Taronga Zoo

Sunday was the zoo trip.

The views from Taronga zoo are amazing! The animal shows are fabulous.

We were lucky enough to see the Seal Show, the Bird Show and the Elephant show (complete with baby Elephant).

Here's the seal show:

Here's the Bird Show. The view from the bird show were fantastic and it was so well done. If you ever find yourself at Taronga, you should definitely make time to see it.

The Dove edging the seagull out of the way so it could open the banner and start the show.


To be honest I can't remember what this one was. Perhaps a hawk???



An Owl of some variety. He's flying in the last shot. It might be difficult to see him when it's this small.



Barking Owl

This was the South American Condor. She was only young and didn't want to do what she was told, so she didn't leave at the end when she was meant to. And part way through the performance, she flew off to the lawns and had to be retrieved. Very funny. Reminded me of a certain puppy who has selective hearing.

Here's the Elephant show. Unfortunately the photos for this aren't great as we were standing behind tall people and the baby was so far away.

When the big elephants were playing soccer, the baby was running around after the ball. He would then climb on it like a fit ball. It was just the cutest thing. He got a bit too close at one point and got hit in the head with the ball just after one of the adults had kicked it. He ran straight off to his keeper for comfort. It didn't take him long to get back in the game again though.

Here are some other animal photos from the day.

Nigel the Blue Tongue Lizard who refused to poke his tongue out for the camera. He was very smooth to touch.


The Giraffes have a lovely view...


...as do the Mountain Goats.


Right after I took this photo one of the other chimps swung down next to these guys and started... ummm... enjoying his own company. I'm sure that would have made for some awkward parenting moments. lol


This was one very happy Tapir who was getting a brush from her keeper. She was rolling onto her back and lifting her legs and her chin. She did not want the keeper to stop.


The Tiger was enjoying the lovely sunshine.


I love the Meerkats. They're so cute!



The Fishing Cat was just gorgeous. Such a sweet face!





The Leopard Seals. They were swimming around the tank and popping their heads up out of the water. The under water viewing section was amazing. It was so cool to watch them swimming underwater.


NZ Fur Seal enjoying the lovely weather.

Taronga Zoo was a really wonderful experience. It's one of the most expensive zoos I've been to, but I think it's well worth the $40 admission fee considering all that you see there.

Worshiping at the Temple of Neil Perry

Our dinner at Spice Temple on Saturday night was amazing, as I've already mentioned in my summary.

I'm just going to post the banquet menu here so I don't forget it.

Banquet Menu for the entire table

Cabbage and radish pickle
Cucumber with smashed garlic
Tofu and preserved egg with soy chilli dressing
Shredded lamb shoulder with salted chilli

Fried squid
with whole five spice and dark chilli paste
Fish drowned in heaven facing chillies and Sichuan peppercorns
Leatherjacket Sichuan style

Three shot chicken
Beer, chilli and soy
Stir fried David Blackmore’s wagyu brisket
with baby eggplant and chilli

Broccolini with house made oyster sauce

Blood orange granita

The wine we had was a McLaren Vale Cascabel Temperanillo 2008. It was perfect with the food and really yummy!!

Family Pics

Megs and Mum on the ferry to Manly


Megs and Dad having a drink


Mum and me at the pub


Mum and Megs with the Opera House behind




Megs and Me at the wharf. Do you like my new hat? I think it's awesome!





On the Watsons Bay Ferry


Mum and Megs surveying the view at Watsons Bay


The Three Wise Monkeys on the Neutral Bay Ferry


Megan looking awesome in my new hat and her new scarf.

A Surprise in Sydney (Summary)

It was my Mum's 60th birthday recently and so to celebrate, she, Dad and my sister, Megan, booked a trip to Sydney. While Mum and Dad planned their fun week away, my sister and I made plans of our own.

The plan was that I would fly into Sydney in secret and surprise Mum and Dad on the Friday and then we'd have a lovely family weekend together.

Well, the surprise worked. I flew into Sydney at around midday on Friday, then caught the train to the hotel. I had just enough time to unpack and freshen up before I had to get to circular quay where I would meet Mum, Dad and Megs. I got there with plenty of time to spare, as they were running late. I was waiting at the Manly Ferry Wharf for them as they came running up to catch the ferry that was departing in 5 minutes. Megan saw me first and came and gave me a hug. Mum ran straight past me. lol! She wasn't expecting to see me, but she realised what was going on when she turned to see why Megs and Dad had stopped. They certainly looked surprised and very happy that I'd made the trip to Sydney for the weekend.

It was really hard to keep the secret, but it was well worthwhile to see the look on their faces when all was revealed. :)

So, I'm going to use this post as a summary of the weekend and then I'll go into more detail and post some photos in subsequent blog posts.

We stayed at Sebel Pier One under the harbour bridge and it was lovely. The room was nice, the service was good and the view from the bar was lovely.

On the Friday, after the surprise had been revealed we all caught the ferry to Manly and spent the afternoon there. We wandered, had coffee, people watched and caught up on news. We shared stories of how many pairs of shoes and handbags we brought with us, much to the amusement of the men sitting in front of us on the ferry. In the evening, we went for dinner at a lovely Itallian Restaurant near the hotel.

On Saturday, we had breakfast in the Rocks markets and then spent the day on the harbour. All I needed was a 1 day travel pass for the normal ferries, because Mum, Dad and Megs have been to Sydney enough times to act as tour guides.

In the evening we went to Neil Perry's latest Sydney Restaurant called Spice Temple. I highly recommend this restaurant. The food, service wine and atmosphere were all amazing. We had the banquet and all the dishes were amazing. The flavours were fantastic. When we finished up our meal and walked out, Neil Perry was sitting at the bar. I still can't believe we didn't walk up to him and say hello and thank you.

On Sunday we went to Taronga Zoo. It's awesome. The animal displays are wonderful, but the best thing about the zoo is the amazing view you get from it back across the harbour towards the opera house and the bridge.

I was sad to leave everyone on Sunday afternoon, but unfortunately I had to make the plane trip back to reality. Megs and I made the journey to the airport together and then parted ways when my plane started boarding.

I had an amazing weekend and took lots of photos that I'm going to bore you with when I get back online tomorrow.