Queens Birthday Weekend

Sydney's Vivid Festival.

Last week it was the Queen's Birthday long weekend - a great day to be part of the Commonwealth for 3 days! Now, I'm no Royalist, nor do I hate the old biddy (Sweaty Betty as I lovingly call her), I just like having an extra sleep in! The Queens Birthday holiday was first celebrated in Australia way back in 1788, and has been done every year much to everyone's delight, but on different dates every year, but always for a long weekend!

The Vivid lights on the Opera House.

Loads of things are happening in the city for this weekend, as it is also the Sydney Vivid Festival. Having been living overseas for the past decade (actually its been 2 years home in the past 10...), I had never heard of this festival before. I headed down to see what it was all about! It is basically a light and music festival all round the city - from lasers shows on the CBD's glass towers, to neon lights on the Bridge and a cool light show on the Opera House. It was very cool - and everyone and their dogs were there too, mobile phones (and bloody iPads) in the air, instagramming and facebooking away.

The Bridge from The Rocks.

The coolest part of the festival, apart from the great food and music, had to be the Opera House. During the day, this unique building glows in the sunshine, displaying it's million white tiles (1,056,006 to be exact!) in true Aussie pride. During the Vivid, it becomes a blank canvas for the creative people of the city to do what they will with it! From splattering paint to butterflies and moving bubbles, the Opera House steals the show once again. All over the city as well, there were installations of various types - all a play on light and music. The time I went down to see these, it was a Saturday night and far to busy to get close.

Market stalls at the Vivid.

Well, that was Saturday, and so there was still Sunday and Monday to be enjoyed. I decided to head to Taronga Zoo for the Monday, as it's been years since I'd been there. The Zoo, is right on the Harbour in the suburb of Mosman, and has some of the best views of the city. It's not cheap to visit (but is any zoo?), included in the price of your ticket is a ferry trip across the harbour and a cable car ride to the top the zoo. The Zoo was opened in 1916, and has changed so much over the years, and still is. You can still see some of the original buildings, but where concrete and steel enclosures once stood, new, open and natural enclosures now hold the animals.

A Sulphur Crested Cockatoo - the iconic Australia bird.

View of the city from the ferry.

To you too budy!

The ferry trip is definitely a highlight of the zoo trip. It is a great way to see the city and the harbour from a completely different angle, one that can only be seen from the water. From Circular Quay you slowly chuck past The Opera House, and get a wonderful view from the deck - and this is truly when you fully realise the sheer size of the building. The original design on the building was a quick sketch by the Danish architect Jørn Utzon in 1955, picked from 233 entries from 32 different countries. Construction was started in 1958, and finally ended in 1973, costing 14 times the original estimation of $7m and 10 years later than expected. There were scandals, union strikes, elections and even the resignation of the designer, but I think it was worth it. Utzon recieved the Pritzker Prize in 2004 for his work on the Opera House, and it was also made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007.

The city from Taronga.

Jumped off the ferry, and got into the Gondola lift that takes you right to the top of the zoo, making it easy to walk down at the end of the day. The lift gives you a great birds-eye view of some of the animals too! The zoo is on a big hill, so it's best to start from the top, as walking around the zoo all day is hard enough without having to slog it out to reach the top for an animal feeding. Animals, animals and more animals - really spoilt for choice here. I tried to see them in order of a general route, and also to line up the keeper shows and feedings. First stop was the reptile house - as good a place to start as any! From huge snakes like the Boa Constrictor to the even bigger Anaconda, to tiny little tree frogs and geckos. My favourite reptile would defiantly have to be the Chameleon. When I was in Barcelona, I was that close to buying one on the Ramblas... but next time I'm there, he's mine! I mean, what other animal changes colour, has 2 toes and completely independent eyes??!! Coolest animal ever! And, I think they would be cheap to keep as well - eat a few bugs here and there - and no expensive vet fees - how can you go wrong with a Chameleon?

The coolest animal ever?

You looking at me?

We're just good friends, nothing more!

Heading downhill to the African part, towards the Giraffes Gorillas and other G animals. The Giraffes at Taronga zoo have the best real estate in town - a wonderful panoramic view of Sydney. Not like they need to be at the top of the hill with those necks of theirs! Elegant, graceful and calm - all words you can use to describe a giraffe... but did you know they have a purple tongue? A few more interesting facts about these bizarre but cool looking animals. A female giraffe gestates for up to 15 months, and when the baby does drop, it literally drops, snapping the umbilical cord in the process, and then stands up at a height of 6ft (180cms) tall - ouch! Ok, we all know what 'necking' is right? Yup, that's downing your beer in one go... well for male giraffes, this is not the case. First of all because they don't drink beer (that I know of), and second their neck is too long, and they can't reach it with their hands (feet). Seriously though, giraffe 'necking' is actually when 2 males swing their huge necks at each other in combat, not usually killing each other, but sometimes resulting in injuries. Now here is the most interesting thing - after combat, the males will caress each other and rub necks ("sorry mate, I really do love you..." "I know mate, me too!"), but this can lead to mounting and climax between the guys - apparently 94% of observed couplings in one study took place between 2 males...

Life is tough!!

You scream once more kid, and you're dinner!

The big cats were next, and they did not disappoint in the least! The weather wasn't fantastic - a little overcast and drizzly - so you would expect cats to be sleeping. Well, this was not the case! As I walked into the viewing area, a huge (I mean huge!!) lioness was at the glass and staring everyone down! There were more than a few little kids who started crying and their parents had to take them away. They will never look at a cat the same way again, and I don't think they will be pulling their tails either. I couldn't see the male lion, but the 2 girls were just fine - big, furry and they were just so gorgeous I wanted to take them home and cuddle them on the sofa all day - even if I did get my head bitten off at dinner time! The tigers were slightly less active, just lazing around, not looking too happy about the weather. Although I didn't expect a song and dance out of them, they didn't even stand up - just laying about yawing... typical cats!

Yup, a zebra and penquin...

This be my kingdom!

Although we missed the chimpanzees and the orangutangs, we did manage to catch a quick glimpse of the gorillas out and about. At first, I could only see the two females, who were sitting out of the rain. Then, just as I turned around to leave, the big silverback came charging out to assert his dominance. Huge forearms on display, he stood there, fists on the ground, chest out, staring down at his human cousins. An awesome sight! Gorillas, I find, to be the most human, and the most off-putting. I mean this in a good way - Gorillas are our closest relative (apart from the chimp), sharing 95-98% of our DNA, and this makes their movements, behaviour and just the way the sit there and look at you quite unnervingly human. One gorilla event learnt sign language - a sign of how intelligent they are. I wish of mine is to see these incredible animals in the wild, which I'm sure is high on many other people's list too.

I could get it if I wanted to!

Have the kids gone yet??

There are many other things I could talk about regarding Taronga Zoo. I still think it is one of the best zoos in the world. Although many people have differing opinions on zoos, it's cruel on the animals for example, I do honestly that zoos play a vital part in education and preservation. It is true that we wouldn't need zoos if the human race were more responsible, but unfortunately that is not the case. Until that time, we have to support our zoos, protect out environment, and grow up and little so something is left. I will leave it at that, as it's getting far too serious for this blog. If you haven't been here yet, you should. Great day out for everyone!