Attraction - Taronga Zoo [2018 Trip] Review

Decent Zoo

4*

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Many people urged me to visit the zoo, describing it as one of the best in the world. Don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed it and would return, and I have no complaints but I myself wouldn't categorise it among the 'best in the world'. Personally I believe zoos such as ZSL and Amsterdam Zoo were better. Despite this, there was plenty to do and we were kept busy all day. Unfortunately we arrived late and missed some shows (perhaps this would have change my mind about the revered nature of the zoo). The prices seemed reasonable, luckily for us we got in free. A clear path around a zoo is always appreciated by myself (I dislike zoos that are randomly arranged) which Taronga offered and it meant we could time shows and see everything we wanted. Being the winter and out of season it wasn't particularly busy which made the talks very good as one could be up close and allowed for far more interaction. We went to the reptile talk, spider talk and koala talk. They didn't last too long but this was appreciated; they weren't dragged out for the sake of it. The reptile talk could have perhaps involved a few more reptiles. The reptile house was what one would expect of a reptile house. There are a lot of 'big' animals which are always a focus when visiting the zoo and I liked the giraffes and gorillas. There is a skyrail which stretches the length of the zoo, boarding at the top or bottom it is one way, if you get out at the top then you need your stamp to get back in (get the stamp when you enter, just make sure it doesn't rub off), this is great for little children who just enjoy the ride, but for actually viewing the animals and enclosures as intended it was fairly poor. Mostly all you see is tree canopy (even in winter as it was when we visited), and I think all we saw animal-wise was the elephants... We chose to eat in the zoo at the fish and chip bar. The prices were what was expected (not cheap but not unreasonable), food was okay although a shortage of sauce pots meant sauce was slopped all over my food. Note; we had to find a nearby spot to eat as the eating area itself is infested with very bold birds who aren't afraid to walk right up to your meal and steal a chip or two even as you're eating it yourself. Public transport to the zoo is very effective. Perhaps one of the most popular departure methods is via ferry to the main CBD. These ferries ran frequently and are located right at the foot of the zoo and all run on Opal so no fuss there.

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