Sydney Wild Life Zoo

Anyone who has known me for longer than 30 seconds knows that I am Scottish. They will learn that I am very cheap.

Given the option between paying roughly $60 for a ferry and zoo admission to see a whole bunch of different zoo animals I can find in any old zoo or paying $2.20 for bus fare and $30 (online, saved $8!) to see all the "Australia Animals", it is not difficult to see which I would pick. As much as I love zoos and I love animals, I did not come to Australia to see red pandas or leopards. I have also been given specific instructions by my Nana to "bring back a koala - alive!" that I can't really ignore.

 I did not believe these frogs were real until one of them blinked.

 Wallaby! The wallabies were so adorable.

 Kangaroo! We were allowed to walk around the enclosure and pet them/feed them, but only if they approached us. This guy was a lot more friendly than the rest. I did not tell him that I had eaten his cousin.

 Rachel has very accurately noted that kangaroos lay down like old men.

Kookaburras! They really do laugh. The keepers told us that they only laugh in the morning (like roosters), when it is going to rain or when they feel threatened. This is Jack and Jill, a mated pair. In a pen on the other side of a walk way is Spike, who thinks he can just waltz over and steal Jill. Except that he can't, so he and Jack get in to these yelling contests.

 Koalas! There are four or five koalas in the enclosure. I got there right around feeding time so the place smelled amazing (their diet is entirely eucalyptus). It also smelled a bit like Halls.

 This particular koala was very scratchy. He kept shifting and scratching before he decided to come down and eat.

 He was having none of our picture taking.

 Baby koala! Baby koala was shy but I was patient enough to stick around and get a picture.

This is baby koala's mama. She was on the other side of the enclosure and keeping a careful eye on us.

I pet one of the koalas. They are not as fluffy and cuddly as you might think. They're coarse and wirey. I did not get a picture because they charge, even to take pictures with your own camera (see above note about being Scottish).

Wombat! The wombats kind of lope around.

There was a large section with insects and spiders but I am not keen on either so it looked like a big section of NOPE for me. I did not go in, despite the keeper telling me how amazing it is. No bugs are amazing. They are all fodder to be beaten by my shoe. Spiders 1000x more so.

Next: Bondi!