Koalas, wallabies and kangaroos. Platypuses, Tasmanian devils and wombats too! There was no way we were going to travel all the way to Australia without seeing some of the world famous animals that only live down under. Fortunately, the Taronga Zoo in Sydney is home to all of the animals we wanted to see plus it’s beautifully and conveniently positioned just across the harbor with views of the Sydney Harbor Bridge and Opera House. 

With our backpacks packed with sunscreen, snacks, and water for a day-long excursion we left our Air BnB and headed down to the harbor to catch the ferry from Circular Que, Warf B. Many ferries are part of the Sydney Metro system so we simply checked the daily departure times and used our Opal cards to tap on and tap off. Upon arrival we used our pre-purchased Taronga Zoo tickets to board the Skyway cable car which took us up to the top of the zoo, giving us an aerial view of many exhibits on the way. It was a grand start to our zoo experience before getting a park map and formulating a plan for visiting our must-see Australian animals. 

The Taronga Zoo is built on a gently sloping hill and was a bit of a maze to navigate, especially since there was considerable construction to a few of the exhibits. Since none of us had our cell phones on we chose to stick together for most of the day, which I enjoyed. 

My favorite exhibit was the Australian Night Life House which was difficult to take pictures in but allowed us to closely see and read about many of the unique animals like the platypus, which was swimming around animatedly, the echidna, whose cute little beaked face and stumpy legs made me smile, and the Tasmanian devil, which was lazily stretched out taking a beauty nap.

 The Australian Walkabout exhibit came in a close second as it allowed us to roam around with kangaroos, wallabies, and emus. The Walkabout was also vacant, probably because Australians see these animals all of the time and may not be as interested to visit them on a trip to the zoo. We also visited two different Koala exhibits which were quite crowded despite the fact that nearly every Koala bear was sleeping in their tree, their faces purposefully turned away from the crowds. Koala bears can sleep for over 20 hours a day and, in my opinion, look very cute zonked out between tree branches. 

Obviously seeing the iconic Australian animals was the primary reason for our trip to the zoo but we also took a look-in on a few other notable animals like the giraffes, gorillas, red pandas, monkeys, hippos, and walruses. All in all it was a great day to explore the zoo with friends and I am glad we stuck together. If we hadn’t I wouldn’t have been able to experience some of the days most memorable moments.