Taronga Zoo, Sydney (February 14, 2016)

Reading Rating: Afternoon Cuppa Tea

 


Davin Reporting!

    Today the Taronga Zoo was on the itinerary.  The nice thing was this was Sunday, so public transportation costs were capped at $2.50.  The ferry from Circular Quay brought us to a pier at the lower end of the zoo.  It seems that much like the San Diego Zoo, the Taronga Zoo is built on hilly ground.  We had the option of entering via the Scenic Skyway, which is basically a small cable car system (also much like San Diego’s Skyfari), but the line from people getting off the ferry was so long that we elected to take the bus to the main entrance instead. 

    The Taronga Zoo seemed like a decent zoo, but unfortunately we are sort of spoiled by the San Diego Zoo.  In the past I’ve wondered whether the self-proclaimed “World Famous San Diego Zoo” actually deserved that title.  I think my experience at the Taronga Zoo suggests that it does.  The SD Zoo has pretty much all of the animals we saw at Taronga, but also much more in addition. 

    The highlights of the zoo are the Australian animals they have on display.  I especially enjoyed the nocturnal animal display, which had a reverse daylight schedule so you could see the nocturnal animals when they are active.  We also had the good fortune to witness one of the zoo keepers playing with one of the elephants.  The keeper had the elephant perform various simple tricks in exchange for treats.

    (Kristin Interjection: “The Tasmanian Devil enclosure was also very nice, especially because it brought attention to the ‘Devil Facial Tumor Disease’ which is decimating the wild Tasmanian Devil population. It is one of three contagious cancers known to exist in the world! (One of the others affects dogs, and the third affects hamsters.) Since the tumors grow on the Tasmanian Devil’s face, and the Devils bite each other in territorial disputes, the cancer spreads like wildfire. It is believed that all that stands in the way of the entire species going extinct in the next 20 years are the breeding programs of healthy Devils at zoos like Taronga Zoo. As such, we were happy to do our part and drop ‘a gold coin’, one for each of us, into the donation box.”

We took the Skyway back to the entrance. Look at the view to Downtown Sydney!

    After leaving the zoo, we decided to take the bus back toward our hotel instead of using the ferry.  Although this was slower, it allowed us to see more of the city.  Overall, the bus system in Sydney seems quite a bit less advanced than the trains or ferries.  There is no display for the next stop, and the bus driver doesn’t even make an announcement.  The only way to keep track of where you are, if you don’t know the area, is by following your progress on Google Maps– a bit of an annoyance.  That being said, it would have been even more problematic pre-smart phone. 

    The bus dropped us back in North Sydney where we wanted to get an Italian pizza.  Unfortunately, as it was Sunday, nearly all of the restaurants were closed.  So, in this regard, Australia is much like Europe. Instead we were forced to fall back on Hungry Jack’s.  Hungry Jack’s is basically a Burger King, but in Australia a lot more emphasis was put on selling combos– it was difficult to even find the individual price for different items.  (Kristin Interjection: “Also like in Europe, it is almost impossible to find a burger place that sells a milkshake!”)

    The other major difference is that soda is a lot more expensive outside the U.S.  A small soda in the U.S. is at least the size of a medium in Australia, with a medium being equal to a large, and a large not even being sold.  That being said, a U.S. large is absolutely monstrous (equal to at least three 12 oz. glasses), so maybe it’s to the benefit of Sydneysider’s waistlines that such an absurd size isn’t sold here! 

    As Hungry Jacks was basically our lunch, later on we also ate some more of our Thai food, and snacked on some corn chips and salsa.  The salsa here is a poor approximate of real salsa– it is very sweet and tomato-y– but it’s the best you can do on the wrong side of the Pacific.  Corn chips taste more or less right, but they are much more expensive.  The bags are small and half filled with air.  In San Diego you can get at least 8 times as much for the same price if you buy an economy size bag at Smart & Final, or 3-4 times as much buying a normal bag at the grocery store.

    We did a little more shopping before we headed back to the hotel for the night. Kristin took a picture of an amusing Ben and Jerry’s ice cream called ‘Phish Food’.

    We have noticed that the port of Sydney is a busy one as far as cruise ships are concerned. Almost every day the international cruise terminal has had a new cruise ship in port! We watched the Royal Caribbean ‘Explorer of the Seas’ depart today.