Platypus, Platypus

One of our classmates from High School offered to take us to Taronga Zoo. She said she would be able to get passes that would allow us free entry to the zoo. With adult entry at A$41 each and child at A$20, free entrance was surely welcome.

We hadn't seen her since our first visit in Autumn so we agreed on getting together before Christmas. She said she'd try to get us tickets. We set our reunion for today.

When the plans for the zoo trip were made, MacGyver had not yet taken his driving test. Since fate has made me the designated driver, we decided that we'd drive to my friend's house then take the train to the city and the ferry to the zoo. (If MacGyver were driving, we might have considered driving all the way to the zoo.)

I took more than a couple of wrong turns on our way to my friend's house but since we had left the house a little earlier, we arrived at her place before 8am as agreed. The train ride and the ferry ride were uneventful. We met up with another batchmate and her family at the zoo, and took the cable car for the sky safari.

My friend told us that the zoo is quite big and that it was possible we would not be able to see everything. I reassured her that the younger kids would be happy to see even just a few animals while the 16-year old would be happier still if he didn't have to join us on our trip to begin with. I told her that we would just take the day as it came and if we were tired walking or if we felt it was getting too late, we would simply head for home.

We arrived a little after 10 am and caught the seal show and the bird show. We went around and saw some more animals before taking a late lunch. After lunch, we asked the kids what other animals they wanted to see. Initially we headed towards the nearby BIG CATS but then decided that we should be getting home soon. Were there any other animals they really, really wanted to check out before we left? As expected, the answer was the PLATYPUS. If it was a toss up between the lions and the platypus, RD and MyGirl preferred to see the platypus.

So off towards the platypus we went.

The platypus was on the opposite end from where we were at the time and the heat of the sun was beating down on us. We followed a couple of misleading signs before we finally found the platypus. At a certain point before we reached our destination, GI commented, "They want to see a platypus? I have 20 cents here. They can just check out my coin."

RD and MyGirl were happy. They were able to see the platypus. GI was ecstatic. This meant we could go home soon. (Yes, such enthusiasm, really.)

Before we left, we asked our friend to take a couple of pictures for us.

Yes, of course we had to pose against all the available platypus for photo purposes.

The platypus seems to be Taronga Zoo's signature animal making the trip to the zoo even more thrilling for the younger kids. (Remember Perry?)

We had a fun day at the zoo. I enjoyed it. I think the others did, too. (Even GI the cynic.)