Taronga Zoo

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One of the top stories in Sydney yesterday was the flash flooding that occurred with all that rain. One man drowned and two others were struck by lightning. Freaky weather. Today dawned mostly clear and the forecast did not show any rain, so Maggie and I decided to head to the Taronga Zoo. It is located across Sydney Harbor from Circular Quay and one gets there via ferry. I always like to take a ferry when there is a good excuse, so I enjoyed the ride. We have been to this zoo several times in the past, but one never knows what one will see because so much depends on the whims of the animals. Today we were particularly fortunate inside the nocturnal animal building because the majority of the night creatures were moving about. We watched a carnivorous bat feeding and several echidnas trundling around their enclosures. Echidnas are monotremes and are one of only two living mammals that lay eggs. The other one is the platypus and we got to see several of them today, too. Another quintessentially Australian animal at the zoo is the Tasmanian Devil and we were pleased to see a very active one splashing around in the little stream that runs through the exhibit. (See photo) Maggie and I packed our lunches and at lunchtime we found a good spot to sit on a bench looking out over the water to downtown Sydney. It is a grand sight and one I never tire of. (See photo) We saw many other animals, but I will only mention one more. That is the red panda. It is not an Australian animal, but our zoo in Portland no longer has red pandas and they were one of our favorites, so we like to see them when we can. (See Photo) It was a rewarding, but tiring day walking around the zoo, so this evening we will take it easy at home and plan our day tomorrow.

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