Some of my fondest memories growing up are ones that took place at zoos, so it should come as no surprise that I recently planned trips to two zoos here in Australia.
I visited the Taronga Zoo on Friday. My new friend Annie and I got up before dawn to take the first train into Sydney, and once we met up with her friend Ally, we took the ferry to the zoo.
Our
first major stop was the seal and sea lion show, and I immediately
noticed how kindly the keepers treat the animals. I've never seen a zoo
keeper treat an animal unkindly, but the keepers at Taronga show an obvious love for the animals in their care.The seals were very expressive and energetic, and they each displayed a very unique personality. Unlike some animal shows I've seen, the keepers at this show made a real effort to promote conservation, protection of the environment, and ecological responsibility.
Of course, they made sure to show off with a few tricks, though!
After this, we made our way around the rest of the zoo, seeing reptiles, both caged and uncaged...
a mother and baby chimpanzee duo...
lemurs (who we saw up close during an enclosure walk-through)...
and so many more gorgeous animals.
At the end of our zoo day, we took a ride on the gondola that extends high above the entire zoo. Since my battery ran low, I decided to switch from my rechargeable batteries to normal ones in order to capture a couple shots from the air. WELL, did you know that there is a small gap between the bottom of the gondola's door and floor? YEAH, me neither. So, I lost a rechargeable battery to the roof of one of the zoo's buildings...oops.
Luckily I had some backup batteries because we went straight from the zoo to the train station to meet up with our friend Jordan and head to Katoomba, home of the Blue Mountains.
We made it into town just in time for sunset, so we walked to the Three Sisters overlook to take a few pictures.
It was an early night for us since Annie and I had woken up so early. When we woke up, we got ready as fast as we could and took a short train ride toward the Charles Darwin trek trail head.
This hike passed waterfalls, small caves, and beautiful rock formations. We hiked for eight hours, and I'm still not entirely sure where all we went. What I can do, though, is describe the hike in numbers.
13 miles
4 waterfalls
2 jumps into springs
1 jar of nutella
438218938201803 stairs...maybe a slight exaggeration
6 ungraceful falls...all mine.
About that last one...
I am often overly confident with my ankles. I have been a klutzy person most of my life, and I have sprained each of them several times. I had PT, though, and I don't believe in watching life happen from the sidelines. That does mean that I get hurt sometimes.
The first fall was a rolled ankle. My foot hit the step at a bit of an angle, and down I went. Annie described my second fall as her watching my life flash before her eyes. There was a slight deformity in the rock I stepped on, so my feet slipped right out from underneath me. Luckily, I caught the hand rails and held on for dear life or I might have fallen down the stairs a ways and my new friends may have been carrying me back. I'm really glad we didn't get in that situation.
(Jordan took the above photo of me while I was laughing at the caution
sign warning about falls. This was taken just 5-10 minutes after my
first one.)
P.S. If you were observant enough to notice I only talked about one zoo instead of two, stay tuned! I'm headed to Brisbane today, and I will be visiting the one and only Australia Zoo, home of the Crocodile Hunter, may he rest in peace.
Did I mention I'll be going on Steve Irwin Day? Because I'll be going on Steve Irwin Day. I'm just a bit excited.
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Read more from Caroline at http://newiintown.blogspot.com.au/
Find out more about the University of Newcastle exchange at http://studyabroad.uark.edu/exchange/newcastle
Find out more about the University of Newcastle exchange at http://studyabroad.uark.edu/exchange/newcastle
