A trip to the Adelaide zoo

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Introduction

The Sunday family fun day activity for this week was on a Monday, and was chosen by Dan - a walk around the Adelaide zoo.

The zoo is located on Frome Road close to the city centre of Adelaide. We parked our car on the northern side of the zoo and walked along the linear pathway that runs along the River Torrens towards Frome road. Decorating the entrance was a giant inflated gorilla that was drawing crowds into the zoo on a mild Adelaide cup day holiday Monday. The gorillas were only visiting for 7 months - but it was the first time there have ever been gorillas at the Adelaide zoo.

We arrived about one and had our picnic lunch in the central part of the zoo where there were free flying macaws. Dan planned the journey through the zoo and we saw, well, lots of animals. We've presented a selection here for you.

Dan says ...

Calling all kids ... Calling all kids ...

You are probably wondering why I chose the zoo - as the zoo is usually for little kids - but I chose it because I decided that our blog needed more animal life pictures. Anyway, you might even start your own blog pages one day - and if you do you need to take interesting photos.


The squirrel monkey was my favourite as it had fingers like ours and it was a good climber and it had yellow fur - which is my favourite colour. I saw Nicole from school at the Squirrel monkey cage. She got the fright of her life when the monkey jumped right up to her face.

I think that one of my least favourite was the American alligators as they have sharp teeth that can bite someone's hand off.

One of the things that was very exciting and memorable was the siamangs. The siamangs were in a big landscape with tall trees for them to climb. At one point a monkey was jumping in the branches and it missed a branch and dangled. It was able to use its feet and hands to grab far away branches and recover its position.


Near the siamangs was the Tapirs and when someone said they wanted to go down and touch one I said "Don't - they hurt - because when they charge into you its like getting run over by a bus".

Dad and I also saw some dwarf mongoose. You are probably wondering why it was Dad and I that saw the dwarf mongoose - we lost Mum at the budgies - well we went off and left her for dead there and didn't go back to find her (we forgot the basic rule of when you get separated from a group that you have to go back to the last place you saw them). We just kept on going for an hour or so, looking at animals and hoping Mum might catch up. When Mum realised that we weren't coming back for her, she gave up waiting and tried to track us down. We finally did meet up - but Mum was a little upset that she had missed out on seeing so much while she had been waiting at the budgies and talking to a parrot called Clyde.

This week's joke.....

Q: How do you get Pikachu onto a crowded train?

A: You poke him on! (pokemon)

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Photos

Wombat
Having a scratch. To view the photos as a slide show, select view full image, and then use Next to scroll through.

Macaw
At 1 pm they let the macaws out for a fly and a photo shoot. It is nice to get so close to such stunning birds.

Squirrel monkey
To Dan's delight he was able to this monkey so close as to note that it had fingers and fingernails very similar to humans.

American alligator
Looking a bit plastic, and a little blue.

Flamingo
Standing as still as a statue

Tortoise
This tortoise obviously had to work hard to stand up - while taking this photo I could hear it's heavy breathing.

Barbury sheep
Dan took the opportunity to learn about the animals on display through the information boards.

Leaf insect
The bug house had this critter, stick insects, scorpions and many more creepy crawlies.

Siamangs
Swinging in the trees with great agility - these were the mighty monkeys.

Tapir
Tapirs roamed below in a stunning zoo display. Above were siamangs doing acrobatics in the tree tops. We met the Ziersche family at this point.

Dan directions
Dan insisted on planning the walk through the zoo. This shot shows him about half way through the walk taking stock of what still needed to be visited.

Crazy cocky
This was a cocky with attitude. I wanted a photo and he just marched up to the fence and squawked LOUDLY. Normally I could take a photo between the wire - but not with this bird - he was really in your face.

Clyde
Next to the animal zoo was some very talkative parrots nattering on and on (in English). 'Clyde' is obviously an entertainer as many people came up and said - "hello Clyde" as if they knew him well.

Meer cat on lookout
They clearly took turns at the top job of keeping a lookout for danger to their feeding friends.

Otter
The otters knew that their feeding time was approaching - communicating to each other, and their keeper, that they were well and truly ready for some food.

Quokka
The Quokka was inside a nursery near the animal zoo as it has a 'joey' in its pouch.

A pair of finches
It took a long time to get this photo through the wire.

Lionesses
Looking very regal on the hill top

Zoo fans
Near the end of the afternoon and it was still all smiles!

Gorilla display
The inflatable gorilla at the front of the zoo certainly attracted the crowds to the zoo on the holiday Monday. The gorillas themselves were quite a let down.

Albert bridge
On Frome road is the Albert Bridge which goes over the River Torrens.

The linear park
Adelaide is surrounded by parks. There is a linear park along the dammed River Torrens that makes an interesting walk to and from the zoo.

Serving dessert
Some shots from the night before - Charlotte, Dan, Ben and Samuel decide on the appropriate mix of jelly, icecream, sauce and sprinkles.

Eating dessert
Samuel, Jessica, Kate, Eloise, Ben and Charlotte devouring their dessert creations.