Jimmy and Violet's Trip to the Melbourne Zoo

The first thing I wanted to see was the meerkats but as we arrived there was a loud speaker announcement that the tigers were going to be fed in 10 minutes so we hurried over that way first. They had 1 big tiger and 4  “babies” that were actually pretty much fully grown.

One of the many “Funniest Home Videos” moments was when one of the tigers tried to climb a tree to get some meat and unlike the graceful big cat I was expecting, it lost it’s footing and fell in a very ungraceful manner XD

They were very interesting to watch feeding and such shiny coats! I wasn’t expecting them to be so vocal either but clearly dinner conversation with family has that many arguments whether you’re a cat or a person hahaha!

Next we went to visit the meerkats which is what I had been looking forward to for weeks! You can actually book in to feed the meerkats for $30 but we didn’t get there in time so I didn’t do it. Next time I totally want to though!!

Again we were lucky enough to arrive just in time for the “meet the keeper” session where you could talk to the keeper and ask him questions. The most popular question was “Can I keep one as a pet?” to which he answered “You can keep anything as a pet but whether it’s a good idea or not is another thing entirely!” XD

They were so much smaller that I had imagined, on TV they look like they are maybe knee high when they’re standing up but in reality they are the size of a small kitten… which makes them even cuter!

Apparently they aren’t very clever at all and even though they’ve had the same keeper for 3 years they can’t recognise or remember people, they only know the jangling of the keys means feeding time. This point was illustrated by the fact that he was feeding them worms from a bottle and he put it down for a second and a meerkat promptly got it’s face stuck in the top trying to get the worms -_-‘ Then it couldn’t get it out and fell off the log!! Funniest part of the whole day 😀

Meerkats. Super cute but not the brightest crayon in the box.

They were very inquisitive though and because they’ve been in captivity for so long they were very friendly. Here I am being photobombed by a meerkat, how embarrassing hahaha!

When they stand up like that I always want to squish their tummies XD It’s probably for the best we missed out on going into the enclosure haha.

They had a separate enclosure for one girl meerkat who had been flown in from Sydney Zoo for a breeding program (all of the other ones were related so no breeding for them!) but apparently she was so mean and antisocial that whenever they put her in the same cage she attacked and killed the others *_* I think she was probably lonely, the keeper said that they don’t do very well without their families and if I had my own clan and someone yanked me out of it and stuck me in a completely new one I would probably be antisocial too.

Next was the Red Pandas but they wouldn’t turn around so this was the best photo I got.

We stopped off at the gift shop and got souvenirs ^_^ I wanted to take home a whole pack of these meerkats to set up around the house XD

But I settled for one (now named Thundercat for lack of anything better) and snow leopard (or white tiger?) ears. A day at the zoo just isn’t complete without silly ears!

There was a big carousel set up in one of the parks too which looked pretty cool, though every time we walked past it was playing  songs that seemed hilariously inappropriate for a children’s ride. I can’t even remember what any of them were now but at the time they were very funny… ugh great story grandma right? >_<

There was a beautiful Japanese garden which was very peaceful other than the 60 billion children running around it too.

The whole place was super clean and well manicured. It would be a really nice place for a picnic.

Of course as the lake was full of swans this photo was inevitable. OMG SMALLEST SWAN IN THE WORLD!

The otter enclosure was always really busy so it was hard to get good photos but they were very cute making little squeaky noises!

The orangutans had just opened their Christmas presents so there was wrapping paper everywhere. They didn’t seem overly interested, mostly just sleepy.

There were heaps and heaps of different monkeys, I’ve always found them to be a little creepy though so I didn’t take many photos.

I liked these ones, mostly because they looked so grumpy at being awake. That’s what I look like first thing in the morning XD

After that we headed to the butterfly enclosure which was spectacular!

There were so many butterflies it was hard to move without running into them.

They were very friendly too and landed pretty much everywhere. James said at one point there were a bunch of them fighting over space on my bow, must be some tasty ribbon!

I was disappointed not to see any Ulysses because they are my favorites but these green ones were amazing to look at anyway.

Outside they had the caterpillars and also rows upon rows of cocoons. This didn’t come out well in the photo but these blue ones looked like someone had deco’d them, they had rows of what looked like glittery jewels along the tops!

Enjoy this photo of James being mature while I try to remember what came next XD

Right elephants! There were 2 baby elephants which everyone was going crazy over. I didn’t see the fuss so we didn’t get many photos.

After all of that walking it was time for a lunch break! While some of the food places looked really nice the one closest to us ended up being not so yummy. The chips were luke warm and the drink tasted like sea water *_* Yuck! Next time I’m going to shell out for the nice restaurant.

This is me shaking my fist at some pelicans because they creep me out XD

We went to see the fairy penguins but because it’s mating season they were all huddled under a boat, this was the only photo I managed to get:

The sea area of the Zoo looked like an old pier with sand everywhere.

Inside there were playful seals and all kinds of fish!

The seahorses were so pretty~

Everything inside was under a black light so it was kind of difficult to look at some of the animals but it did make for cool photos.

Outside there was a peacock running around looking pretty and I took so many photos!

When I was a kid we lived in a place that had peacocks nearby and they used to let them roam around the streets, they would come and sit on my front porch and leave feathers behind, it was awesome!

It was more interested in impressing the tree than us >_<

If you’re going to try and see everything, I totally suggest wearing comfortable shoes! I kept managing to get sand in mine so I was very ladylike having to stop and empty it all out!

Onwards to the big animals! We managed to see feeding time for the giraffes too which was pretty cool. While the keeper put the food out, the giraffes were pacing around in their enclosure and drooling. There was a lot more drool in general at the zoo than I expected XD

Normally the giraffes and zebras live together but they have to be separated for feeding.

The zebras were all lined up in a very orderly fashion for their food!

James doing his best photographer/explorer pose ^_^

The lemurs had a big playground enclosure with heaps of toys but they were all sleepy too. It was a very sleepy kind of day, I kind of wanted a nap at this point too!

There were ducks wandering around all over the place.

We saw this family of them a couple of times too wandering around for food.

Birds were sleepy too!

Next was the reptile enclosure which James was very excited about. Again it was all black lights ^_^

This snake sleeps like this so it can be a gigantic spring when something to eat comes by *_* Sounds like my worst nightmare.

I think this lizard was giving a big friendly wave and saying “Heeeeeeeeeeey!” XD

Pink snake!

There were lots of very bright lizards ^_^

This frog was my favorite because it was such a pretty colour!

Sexual harassment lizard slaps this turtle on the butt 😉

The last area we went to before my feet gave out was the big cat area! This one was a little crazy, it kept pacing in this one area and looking out the cage at a wall *_*

I can’t remember the name of this cat but it had such pretty ears, it looked really sarcastic like it was the cat in the corner which made fun of the other cats XD

The last one we saw was the snow leopard 😀 There were 3 cages of them but we could only see one, the others were hiding! Again it was nap time XD

Doing my best or possibly worst snow leopard impression XD

So pretty though, I’m glad we got to see one! It’s tail was so fluffy.

On the way home I picked a couple of the purple daisies that were around the park so I could press them for another souvenir 😀

And here are the rest of the photos!

And that’s it! Afterwards we went home and got some bubble tea and James made me a massive yummy dinner 😀 Best day ever!

So those of you in Melbourne, have you been to the zoo? I know I missed out on lots, which should I see next time? Which other Zoos are good to visit here?