Taronga Zoo

Although it was raining when we awoke from our slumber on Saturday morning, we were not going to let it get it in the way of our trip to Taronga Zoo. We grabbed a ferry from Circular Quay at 9:45am and were at the zoo about 15 minutes later. We had to drop some folks off at Fort Denison which is an island in Sydney Harbor that was going to be a prison then was changed into a military fort after the decided that it was not a good idea to keep prisoners in an area that would a be a main tactical depot if there ever was an attack on the harbour.

The zoo is right on the hillside opposite Circular Quay and when you arrive at the zoo by ferry, you take a cable car to the top part of the zoo and then walk back down to the ferry through the zoo. The cable card ride gives you a bit of preview of what you are going to see for the day (as you can see from the photo above, which was taken about half way up the line). The rain stopped as soon as we arrived at the zoo which meant we pretty much had the zoo to ourselves for the first hour and a bit. Charlotte was such a good girl, she sat in her stroller for most of our 3 hours at the zoo pointing at the animals and saying ooohhh or making the sign for bird when she saw one walk or fly past. There were many animals I had not seen before, and I think the gorillas were my favourite. The Alpha male just stayed on his back with his arms and legs sprawled, looking at the people - he was very tired or possibly has had his spirits crushed by his existence in a zoo environment - oh well, i enjoyed seeing him, and although there was no emotion in his blank stare, I could feel he enjoyed seeing me too. The Taronga zoo is very nice, designed perfectly for walking and well worth the small fee and short trip. Charlotte may be a little young, but when you can keep her in the stroller for an extended period of time, you know she is content with her surroundings. We had a small lunch at the zoo, and then Charlotte zonked out as we got back on the ferry (see below).

On the ferry and did a little tour around the harbor seeing Shark Island, Watson Bay, the Heads and some of the most expensive real estate in the world. The Heads is the only entrance/exit to the Sydney Harbor, so all cruise liners, tankers, cargo ships that come to Sydney enter from the pacific ocean . There were hundreds of sailing boats out enjoying the days, not an exaggeration, we will post the pics at some point. Charlotte woke up as we got back to circular quay and was happy to stay in her stroller as we went picked up some Chevapchichi for dinner. Upon our return to the apartment, we went for a swim in the pool. Charlotte was in a great mood and enjoyed the pool but probably enjoyed the hot tub a little more. She was laughing and splashing the entire time.

I'll let Kate take over from here. Neale

We had a quiet evening and when we woke up today we were ready for some more Sydney sight-seeing. We headed out to the Rocks (a nearby funky neighborhood) for breakfast and to check out their weekend market. Charlotte was still operating with a sleep deficit, so we were back at the apartment by 10:15 am and she's been sleeping since then. Who knows what's in store for us when she wakes up . . . stay tuned!