I don’t remember the last time I slept 12 hours but we both did last night – minus a few excursions to the bathroom for each of us. We think the livers and kidneys were also recovering from the flight and seemed to be working overtime. Not a big deal for a regular hotel but when you have to put your clothes on and walk down the hall and in my case, go downstairs because the men’s rooms on this floor are under renovation, it is a hassle! But anyway, we rested up and now we only feel about three hours ahead of things rather than 14 hours behind. I don’t really know how that works but that’s where our internal clocks are right now.
Today we decided to go check out the Melbourne zoo and Luna Park. The zoo was great! Supposedly it is quite old but it looked more kept up than a lot of US zoos we’ve been to. The animal enclosures were well thought out as far as keeping the animals happy but providing plenty of opportunities to see them. The elephant exhibit for instance was set up in multiple fields that were connected to each other by these Jurassic Park style gates that crossed the pedestrian paths. We went mainly to see the Australian animals and were happy to see kangaroos (sleepy), emus (very social and walked right up to us), wombats (also sleepy), pelicans (they were enormous), and koalas (anti social). They had a great aviary and butterfly house that both afforded lots of up close encounters with the animals and a platypusary with a lone platypus swimming gaily around his darkened tank. Strange animals those platypi. Not only do they have the duckbill, but they’re also nocturnal, venomous, electric, and they lay eggs. (see photos here on our Flickr page)
The primate exhibits were really fantastic too with lots of space and lots of stuff to climb on. One thing we thought was peculiar though was the baboon habitat, they were living in what looked like an urban playground. They seemed pretty well adjusted though as did the aerial monkeys that lived up in the trees. The walkway through that was elevated to the canopy level so you could see the monkeys cavorting around. They had a similar elevated pathway over the Lion’s den that provided a good view of the lions.
Speaking of lions, the animals at the Melbourne Zoo were quite vocal. Normally when I go to zoos I just hear children screaming everywhere but here both the elephants and the lions got my attention from significant distances so much that I actually jumped. Sitting in your living room watching a nature show is no equivalent, lemme tell ya. The monkeys also had quite a bit too say as well as did the birds.
Using vocal birds as a segue, let me say that the seagulls here are exactly like the ones in Finding Nemo, except for the ability to say “mine.” The seagulls back home are sweethearts with angelic voices compared to these flying devils. We ate lunch at the zoo café which only had outdoor seating. Even though we weren’t giving them any food we had quite a crowd around us squawking at us and some would hover uncomfortably near our faces as we ate. If they were just a bit bolder they probably would have tried to snatch the food out of our hands as we brought it to our mouths.
The next stop was Luna Park in the suburb of St. Kilda which was right on the coast. We didn’t spend any time down on the beach since it was quite cold here today but the area around was very cool. The park itself was small and a little grungy but the 1912 Scenic Railway (coaster number 209 for me and 94 for Kirsten) was worth the trip out. It was definitely built for smaller people though as we had zero leg room and maybe half of our behinds were actually on the seats. The train is also unique in that a brakeman has to ride along in the middle of the train and pull back on a big lever so that the train and passengers safely navigate the turns and the crests of the hills. It’s one of only a handful left in the world. Their other roller coaster, Metropolis, was fun and number 210 for me and that’s about it.
For dinner we went to a Mexican restaurant (strange, I know) in St. Kilda called Blue Corn but Kirsten has a finely tuned restaurant sixth sense and can pick out absurdly delicious places in the least expected of places so I went along. And it was delicious (crazy, I know)! We stopped in a bar along the way back to the train and got a beer. Just one though because the fine for public drunkenness in these parts is $13,000 and is heavily advertised via PSAs. I would rather buy a car, thank you.
Back at the hotel by eight though, we have a very early morning and long day ahead of us tomorrow.
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