Melbourne Zoo - 1st Visit

The family was given a membership to the zoo as a gift and wanted to put it to use, so yesterday (Sunday afternoon) I went to the Melbourne Zoo with my "family". Because we didn't have time to look at getting me a membership and the admission is $26 and we were only going to be there for a couple of hours... we snuck me in for free (but that's not the point of this post)...

The point of this post is the animals and the zoo and my experience. The Melbourne Zoo had several animals I have never seen before such as a Cassowary, a Black Cockatoo, a Pelican, and African Wild Dogs. The Cassowary is really quite a strange creature - part dinosaur, part turkey, part emu, part something with killer claws that could scratch your body into a million pieces when threatened.

Also, while I have seen Orangutans before, I'm not sure I've ever seen a baby Orangutan before. Yesterday there was a baby one with its mom and dad. I don't know what it is about Orangutans, but there is just something about their eyes that just gets me. 

Okay, well that's all.





EXCEPT FOR THE FACT THAT I GOT TO SEE KOALAS, KANGAROOS, AND PLATYPI FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER!!!!!!!

First of all... I wish I knew why every time I saw an Australian animal I just wanted to cuddle it (same goes for the Lions, but that's another story), even the non-cuddly ones, like the Platypus. Second of all... I wish I knew why Australia got all the cute animals and colorful birds?!?! And third of all.... the kangaroo/emu habitat was crazy!!! There was no fence separating the observers from the animals. Never in my life have I been in a zoo (except for a petting zoo with farm animals) where there was no fence/wall/guard rail separating the animals from the people. So, not only was I seeing a kangaroo for the first time, I was just feet away from it with nothing between us. There actually wasn't much between the people and the koalas either, but koalas are slow and lazy, so I don't think there are any worries there. I seriously couldn't wrap my head around the fact that I was legitimately looking at a koala, kangaroo, and platypus and still can't... but then again, my brain hasn't quite figured out yet that I am actually in Australia.

After the zoo I looked up how much it would cost to get a membership of my own or to add on to the family's. I ended up finding out that it would be way more cost effective to get a zoo membership than pay admission to all the different places it gives you free admission to, so I started budgeting for it. Well, this morning (Monday) Jen and Daniel told me that I am on their membership. I said, "What? How?" They said, "We added you." I replied, "When?" They told me they had just done it this morning. I told them that I was budgeting for it and planned on getting one. They said, "We know, which is why we wanted to beat you to it." So, thanks to the big hearts of Jen and Daniel, I now have a Zoo Membership which grants me free admission to the Melbourne Zoo, Healesville Sanctuary, and Werribee Open Range Zoo as well as the zoo in Sydney. I also get a discount in the gift shops and behind the scenes experiences. You better believe I am going to get way more out of this membership than what was paid for it!!!