It Just Isn't Done That Way - Sydney and the Blue Mountains - TR Complete #284.

[PrincessInOz]

And we can't forget Maxine!

Well.....she is very cute.....even if the pictures of her are on a different thread.

OK! The reason we have several is so that when we are serving guests, folks don't have to wait as long. That will be fun to get them out and use them!

I think a daytime cruise might work better for us, but who knows. I'm just going to put it on the list and go from there.

I hope you get to go on that cruise.

I was fascinated by the history. The tall ship cruise sounded like a lot of fun and the views are stunning.

Corinna

We really loved being captive on that ship. The adults got to spend a bit of time chatting to each other and enjoying the time. The teenagers roamed about and we really didn't see them except when the food came out.

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Do we use jaffles commonly here? I'd never heard of that term until a couple of years ago

We had them up here in Qld through the 1970's and 1980's til they went out of fashion some time in the 90's and sandwich presses became the "in thing". I have fond memories of late Uni nights eating baked bean and cheese jaffles in my college room.

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Beautiful night time shots and I know how hard it is taking clear pics at night in Sydney out on the water-more of your photographic wizardry PIO. The trip by ferry over to Manly at sunset, dinner in Manly (or just a stroll from harbour to ocean side and back) then a night ferry trip back is a cheapie alternative for visitors to enjoy the views - but I agree nothing beats a tall ship cruise!

 

[Aussie Wendy]

I demand Australia start selling toastie bags!! What a neat invention.

 

[PrincessInOz]

We had them up here in Qld through the 1970's and 1980's til they went out of fashion some time in the 90's and sandwich presses became the "in thing". I have fond memories of late Uni nights eating baked bean and cheese jaffles in my college room.

Baked beans and cheese. Mmmmm.

Beautiful night time shots and I know how hard it is taking clear pics at night in Sydney out on the water-more of your photographic wizardry PIO. The trip by ferry over to Manly at sunset, dinner in Manly (or just a stroll from harbour to ocean side and back) then a night ferry trip back is a cheapie alternative for visitors to enjoy the views - but I agree nothing beats a tall ship cruise!

Thanks Wendy!

I demand Australia start selling toastie bags!! What a neat invention.

Me too. I'm going to have to start looking for them whenever I travel!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Circular Quay transport



The start of a new day!


Aside from airfare and accommodation, we really hadn't worked out any plans for our time in Sydney. It just isn't done that way, is it?

Evidently it is for this trip.


Last night at our friends place, we had a bit of discussion about what to do with the families today. The screenagers just wanted to stay in the hotel rooms with Wi Fi on the various screens.
Yeah. That went down real well with the adults. We decided a full day's walking activity would probably be a much better option all round.
So, we finally made arrangements about what to do last night.


Circular Quay....or more correctly, Semi-Circular Quay....was our meeting point.







Circular Quay is a major Sydney transport hub. You'll be able to catch ferries, train and buses from this area. We caught the free 555 service down to the Quay and queued up to buy our ferry tickets to our destination of the day.







There were a heap of people already waiting at our wharf.







Our destination this morning was very popular with locals and tourists alike.







Semi-Circular Quay was the original name for this area because of the shape of the quay but it was shortened to CQ for convenience. If you ever get a view of the quay from above, you'll see why it was called semi-circular.






We left Sydney Cove on time. Sydney Cove, where Circular Quay is located, was the site of the initial landing of the First Fleet on 26 Australia, 1788. It's very different these days.







We saw this view last night. It was lovely to see it in day light as well.







Sydney skyline in the daytime.







Last night, the tall ship headed out as far as Fort Denison. Fort Denison is a former penal site and defensive facility occupying a small island known as Pinchgut Island. In the First Fleet days, the island was used ala Survivor Exile Island style. Convicts were sent here for misbehaving with only bread and water rations for a week; hence why it was known as pinchgut. These days, you can catch a ferry out here and visit the fort. I believe that it's quite a tourist attraction and very popular on the wedding reception scene.







It didn't take long after passing Fort Denison for us to reach our destination. In all, it was a 12 minute ferry ride.








(Continued in Next Post)

 

[PrincessInOz]

Where the Wild Things Are - Taronga Zoo



Taronga Zoo is the city zoo of Sydney and is located on the shores of Sydney Harbour in the suburb of Mosman. It was officially opened on 7 October 1916. It was the perfect outing for our screenagers as it really meant no screen access for the day.


For many tourists, the preferred mode of travel to the zoo is by ferry. Sydney Ferries offers a combined ZooLine ticket covering ferry ride and park entry to the zoo. I don't know how much they charged; we only bought the ferry ticket and I think that was about $12 return for an adult. We disembarked at the ferrywharf, located on Bradleys Head Road.






There are two ways to enter the zoo from this point. You can choose to enter via the lower level entrance.







Or you can enter the zoo via a gondola lift to the upper entrance.






The Skyways or gondola will be included in your zoo admission. Trust me. You definitely want to start from the top and work your way down with this zoo.






It isn't the oldest zoo in Australia (the Royal Melbourne Zoo holds that distinction and as Friends of the Zoo in Melbourne, we had reciprocal rights to enter Taronga for no charge), but it is one of the prettiest. The word Taronga is an aboriginal word that means beautiful view. I think you can see why.












This zoo is built on a hill and the enclosures are spread all along the width of the hill. If you start from the top, the aim is to meander down without having to walk back up the hill again. If you end up missing a few animals along the way, that's fine. With over 340 species of animals to discover, it's unlikely you're going to see them all in the one day anyway.







The horsetrading started immediately even before we got to the zoo. We had 5 of the wild things with us. 5. Independent. Strong-willed. Wild. Things. All with very different viewpoints of what they wanted to see. Us adults knew better than get in the way. We just told them to sort it out and we would follow them.


So let's just check out what we did see on this day, shall we?




(Continued in Next Post)

 

[PrincessInOz]

Not the Usual Australian Animals



One of the 5 wild things with us wanted to see some Australian Animals. And not the usual kangaroo or koala variety either. Kangaroos and koalas are common enough for this particular teen living in Australia, he was interested in the other varieties. And if it sounds crass to you, for those that hung out on my Anyone Game TR.....you may remember the discussion we had about hummingbirds and the Aussies going on about the hummingbirds. Those of you that see hummingbirds all the time thought it rather ho-hum. I guess that might put it a little perspective on this teen's viewpoint.


Tree Kangaroo







Bilby







Platypus







Whilst this was taken later in the day, it is of the Aussie kind so I'll just add it to this post. And we did stop in this enclosure specifically because the said teen insisted we do so.

Tasmanian Devil







(Continued in Next Post)

 

[PrincessInOz]

The Bird Show



If you are visiting Taronga, one of the unmissable things to go-see is the Bird Show. Really???
It's just only a bird show, right? Especially when it starts off with a very familiar bird.







All the bird shows I've been to recently start off with cockatoos!








So....yes. It is just a bird show. But it's a 20 minute presentation with this view in the background.







And the raptor birds are wonderful in this show. I think this bird is the Australian Kite.













If you don't like birds flying close to you, this show is not for you. A lot of the birds do fly right past depending on where you sit.

This is the Brolga.






The Black Cockatoo.







Barn Owl.






Those of you that read my post about Flights of Wonder may remember that I wished that I had jumped up quicker when they were asking for audience participation. At that time, I wondered what it would have been like to be at the receiving end of an owl flying straight at you. I guess they would have looked a bit like these.

























The entertainment of the day came from this Peregrine Falcon.













He did everything perfectly on cue.







Everything that is.....except for that final return. He chose to sit up in a nearby tree for the better part of 3 minutes before deciding to come back to the handler. For the birdman on duty that day and talking about the show, it was the longest 3 minutes he had to fill in. It got to the point where he even admitted that he was filling in with idle chatter in the hope that the bird would return. And the reason the show doesn't continue is that with a raptor in the viscinity, bringing out more birds.....potential prey....would just mean that we would be treated to hunting skills that I would rather not see. So it was idle chatter or close the show early!







That peregrine did eventually return.







And the show continued.







It ended with a flurry of birds flying everywhere. Like I said before. This show is not for you if you don't like birds flying close to you.









(Continued in Next Post)

 

[PrincessInOz]

Reptiles and more Reptiles


One teen wanted to see reptiles. We did have to back-track up to hill to get to the reptiles; but it couldn't be helped as we needed to make it to the bird show first. It was to be our only back-track up the hill. Once was definitely enough.

Komodo Dragon


















Frogs







Golden-tailed Gecko







Chameleon He was rather spooky. His eyes moved in different directions.







Turtles

















The Sailfin Lizards













Gila Monster







Snakes




















(Continued in Next Post)

 

[PrincessInOz]

Sea-Lion and Seal Show



Another Do-Not-Miss at the Zoo. We hit the Sea-Lion and Seal show next.







I guess that's why they call them Performing Seals.












Thankfully, there was a conservation message to this show.







And they were really barking it out.








Fish are friends....






....not food.








There was a lot to like about the seals. The show was entertaining, there was lots of information about seals, their habitats and their habits....plus conservation messages about not polluting the seas.







It really did create a splash with our teens.







We did enjoy hanging around these animals.







You might have even said.....we had a ball.












It really was a high point of the day.







Such wonderful creatures.








(Continued in Next Post)

 

[PrincessInOz]

The Lack of Insects



Naturally, we had one of the wild things wanting to see insects.


















I was surprised. There really weren't that many insects on display. Maybe there was another enclosure further up the hill.




(Continued in Next Post)

 

[PrincessInOz]

Animals on the Side



Here are some of the other animals we saw as we walked down the hill.




























































By this stage, we'd spent almost the full day at the Zoo. We did eat in one of the food places in the Zoo. It wasn't anything exciting nor porn worthy. I don't know if it was the case all the time as the food at the Melbourne Zoo can be quite acceptable at times.


But for now.....It was definitely time to head back to the city.

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Lovely pics. I was sitting on our deck this am watching lots of birds as our gum tree out back is in flower-lots of galahs, resident Aussie noisy miners and import myners, a flock of rainbow lorikeets, blue-faced honeyeaters, and sulphur crested cockatoos who came down for a dip in the bird bath (and always seem to scare the other birds away til they leave).

 

[Aussie Wendy]

You are certainly getting your fill of zoos this year PIO! I have decided for my birthday I want to visit the Australian Zoo as its been a decade since we were there (last with overseas visitors).

 

[zanzibar138]

Great zoo photos I had to laugh about the bird not coming back. Never work with children or animals Lucky you getting to see a Tasmanian Tiger! And here was I thinking they were extinct... I've never considered visiting the Taronga Zoo before, but with those lovely views as a backdrop, I think its made its way onto my list

 

[WanderlustNZ]

What a fabulous update.

I was leaning towards spending our day at the zoo and now I know for sure that that is what we will do.
What an amazing view from the bird show. The pic with the cockatoo and the blurred cityscape is awesome.

Is that a pic of a Snow Leopard? I have been obsessed with snow leopards since watching the amazing footage of them on the Planet Earth doco. They are such amazing creatures and so very rare. What a treat to see one!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Great zoo photos I had to laugh about the bird not coming back. Never work with children or animals Lucky you getting to see a Tasmanian Tiger! And here was I thinking they were extinct... I've never considered visiting the Taronga Zoo before, but with those lovely views as a backdrop, I think its made its way onto my list

Do'h! I'll go change it now.

I wasn't thinking when I was typing it out.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Lovely pics. I was sitting on our deck this am watching lots of birds as our gum tree out back is in flower-lots of galahs, resident Aussie noisy miners and import myners, a flock of rainbow lorikeets, blue-faced honeyeaters, and sulphur crested cockatoos who came down for a dip in the bird bath (and always seem to scare the other birds away til they leave).

You need to share pictures! That sounds heavenly!

You are certainly getting your fill of zoos this year PIO! I have decided for my birthday I want to visit the Australian Zoo as its been a decade since we were there (last with overseas visitors).

I am indeed. I put the San Diego zoo on the list of things to do in October. I hope to make it there. It's been years since I've visited the proper zoo in SD and it might be time for a re-do. I've done the Wild Animal Park a couple of times now.

What a fabulous update.

I was leaning towards spending our day at the zoo and now I know for sure that that is what we will do.
What an amazing view from the bird show. The pic with the cockatoo and the blurred cityscape is awesome.

Is that a pic of a Snow Leopard? I have been obsessed with snow leopards since watching the amazing footage of them on the Planet Earth doco. They are such amazing creatures and so very rare. What a treat to see one!

Thanks.

Yes, it is a snow leopard. Loved seeing it; and the tiger (not the Tasmanian variety. ).

 

[zanzibar138]

Do'h! I'll go change it now.

I wasn't thinking when I was typing it out.

I was wondering if you'd put it in there on purpose, just to check that we were all paying attention