombat and the huge flightless Emus. 

Highlight of the afternoon was getting to meet the Koala, whose closest living relative is the wombat and whose name is an Aboriginal word meaning " without water". 





Koalas never drink, typically inhabit open eucalyptus woodlands, where the leaves of these trees make up most of their diet. They live for around 12 years and spend much of their day sleeping in a fork in a eucalyptus tree. 

Being marsupials, koalas give birth to underdeveloped young that crawl into their mothers pouches, where they stay for the first six to seven months of their lives. 


These young koalas are called joeys.