Take me to the zoo

I felt that I ought to tick a few sightseeing boxes today, so I started off with a trip to the top of the Sydney Tower. From there the views over Sydney harbour were magnificent – you could see quite far up river as well as out to the coasts at Bondi and Manly. The bright sunshine actually made it quite difficult to see everything, and it’s probably worth another visit up there by night.

Next stop was the ferry wharf at Circular Quay, to catch a boat over to Taronga Zoo. This must be one of the best located zoos in the world, set on a wooded hillside on the north side of the harbour, with amazing views back towards the city and across the whole bay. It was a very hot day, so the animals were very sensibly doing as little as possible, mostly sleeping in the shade.

After traipsing around the zoo for a couple of hours, I caught the ferry back and headed for the outdoor swimming pool, which is next to the botanical gardens and sort of “hangs” above the harbour. Drying off on the wooden decking after my swim, I looked down through the slats to see the harbour water swirling beneath me, a little disconcerting actually.