Travel: Day 3 - Australia - Taronga Zoo, Scavenger hunt, and Luna Park

One of the advantages of teaching at a small liberal arts institution is the freedom to design and offer courses that are close to one's heart. 

In January 2011, I taught Tropical Ecology  and, for one of the class activities, I took a group of students on a 10 day trip to Puerto Rico. (Click here to read about the trip to Puerto Rico). 

This January (2013), I am teaching Ecology of Australia and, naturally, it entails a field trip to Australia! What follows is a travelogue of our adventures together, the sights we have seen, the things we are doing, and the lessons we are learning while exploring a land far removed from home.

(You can the previous posts in this thread here).

Having figured out the joys of a ferry ride on the previous day, it was not a novel experience for us (by-now seasoned) travelers to take another one.  This time the destination was Taronga Zoo!

(Kinsley Shoup 2013)

The above photograph also serves as a portent of things to come.  Later in the day we would walk on the Harbour Bridge and make our way to the park that has the ferris wheel (look closely!), but that is a story for a little later.

For now, enjoy the view of one side, but don't forget to take in the view of the other side, as well....

(Kinsley Shoup 2013)

And here's a great photograph of the two iconic landmarks together...

(Katherine Lederer 2013)

The ferry dropped us off at a dock and we took a gondola lift up a hill, reminiscent of similar rides that I have been on at Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo and the San Diego Zoo (there seems to be a theme developing here).  The gondola lift runs from the bottom of the park close to the ferry wharf, and transports passengers to the top end of the zoo, where the main entrance is located.

(Note: In order to conserve space on the blog and make it easier to scroll through, I am condensing how much of  the post is displayed.  To read the rest of it, simply click on the "Click here for the rest of my jaywalk" link below).

(Angie Proctor 2013)

Taronga Zoo is located on Bradley's Head, an outcrop of land located on the northern shore of Sydney's harbor.  The zoo itself is divided into eight regions, based upon the types of animals found in those areas.  It is a 21-hectare (52-acre) zoo that houses 2,600 animals of 340 species, most of whom are endemic (found solely) in Australia.

We spent the next few hours taking a circuitous route through the zoo, ensuring that we visited as many of the animals unique to Australia as we could.  Some of them, like the kangaroos and wallabys, are housed in a walk-through exhibit where you take a trail through an enclosure where the animals roam free.  It made for an interesting exhibit, especially as I kept having visions of the movie Kangaroo Jack, especially the last few seconds of the movie's preview.

Some of the animals and sights we saw at the zoo are encapsulated in the photo below.  (If you want to hear more about them, contact me or anyone who took the trip).

(Kinsley Shoup, Stephen Spanel, Trey Cusick III, Angie Proctor, and C.S. Manish 2013)

After the zoo trip was done, we had one last afternoon to spend in Sydney.  Lauren S., of CISabroad, organized a scavenger hunt of sights found in Sydney.  We divided into two groups and set about photographing the items on the list.  Some of the items were:

• A cockatoo in flight
• The view from Sydney Harbour Bridge
• Two people looking right at the "Look Right" sign
• A local giving the "peace" sign
• A close-up of the Sydney Opera House
• One of us pictured smiling with an aboriginal didgeridoo player
• Someone wearing Uggs boots outside the store
• The National Maritime Museum
• The Rocks Market
• A water taxi
• An Australian walking with no shoes
• Someone wearing Haviana's
• A flat white/long black  (took us a while to figure this one out)
• Sydney IMAX theater
• Chinese Garden of Friendship
• Anzac Bridge
• The Monorail
• Luna Park Entrance gate

The two groups did a fantastic job and a productive afternoon was spent wandering around Sydney.  (For those keeping count of these things, the winning group was Marie, Christine, Alexa, and Sandra).  

How many of the items from the scavenger hunt can you spot in this picture?

(Angie Proctor, Katherine Lederer, Victoria Vollmer, Stephen Spanel, C.S. Manish 2013)

We had one last evening left in Sydney and walked towards the Sydney Harbour Bridge.  On the bridge we came across a very quaint tradition.  A thick wife-mesh fence lines the outer wall (to prevent folks from jumping off the bridge) and all along the fence one can find locks attached to it.  The locks have the names of the couple who are affirming their love.  Once the lock is placed on the fence, the key is then thrown into the harbor signifying undying love, I suppose.

(Kinsley Shoup 2013)

The reason to (re)visit the bridge was to get a better glimpse of the setting sun.  Unfortunately, the bridge is not friendly for sunset-viewing .  The walkway on the east side of the bridge is for pedestrians while the one on the west side is for bicyclists only!  (Note to self: next time we should try to catch the sunrise from the Harbour Bridge!),

We sped across the bridge, trying to get to the north end before the sun set.  Unfortunately, the view from the west side of the north end of the bridge (figure that one out!) was not as spectacular as we thought it would be.  As we stood there contemplating the long walk back, we realized we were just a few hundred yards away from Luna Park (one of the items on the scavenger list!).  We walked down to it and we found an old-fashioned carnival-like set-up.

(C.S. Manish 2013)

The entrance to the park was quite familiar to us (from the scavenger hunt), so...

(Emily Kinder 2013)

...in keeping with the mood, we took a few goofy pictures there.

(C.S. Manish 2013)

While the rides and exhibits were not free the entry to the park was, so we spent a good hour wandering around the place, taking pictures and having fun.

(Hannah Steen 2013)

(Kinsley Shoup, C.S. Manish 2013)

We did get to see some lovely colors in the skies before we left.

(Stephen Spanel 2013)

Once back at the YHA, it was time to pack our bags and get ready for the 4am wake-up call to get to the airport.  Here are a couple of photographs of the perfectly acceptable accommodation we had at the Sydney Harbour YHA.

(Angie Proctor 2013)

(Angie Proctor 2013)

Coming up:  Day 4 - Our flight to Cairns, a swim in a lagoon, and an ecology lecture on the Boardwalk.

I leave you with one final view of Sydney!  

(Victoria Vollmer 2013)

(Note the size of the Royal Caribbean cruise ship on the right.  The ship literally blocked our view of the Opera House from the YHA and was bigger than that iconic landmark!)

P.S.  During the day, Richie got to indulge in a new pastime for her - photobombing weddings.  By the time the trip was done, she had photo-bombed about 7 weddings!  

(Angie Proctor 2013)