Monarto Zoo

Boxing Day we made our way home after spending christmas with Bretts family north of Adelaide. On the way back we spent a couple of hours at the Monarto Zoo, about 15 minutes out of Murray Bridge. I had a sore and puffy foot still(I got spider bitten two days before christmas), so was apprehensive, but knowing they had buses to ferry us around in made me feel better. Plus Brett had built Izzy up and she was asking when we were seeing the animals as soon as we took off from his sisters house. How could we disappoint her?!

I got as many photos as I could, we didn't take the pram in and frankly it would have been a hassle having to fold it up every time we got on a bus. We went on about four different buses, or was it five, and I was usually holding Summer trying to take one handed photos with my camera, easier said than done! 

White Rhino and baby, amazing!

This was the final fence of three to get into the carnivores section, where the lions were, triple assurance they don't escape, which is comforting, they were huge! Note the sign on the fence, it's someones idea of a joke. The volunteer guide doing the talking at the front of the bus reckons it's because the lions don't like it when the spokes get stuck in their teeth. Boom tish!

Nought to eighty kilometres per hour in three seconds. Vision of up to five kilometres. Amazing creature. Not one I would like to come across in the wild, but apparently you can have a cheetah experience and get right in their enclosure with a guide if you're brave enough.

Sitting on a bus watching another bus full of eager zoo goers. The size of the zoo grounds when you look at this is astounding. It is fantastic to see the animals have so much room to roam. I am with the firm belief that is why, as opposed to a "cage" zoo, the animals grow to such huge sizes like the lions and this american bison. The photo doesn't do justice to how massive this animal is, it was HUGE! 

Who knew there were different types of zebras? They have two varieties at the zoo. This one is the Chapmans zebra. 

Monarto currently has eighteen giraffes! They all weren't on display, they are trying to keep the boys away from the girls, they are too good at breeding, there were about nine that I could see. You could get off at the bus stops and have a look around, this was at the giraffe section, there was a walking trail that ended on a raised platform so we had a great view. 

When we made it back to the start my foot was aching so I sat with Summer in the cafe and Brett took Izzy for a short walk to see the chimpanzees. Izzy was funny, showing me how the chimps jumped around and telling me how cute the baby one was. I'm sorry I missed the baby one. We had a fantastic time, so glad we went.

Adelaide Zoo

We left Arno Bay on the Thursday and stopped over in Adelaide overnight. It rained all day, and cleared as we came into the outer suburbs. We had pre booked a room at the Grand Chancellor on Currie Street, smack bang in the middle of the city, and arrived about 5:30 pm. Brett took Isabel for a quick swim and we ventured out for some tea. The Quick Wok, a short walk away on Hindley Street, was where we went and it was delicious. I ate most of it one handed, with Summer on the boob. It was near her bed time and she was hungry and wondering why she wasn't wrapped up tight and going to bed. A quick walk down the mall to Woolies for some supplies, where an excited Isabel discovered escalators, and back to our room.

In the morning, we ventured out before check out. Isabel was gob smacked by the amount of people, waiting for buses and crossing the roads. There were no shops open yet. As we made our way down Rundle Mall, we laughed at Isabel confidently strutting along a metre or two ahead of us, she was having a ball. Brett remembered a cheap clothing shop in James Place we had been before, lucky for us it opened at 7:30 and we had a spend. It was around 9am, we decided to make our way back to the hotel, pack up and head to the zoo, while the weather was on our side.

The first animals we came across were Funi and Wang Wang, the resident pandas. They were very active that morning and mesmerising, their personalities were instantly obvious, and it was a joy to watch.

We headed straight to the childrens zoo, there were chooks roaming free, guinea pigs and rabbits. Isabel enjoyed the interacting with goats, sheep and deer in the petting zoo with Brett, as Summer and I watched on.

We had a great time wandering around, and we managed to see everything in about two hours, and the rain stayed away. It was about that time that Isabel started losing interest anyway and made our way out the gates. It was only then that I realised we hadn't bought a parking ticket! Lucky for us there was no ticket on the window, or do they post them out. I have no idea!! Isabel fell asleep before we got to the tollgate on our way out of Adelaide, she'd had a big morning in the big city.