Sixth day in a land down under

 

Looking across the harbor from Taronga Zoo to the Circular Quay

Critters - Australia is known for 'em. 30 million years or so of separation from other continents have left the country with a very unique set of flora and fauna, from kangaroos, koalas, wombats and saltwater crocodiles to deadly snakes and spiders. At the same time, Australia is one of the most urbanized countries on the planet, with something like 90% of its 26 million population living in just 0.2% of the land area (and with 87% residing within 50 kilometers/30 miles of a coast). We had no plans on visiting any national parks or venturing into the Outback on this trip, but at the same time we wanted to see some of Oz's unique wildlife.  Armed with the knowledge our chances of spotting mobs of kangaroos hopping through the streets of Sydney were virtually nil, that left just one option - the Taronga Zoo Sydney. And so, on the last day of 2023, we returned to the Circular Quay for the 12-mintue ride aboard the ferry to the zoo:

Eat my wake! The weather on New Year's Eve wasn't as nice as the day before:

Upon disembarking we took the shuttle to the zoo's entrance, secured our tickets and immediately made haste to where the native animals were waiting to be photographed. And shot with cameras they were:

My wife sets up the perfect picture:

It's difficult to imagine an animal lazier than our Siamese cat, Timi, but he would meet his match with the koalas, who sleep up to 20 hours a day in a stoned stupor. Bloody marsupials...:

That didn't stop young women from seeking that ideal shot:

Maybe the dingo ate your baby:

This pool promised sights of my favorite Down Under creature, the platypus, but all I could glimpse was this turtle:

It wasn't all fauna:

In addition to platypuses, the zoo allegedly also had Tasmanian Devils, but we couldn't see any examples, either. At least the Looney Tunes controversy was addressed by the signage:

The zoo's denizens are rewarded with some prime real estate, enjoying some of the best views of Sydney Harbour:

A Huntsman spider:

You Red-bellied Black Snake! Which sounds like an insult from an old Western...:

Not all the animals at the zoo were confined. This pair of Australian White Ibises flew in to enjoy the misfortune of their caged-up avian counterparts:

A sign inside a mock-up of an old farm (see further down):

Why were there guns in the zoo?:

Our view from the cafe where we had lunch:

The fisherman's choice. I was hooked (see above):

My daughter and I both ordered fish tacos, though Amber passed on the Tooheys:

Trying to get a decent photo in the exhibit on nocturnal animals was quite the challenge:

One can only imagine what a condo with this view would cost. The price of owning an "affordable" home in Australia, as in many other places, is reaching ridiculously astronomical levels, at least according to this BBC article:

Along with the platypus, the echidna is the only living mammal that lays eggs:

A magnificent looking Rhinoceros Iguana:

I've never been cursed with that Christian-derived dread of snakes. I find them to be beautiful and fascinating:

This Merten's Water Monitor was the most chill creature we encountered during our day at the zoo:

Shu-E is one of those with a fear of serpents. Giraffes, on the other hand...:

A chimpanzee waits for a light drizzle to stop so it can return outdoors:

This zookeeper using Vegemite to paint an image on glass was probably the most Australian thing we saw at the zoo that day:

The tiger enclosure was made to look like an Indonesian village, complete with free-roaming chickens and Japanese soft drinks:

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The binturong is described as having a face like a cat and a body like a bear, but this specimen wouldn't stir enough to let us see for ourselves:

The harbor was beginning to fill up with small boats looking to find an advantageous spot to view the evening's fireworks festivities:

We caught one of the last ferries of the day back to the Circular Quay:

By the time we reached the opposite side of the harbor from the zoo, crowd control measures were already in place. Over a million people were expected to view the fireworks along the waterfront, with many having camped out hours in advance. The three of us instead took the train back to Museum Station. While my wife returned to our hotel, Amber and I picked up a sushi platter from a conveyor belt sushi restaurant, and brought it back to our room:

Relaxing in our room, and watching live broadcasts of the New Year's Eve preparations while enjoying dinner:

Shu-E was feeling tired after a long day at the zoo and just wanted some rest, so she elected not to go out with Amber and me after dinner. The two of us walked down to Darling Harbour to see a fireworks show scheduled to start at 2100 hours. With all the detours and road closures in effect, we barely made it in time to see the start of the pyrotechnics: 

At the conclusion of the display. The main event, of course, would be taking place three hours later:

Our room on the 21st floor of The Sydney Boulevard Hotel faced the opposite direction, so we wouldn't be able to see the festivities. But we could certainly hear the explosions, loudly and clearly, as we watched in real time on the room TV. 

Looking out the window, I discovered I could glimpse the reflections of some of the fireworks on the glass facade of a high-rise building just down the road. But I was largely content with seeing the 15-minute presentation on TV:

Here's a video of the entire spectacular. Happy New Year!:

Though it isn't the first city to see in the new year (that would probably be Auckland, New Zealand), Sydney in recent years has striven to be (as this article describes it) "the New Year's Eve capital of the world"! Pretty bloody impressive, if you ask me!

This post's Sydney-related song comes from the Melbourne band Australian Crawl: