Sydney Day 2 - Taronga Zoo and Harbor Bridge Walk

Monday, July 3, 2017

Though we woke up quite early around 6:00 AM, I was pleased to have gotten over eight hours of solid sleep. We all felt pretty refreshed, and headed to the lounge for breakfast after showering and getting ready for our day. We were on our own for the day, as all of my cousins had other things to do, but they had given us many recommendations. We decided to head to the Taronga Zoo first, as it came highly recommended. From our hotel we set out on foot down Elizabeth Street all the latest Circular Quay, Which is where all the ferries come and go from. The zoo was a 12 minute ferry ride across the harbor, sailing past glorious views of the opera house and Harbor Bridge and downtown Sydney. 

We found a good spot on the open deck at the back of the boat so that we could snap away and take dozens of photos. The air was cool, but the skies were sunny and blue with lovely white clouds adding interest to the backdrop. We arrived at the Ferry terminal at the base at the zoo and opted to take the footpath to the lower zoo entrance rather than join the long queue for the Sky Safari, a hanging cable car which carried visitors to the main entrance at the top of the hill. That seemed a better option than competing with the mobs of Sydney families with school children who were enjoying their first day of winter break. This seemed to be the right call us once we got in, it was extremely open and quiet and it felt like we had the place to ourselves. That was until we got to the elephant pen, however. There was a huge crowd there admiring the newborn baby who was getting a bath, along with his mother and sister. There really isn't much cuter than a baby elephant, especially because as soon as his bath was done, he started rolling in the dirt again and completely breaded himself in sawdust.

The zoo was an absolutely gorgeous setting, perched on a hill opposite the harbor, with expansive views of the Opera House, Harbor Bridge, and downtown. 

We enjoyed seeing all kinds of native Australian animals, as well as other animals from different parts of the world. Of course the giraffes are always my favorite, but the koalas, wallabies and kangaroos were absolutely adorable! 

We spent a good five hours at the zoo walking around and covered the majority of it, and ended our visit with a ride on the Sky Safari cable car, which took us back to the ferry terminal. 

We got great seats in the front of the open deck of the ferry so we could appreciate the harbor views once again, but this time in the changing light of the late afternoon. Once we reached Circular Quay, we decided to walk around and explore the area. There was a large British cruise ship docked in the harbor ready to embark, and it was fun to watch it sail away. 

Our explorations eventually led us to the footpath of Harbor Bridge, and we walked along the pedestrian passageway all the way across to the 2nd pylon. The sunset light was stunning, and we kept stopping to take photos along the way. The weather had been a little mixed, with a few drops of rain at a few points during the day, which to our good fortune resulted in a vivid rainbow which emerged above the Opera House as we walked across the bridge. Magical.

Sunset is early here now, as it's the middle of winter, and the temperature cooled off quite considerably. At this point in the day we had walked close to 20,000 steps, and our 10-year-old travel companion was starting to complain of excessive hunger and exhaustion, and his disposition was rapidly deteriorating. It was in everyone's best interest to find a place for dinner, and so we made our way back and found a restaurant where I had made a reservation, a trendy Thai chain called Chat Thai. We enjoyed excellent food and the grown ups washed it down with a refreshing South Australian Riesling, and Ewan splurged on a strawberry "juice" which was more of a smoothie.

After dinner we were full and really exhausted. It was quite cold outside and Ewan was in shorts and shivering. My Fitbit registered over 21,000 steps, and the temptation to grab a cab back to the hotel and avoid the 20 minute walk back was too alluring for me and the child to resist, but Gavin the die hard chose to walk back solo. Once again we had an early evening and hit the hay early at the end of our action packed day.