Taronga Zoo

We went on the ferry to the zoo.  We went to the zoo 3 days. This is some things i learned about kangaroos and koalas.

Kangaroos

Baby Kangaroo's are called Joeys . When Joeys are born they are the size of a jelly been because they have only been growing in the mummys tummy for 1 month. They make they're way  too the pouch. They're mum feed's them milk in the pouch  and they stay they're for 8 to 9 months.

They pop they're head out the pouch to have a look ground before
hopping out.

They still drink they're mum's milk until they are 18 months old. A mum can feed a new babby and her other Joeyat the samy time.

Kangaroo's carry they're baby's in a pouch. Kangaroo's can jump fast because they're legs are licke spring's.

If a Kangaroo spot's danger the Kangaroo thumps it's foot really hard to warn the other's.

Koala's

Koalas have a good grip for climbing tree's.

Koala's have sharp claws.

Koalas sleep in tree's.

The zoo was lots of fun.  My favourite thing was the sealion show.  They did cool tricks.  I liked the bird shoe too.  There were very big and colourful birds that flew right over our heads.

If you come to Sydney you should efinitely visit the zoo!!! I give it a score of 10 out of 10!!!!

Taronga Zoo Sydney

Taronga Zoo is a short ferry ride from Circulay Quay. Upon arrival there is an option to take a bubble up to the entrance, although you can only use this if you have already purchased your tickets or have a pass.  If you haven't there is abus to take you to the top.  Once you have your tkts you can take a round trip ride on the bubble to enjoy the views over the bay & also when you want to exit the zoo.  

The zoo has a huge selection of native animals.  My favourite were the koalas.  There was one at the very top of the tree snuggled up to her baby.  There were another three just hanging out in the trees either having a snooze or munching on ucaliptus leaves. 

Mummy & baby! 

This one was on the move to another tree to find a nice spot for a snooze! 

These cuddly looking creatures come with super sharp claws which is why they make such good climbers.  Not quite sure how they do it but they can snooze nestled into a couple of branches without falling off! 

I was brave here!!!!!!! 

Here's a few of the other attractions we enjoyed at the zoo! 

If you look really closely at the kangaroo on the right you can see a wee Joey having a look out of the pouch! 

The photo doesn't show how absolutely massive these were.  They were the same height as Josh & their beaks were as long as my arm!!!!! Not quite sure but they don't seem to fly out of their enclosure which had no roof or sides?! 

This guy was just hanging out on the path.  We have seen a few of these, all different sizes, when we have been exploring along the beach and out in the bush. 

It took us until the third visit to finally see a platypus and it was in a very dark shady pool so unfortunately this is the only picture we have.  They are the coolest/weirdest mammals I have ever seen.   They are super fast swimmers due to their webbed feet which can then be folded up when the are on land so they can use their feet/claws to walk.  

These were also super shy on our visit.  

It's ok there was glass between these two!!! 

Cheese!!! 

You get to walk through the lemur enclosure which Josh loved.  They only let 12 people in at a time & the keeper comes in with you to answer any questions you have. 

The view from the bubble en route to the ferry home.

Home time. 

Taronga Zoo is definitely worth a visit.  It has lots & lots of native animals as well as the usual elephants, tigers, zebras and so on..... There is plenty to keep you busy all day with free keeper talks throughout the day, ( we really enjoyed the spider talk where we were shown a variety of scary spiders & reassured that you have two days to get to the hospital if you get bitten by a red-back spider), a great sealion show & a very impressive bird show, yes bird show, I was terrified but Josh had a great time!! The zoo is built on a hillside so wear comfy shoes as you will get a real workout for the day. Josh & I have been three times now & I think we have finally seen everything. Josh has given it a 10/10 review!!! 

Sydney So Far!

We are settling well into our new home.  We have a lovely apartment which is a 2 minute walk from Sydney Harbour Bridge, 10 minute walk from Circular Quay, ( The largest ferry dock), 10 minute walk from Darling Harbour, (home to bars, cafes, aquarium, Madame Tussauds, Wild Life Sydney, a great kids playground & weekend fireworks spectaculars!), 5 minutes from Coles (Sydney's answer to Tesco), 15 minute walk to China Town, 5 minute walk to the bus terminal & pretty much bang in the middle of the hustle & bustle of the city! We also have a great view of the beautiful sun set every night right out our balcony!! Yes Gary you did well!! 

The apartment comes with a gym and its own pool/sauna which so far seems to be our personal pool in the mornings!!! Josh is loving this!!! 

We have been exploring various areas of Sydney.  We have found our bearings and as yet, much to Gary's surprise have not got ourselves lost!!!!  We now have our Opal cards which work the same as Londons Oyster cards with the addition of ferry's!  They use ferry's like busses here & it is so much quicker than busses! It's also great fun if you are 9 or 40!!!!  Upon returning to Circulay Quay from anywhere by ferry you either come under or past the Harbour Bridge & past the Opera House, there's no forgetting where we are with these stand out landmarks! It's still quite surreal!! 

Josh & I ventured to Manly Beach all by ourselves where we built a fort and walked along the beach dodging the Bluebottles (mini blue jellyfish that have very painful, very long tentacles that wrap around you if you get caught up in them out in the water, ouch!) We also took a walk along the seafront and clambered over the rocks checking the rock pools for crabs, fish & any other sealife that had missed the last wave out to the sea earlier in the day.  We even came across a lizard out catching some rays! 

We have been to the Powerhouse Museum where Josh learned all about how lightning strikes, magnets grab, machines are powered, solar energy & space travel.  Next on the museum hit list is Sydney's National Maratime Museum which has a battleship, submarine & 'pirate' ship moored outside!! 

The other weekend we did the Bondi to Coogee walk which is a 6km walk along the coastline.  It was a glorious sunny day and the views were amazing, we passed through 4 beaches, all packed with surfers, swimmers & sunbathers enjoying the bank holiday wknd. We were entertained at one point by an out of control surf rescue boat with both lifesavers in the water! It took two other boats to finally call a hault to the dangerous mistake, I'm sure there were a few choice words from the boss that day!!  We kept an eye out for whales and dolphins but no luck.  I think we need to plan a wee boat trip to catch these amazing mammals a bit further off shore.  

On Sunday we headed to Watsons Bay on the ferry as Gary says it's the best Fish & Chips around.  We had lunch and a paddle in the water & then headed off to explore.  We climbed up some rocks and over a hill into a national park. We walked up the coast and completed a circular walk past remnants of the lookout towers and gunnerys and a lighthouse still in use today.  

I am at this time sitting at Joshua's new tennis club while he has his 1.5hr weekly lesson & enjoying watching him doing what he loves best!  He is very happy he carried his tennis racket all the way around he world!! 

We have so much more to explore here in Sydney I'm not sure if three months will be enough!!! Will keep you all posted with our adventures! Thanks for reading! X

Florida

We are done with Florida for now! If anyone reading this knows us they know it won't be our last visit!!! We had a fantastic 2 & half weeks with the lovely Linscotts (Kristina, Andy, Alicia & Lewis) we had a lovely villa which was just 10 minutes from Disney which is great when you have been going strong all day & night at the parks & just need your bed or if you want to pop home for a cool down in the pool or a power nap. 

With Gary's exceptional (he'll like this mention) Fast Pass planning we did everything we wanted to & more with very little wait time.  The last time we were in Florida with Andy & Kristina was our wedding 10 years ago in March!! Let's hope it's not another 10 yrs before we holiday together again! 

After all we need to go back to do Universal Studios & Islands of Adventure!!!! At least then I would have some roller coaster buddies Andy & Alicia! 

I think the things I like best about holidaying in Disney on top of the fantastic range of rides/parks & shows to suit everyone are the people & the cleanliness.  They are so friendly & eager to please & are just great with kids, even the ones who have clearly had too much sun or 'E' numbers!!! Every toilet you attend (& there are lots) is imaculate & if not there is someone working hard to rectify it. 

I'm sure everyone would agree it's not the cheapest holiday to go on, but I really do believe it is fantastic value for money! You can be in Magic Kingdom from 8am & leave at 10/11pm (depending on opening times) having had a full day of as many rides & shows you can possibly squeeze in & to top it off a firework display to end all firework displays! And then you discover Epcots $40,000 a night firework show! It just has everything a family could ever need or want in a family holiday!  I guess it's not for everyone but everyone should do it at least once & you don't even need to wait until you have kids, as I said there is something for everyone!!!! 

My Orlando Top 10

1. Swimming with Dolphins at Discovery Cove

2. Thunder Mountain ride at Magic Kingdom

3. Mickey's Backyard BBQ at Fort Wilderness

4. Space Mountain ride at Magic Kingdom

5. Soarin' ride at Epcot

5. Kali River Rapids ride at Animal Kingdom

6. Fantasmic show at Hollywood Studios

8. Buzz Lightyears' Space Ranger Spin ride at Magic Kingdom

9. Splash Mountain ride at Magic Kingdom

10. Seven Dwarf's Mine Train ride at Magic Kingdom

Disney fun with The Linscotts

We went to Florida for two and a half weeks with our friends.  This is our amazing car that we had.

We went to Mickey's Backyard BBQ for my birthday surprise. We went on a boat to get there.

We went to Seaworld and we saw Dolphins, Penguins and Killer Whales. We went to a Sealion show which was really funny.

When we were at DisneyWorld we met Mickey, Minnie, Chip n Dale, Goofy and Pluto

In August it was my Mum's birthday.  One of her presents was an Epcot Fireworks Cruise which we did with our friends Kristina, Andy, Alicia & Lewis.  We had crisps, cookies and juice and we had an awesome view of the fireworks

Me and my mum got a joint birthday present - swimming with the dolphins at Discovery Cove. It was really fun. The dolphins get jelly cubes as a treat sometimes.

On the last day with our holiday friends we went to Magic Kingdom to ride on Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain and Splash Mountain and lots of other favourites such as Buzz Lightyear, Rockets, Racing Cars, Goofy's Barnstormer, Haunted Mansion, Peter Pan, Flying Carpets and Jungle Cruise. And the Carousel, with Mum

We had a great time with our friends who have gone back to Newton Abbott now. Now we are going to Sydney in Australia for 3 months and I'm really, really looking forward to going on the Speed Boat there and going to the tippy top of the tower.