Taronga Zoo

I began the Overseas Trained Teacher Program with Teach NSW (the public schools) on Friday. This will be seventeen days overall of workshops, classroom observation, and some teaching. Also on Thursday, I had my first private school interview, which I believe went well. The commute is about an hour-fifteen, by train and bus, so it isn't the most convenient location, but I'll see what happens in the next few weeks with other possible interviews as well as the workshop.
The pictures this week are from the Taronga Zoo, which stands on the north shore of the harbour. It is built on an incline, and has many great points to see the harbour, as you can see in the first picture. You get to the zoo by ferry, and ride a cable car to the top. The cars are enclosed, so South Carolinian school children would not be about to spit out of them. Cancel the field trip. Sorry.

Our first picture is Heather with a giraffe, with the Sydney Harbour Bridge in the background. We watched a public giraffe feeding, although we didn't pay a buck to feed it ourselves. These giraffes really like carrots, and have really long tongues. Rather entertaining, and more than a little gross.





The second picture is a wallaby, not a small kangaroo. I didn't see it do anything that you don't see in the picture. Moving on.






Ah, the koalas. You will notice in the first koala pic the baby on the mother's back. Mama didn't seem too worried about getting leaves for the baby, though.




This second koala pic is of a very shy, smaller koala. It stayed at the top of the tree, while the others all came to the lower branches for their feeding.




The last picture is a Tasmanian devil. Every picture I have seen of them in brochures, etc has been frightening. They always have their fangs bared, and look like they are about tear you up. So I was rather disappointed to catch this one during his siesta. Not very scary at all.

We also saw gorillas, including a huge silverback, a seal feeding, and of course, the reptile house. It was a very nice zoo, especially with the bonus glimpses of the harbour you would catch frequently. That wraps up the captive animals. Next week, I'll share pictures of the wild animals that we have encountered.