Last full day in AU - Zoo

February 27, 2013 - Wednesday   Today was our last full day in Australia.  Raquel thought the best way yo spend it was to take the kids out of school.  YEAH!!  That made it an extra special day.  We got ready for our day, packed some sandwiches and headed for Taronga Zoo. - the zoo with the best view.  We really weren't suppose to cross the Harbour Bridge, but poorly marked roads caused that to happen.  As a result more pictures of the bridge.

Coming on to the bridge

Catch the detailrs

We arrived at the zoo and got a picture of the grand entrance.  Since it was not a holiday or school vacation, there was not very many people which made it really nice.

Of course we had to get a picture of the view - Opera House and bridge in background.

Check out the blue tongue - he felt very hard and not nice at all.

The giraffes have a great view - don't know if they appreciate it.  The Opera House is right above his head.

Check out the chimps - the kids loved all the statues.

Elephants are usually not that exciting as they usually stand their and sway their trunks.  Not today - we got a great unexpected show.  It was a warm day and they have a large and evidently pretty deep pool to play in.  The large one on the left is a calf, but this one was not hers.  Her calf was already in the water.  We actually watched her push him into the water with her body.  This little guy on the left wanted to get in too.

After a good swim mom and calf got out.  They were cooled off and the next stop was the dirt pile to throw some dirt on their backs.  Mom helped the little guy get the job done.

A view from one of their stage areas.

Raquel and the kids.

An orb spider - this was not in the display case - he was free along with lots of his relatives.

Some animals we saw in the barnyard - kind of cute aren't they?

A kookabara - laughing, because he is also free and not in a cage.

Note the joey in the pouch - first time we had seen this - he is pretty big, but they both seem quite content with the situation.

After a great fish dinner that Josh put on the barbie - the Malin's put on a little show for us. The back row played the instruments and the one on the floor in the front was the snake - they were awesome.  They went to bed.   After talking to Raquel, we found our beds after mid-night with a wake-up call of 3:15 am.