Zoo & Brew

After some excellent croissants secured from the local bakery, we ferried over to Taronga Zoo, north of Sidney proper. The zoo is in a spectacular setting, overlooking the main bay with panoramic views of the city. Taronga has a nice collection of native Australian critters in a natural setting. They have advanced programs working on the survival of two endangered Australian icon species , the platypus and Tasmanian Devil, and some excellent exhibits on both.  An ‘Australian Bush Trail’ allows visitors to wander along an unfenced viewing area with kangaroos, wallaby, emo, & some other beasts. Very cool.

There is a high-speed ferry that runs out to Manly, one of Sydney’s most attractive beach communities. More importantly though, Manly is the home of ‘4 Pines’, Sydney’s premier microbrewery. After a short beer evaluation session, we dined – Mary succumbed to the beef pie (massive!), I went with the chicken curry (nice!). Awesome beers & excellent food – a must stop for beer geeks.

Sydney lived up to its reputation – incredible scenery, great food, nice brew scene. It’ll be hard to leave, but leave we must.  Tomorrow – on to Perth via the transcontinental ‘Indian Pacific Rail’!

Dick

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A mundane start to the morning, but laundry must be done. An hour and half later, the clothes are clean and hanging out to dry.

I really have been amazed at how tropical Sydney is, there is an abundance of palm trees and tropical plants that grow with abandon, spilling over everywhere.

Morning finds us on a nice jaunt out to the Taronga Zoo. We concentrated on the Australian section, although they cover species from other continents. The wombats were bigger than I had thought and the Tasmanian Devils were cuter. I was really surprised that we could walk in an area around kangaroos, wallabies and emu’s (very big, wouldn’t want to meet a mean one).

In the afternoon, over to Manly to check off the ‘4 Pines’ brewery from Dicks’ list. Nice selection of wine and a great beef pie for dinner. Once you pulled the crust off, a very manageable meal. Back to the ranch to put away our laundry and get ready for the next set of adventures.

I would definitely come back to Sydney again.

Mary

• Beer
• Critters