Back at Easter this year, we decided to go on a family holiday to Taronga Zoo. Due to the COVID-19 lock-downs in NSW we weren't sure if it would actually be possible or not as we'd already had another holiday cancelled earlier in the year. We weren't sure if we were being smart or not taking the kids away from our regional town and holidaying in Sydney but we figured that by staying at the Zoo itself and following some simple precautions that we should be fine.
We drove the four hours up to Sydney and managed to find our way to the Zoo. My wife had her Apple Car Play hooked up and I was driving, it was quite the adventure as Apple Maps decided to take us through the suburbs as we approached the zoo. We saw some very fancy and no doubt expensive houses along the way and it was nice to be off the main roads which are usually very busy.
Arriving at the Hotel at the Zoo, which is called a Wildlife Retreat, I dropped the wife, kids and luggage off at the front gate and then went to park the car. Included in our stay at the Hotel was free parking in the Zoo's multi-storey car-park. Being Easter and School Holidays, the Zoo was packed and I was lucky to find a park. I think that I may have gotten lucky and taken the last spot available at the time, we did arrive around 2pm from memory so there were no doubt people already starting to leave the zoo.
After checking in, we headed to our room to relax for a couple of hours. We could have gone into the Zoo if we'd wanted to, but we had already decided that we'd make a full day of it the following day. We got adjoining rooms so the kids could be in one and my wife and I could be in the other room. The rooms were fantastic. They had large sliding windows that opened up to form a kind of balcony. Our rooms overlooked one of the kangaroo enclosures and we could also see the giraffes off to one side.
At 5pm we headed up to the restaurant for an early dinner.
The food was amazing and view was even better. Looking across Sydney Harbour at the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge as the sun was setting, it was just magical and something that I won't forget.
waited for our VIP night tour to commence. As part of the package for staying at the Wildlife Retreat you also get a tour of the zoo at night. Wandering around the zoo at night was pretty cool and it was a good way to make the kids a little tired after all the excitement of the day. We didn't actually see that much as it was really dark as only the keepers had a couple of red torches and some of the exhibits they deliberately avoid as it can upset some of the animals to have people crashing around in the dark.
The following day we had breakfast in the restaurant and I could have sat there drinking in the view all day, however the zoo was calling so we headed off. You access the zoo from within the Wildlife Retreat's compound so you don't have to line up at the main gate or show tickets, you can just come and go as you please. We decided to try and see the whole zoo in one day and what we didn't realise was that it would take nearly all day to see it all.
Being school holidays, the Easter long weekend and a gap in the COVID-19 lock-downs, it was super busy at the zoo there were people everywhere. This meant that queuing for lunch at the cafe took around half an hour and then there was no where to sit. We managed to find a spot on a brick wall to sit down and eat some pretty average fish and chips, but the serves were massive so no one went hungry.
The other big queue was to catch the cable car from the bottom of the zoo back up to the top. When we reached the track to get to the cable car we didn't realise how long it would take to actually get to there. There was no sign of a line but after a few twists and turns we ended up at the back of a line that took about an hour for us to get to the front of. The weather was fantastic though and the zoo looked well maintained. A few of the exhibits were closed and a few of the animals were very hard to find but all in all we had a great time.
We staggered back to our room at the end of a big day of walking and ordered a couple of pizzas from a local delivery restaurant. I can't remember the name of the restaurant but they were proper wood fired Italian pizzas and they were really really good.
We checked out the next morning and made the four hour drive back home easily, I did take one wrong turn but decided to stick with it as it was going to be too hard to try and turn around. The wrong turn only added five or ten minutes to the trip and it actually saved us a couple of dollars in road tolls.
Bomber
Funny how I can remember food really well...
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