One of the first spots we visited as a group in Melbourne was the Zoo. With 5 little kids in the group of 13, it was the obvious first choice for the kids.
I have visited the same zoo 10 years ago with my FIL and Jr. on a cold May winter day in Australia and the Animals did not come out. This time being summer, they were all out!
The day started off with some doubts as it was raining heavily, but the forecast said "cloudy and clear skies" for the later part of the day. We took a chance and went into the Zoo when it was still raining heavily. The weathermen were almost right. There was an occasional drizzle or two but for the most part, no downpours.
Got to capture the native animals including a baby elephant which had just been born, a baby kangaroo that was recently born and a couple of Wombats that came out.
There were no Kiwi's in the Zoo that we could see, but caught three Emu's! We had to go to a special place another day to see Kiwi's. There was no photography allowed there, but the sight of those Kiwi birds feeding will stay with us forever. It is a shame that we make creatures go to the brink of extinction!
Caught the elephants kissing and wanted to go give them some advice. "It starts off as a harmless kiss and before you know it, you have a 300 pound baby that you have to deal with!"
Then I saw the baby play and thought that the advice would have been a very bad one.
The baby elephant is adorable! The kids simply did not want to leave the place.
We then met the reason we went to the Zoo in the first place. See the Kangaroo's and Koala's.
The baby Joey is large, but it squeezes itself into its mother's pouch every 5 minutes or so or when the noise level of the kids gets too high.
The Koalas are not that big. They look larger than life in pictures, but in reality are quite small.
They also have a fantastic lion enclosure that is large enough to make it look like a safari! Got a lot of pictures which are in the galleries in this website but here are a few I love the most..
The one below needs some editing to get rid of edge fringes. Should be called "Portrait of a Lion"!
Where they have lions, you expect to see Tigers. We saw one Tiger and the kids guess after seeing it pace up and down was "It must have constipation!"
This thing that looks like a cross between a bear and a pig is a "wombat"!
Now for the other animals not so specific to Australia that were very Photogenic!
Could not resist a black and white shot of the Zebra!
and finally, the Oranguatans that were in a very playful mood.
It was a yawn!
If you happen to go to Melbourne in summer, this is the place to be if you want to entertain your kids! Gorgeously set up zoo with lots of rest rooms, comfortable stop areas where you can eat in the shade, nice directions , minimal walking to see the most animals so the kids and older folks do not tire out so easily.. I can go on, but was a world class Zoo.
One of the best we have visited to date!
