🐒 Monday Portrait – Mother and Baby Monkeys🐒
Tag: wildlife
A Family Trip to Melbourne – Part Four – Melbourne Zoo
Our last day had arrived and I had arranged a hire car or people carrier to be exact so we could all travel together. Of course it had to be the zoo and on Mother’s Day at that. I could tell Anthony wasn’t too excited about it, on the other hand it was all Lachie could talk about.
I had pre-booked tickets online and when we arrived around 11.30, there was only a few people ahead of us. I didn’t realise the zoo was so large and when I looked at the map I knew we were in for a long day.
Melbourne Zoo is the oldest zoo in Australia, opened in October 1862. It houses more than 320 animal species from Australia and around the world.
Following the map above it took around four hours to see most of the animals that were not hiding.
Ring tailed lemur 
Bamboo forests 
The butterfly house was amazing, with so many different species. If you stood still long enough one would be sure to land on you.
Trail of the Elephants
On the Main Trail
Lions and Tigers
We watched in awe as this lion slowly approached the window and licked his lips hungrily while looking us straight in the eye!
A tale about the Peccary
As we approached the peccaries the keeper was just finishing off his talk and asked if anyone had any questions. My dear husband asked if they were peccaries and then proceeded to inform the keeper that they were highly prized for their leather hides, being the softest in the world. Indeed he owns a pair of gloves. I should have taken a photo of the keeper’s face as he explained to my husband that we were in a conservation environment and they were not for breeding! Anthony said well I thought you would be interested, said keeper firmly replied “no, I’m definitely not!”. Never one for being able to judge a situation correctly, that is my dear hubby.
Artwork and Murals
It was a wonderful mother’s day and everyone enjoyed it, even Anthony! There is so much to see and do and even after four hours we didn’t get to see everything. There are various food outlets spread around the zoo and many picnic areas. I loved the way it didn’t feel like you were in a zoo and all the animals had room to move about. The zoo is committed to fighting wildlife extinction and is becoming one of the world’s leading zoo based conservation organisations.
🐒 🐯 🦁 🦍 🐒 🐯 🦁 🦍 🐒 🐯 🦁 🦍 🐒 🐯 🦁 🦍 🐒 🐯 🦁 🦍
Patterns in Nature
Featured image Salt Flats in Fuerteventura, Canary Islands
My gallery for Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge – Patterns in Nature
A chipmunk in Fuerteventura
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Day tripping around Fuerteventura, Canary Islands
I think the best way to see anywhere new is to go on an organised excursion. I did just that when I visited Fuerteventura with the excellent Pie de Caracol tours, with driver and guide Luca. It was a long day from 9.00 am until 8pm so we really packed a whole lot in.…
Upset on the Golf Course
I saw this little guy on a walk a while ago. At first I thought it was just a tree stump, but up close I knew better. The mother lay dead a few feet away and when I walked nearer a menacing magpie was flappy frantically around his head. I shooed it away and went to pick up little guy, but he flew away and tried to reach a near tree. Walking towards me were a group of golfers and as I was at the edge of the golf course I decided not to risk my head! I always wonder what happened to little guy.
I hope he grew up to be like the featured image.
For Becky’s January SquareUp
Morning walks and wild life
Walking along Cottesloe Beach today my friend and I saw this little guy just casually exploring! A cute Bob Tail Lizard. I think he was a little lost as he was heading towards the road! As the weather is warming up maybe we’ll get to see more of these.
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Day Trips from Melbourne – Ballarat Wildlife Park
There are so many places to visit just outside of Melbourne, just an hour or two away, so it’s easy enough to fit in a side trip during a four day visit.
Our first day trip was spent at Ballarat Wildlife Park. It takes around 90 minutes to drive from Melbourne and it’s a beautiful park to spend an afternoon in, especially as they have koalas. You do have to register your names at the entrance and pay a bit extra for the koala experience, but as these cuddly creatures are becoming more extinct I thought it was worth it. The park is situated on 37 acres of bushland and has more than 100 free roaming kangaroos.
We spent a couple of hours here looking at all the different animals and it is a very hands on place, being able to feed the kangaroos. Judging by the amount of food on the ground I think the kangaroos are pretty bored with it and definitely not hungry.
Our encounter with the koalas
These are just a few of the photos I took of all the different animals there, and the ones I could get decent shots of! The other animals they have are penguins, birds, crocs, Tasmanian tigers, snakes, emus, wombats, quolls and aligators. There are also two Sumatran tigers there.
There is a licenced cafe there where we had lunch. In my opinion though it’s probably better to bring your own picnic.
PARK INFORMATION
Opening hours: 9-5 pm daily. Closed Christmas Day
Admission: $35 for adults – $19.50 for children. There are group discounts for families.
Animal Encounters: – $40 – $80, I believe for groups of four or less.
As you can see it makes a great family day out, admittedly not cheap but it’s good to see the animals well cared for in a natural habitat.
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On our way back to Melbourne we had a quick pitstop at Lake Wendouree. A beautiful spot to have a picnic and a walk. Then it was back to the city for dinner. A very tasty Korean.
Until our next trip!
