Taronga Zoo

Tada! Finally, a koala! The koalas at the zoo are actually fairly hard to view. 

They live in eucalyptus trees, so they are generally surrounded by foliage. 

This koala is 11 months old. Here's the same koala eating:

Odd how thrilling it is to catch a glimpse of the tongue and teeth of a koala, isn't it?

Equally captivating was this creature:

An echidna (eh-KID-nah) or spiny ant-eater.

Echidnas, like the platypus, are mammals that lay eggs. They are much cuter than apparent here and have a rolling side-to-side walk - rather like you'd expect a footstool with micro-legs to move. 

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Here's a sleeping wallaby.

That's what wallabies and kangaroos do all day - conserve energy.                               

As you can see, they are very good at it.

The two above are wallabies, and a red kangaroo is on the left. Both are most active at dawn and dusk. Kangaroos graze on grass, are larger than wallabies, are usually duller in color,
and have a longer leg between the knee and ankle
which means they are built for speed.
Wallabies also eat grass, but they tend to prefer trees and shrubs, and are built for agility in the bush.
If 'roos have a running start,
they can hop up to 9 meters.
 Wallabies can only hop about 2 meters.

We were able to walk in the enclosure
with wallabies, kangaroos, and emus
without any fences or barriers
separating us from them.
But we weren't allowed to approach the animals,
and they clearly were not interested in us.
This emu did seem a bit nervous.
He made a pecking motion
if anyone came too close.

This spider wove its web above one of the footpaths.  I'm glad it was not in our garden!

This picture is, for me, the epitome of the zoo.

And on the ferry ride back toward home . . .

 A glorious finale to an outing!