Taronga Zoo

After a great visit with Josh, Amanda, and the kids, it was time to start the LONG trip home. I'm so thankful for their hospitality and the opportunity to share even just a little bit of their Australian adventure. My first flight was 4 hours overnight from Perth to Sydney followed by an 8 hour layover. Since I didn't see too much Aussie wildlife actually in the wild, I spent the morning at the Taronga Zoo. It is a short ferry ride from Sydney CBD and overlooks the city skyline. 

Since I only had a few hours left in Sydney, I focused my zoo time on the "Australian Walkabout". My first stop was to see the platypus. The sign said they were shy and often hide, but this little guy got right in front of me and waved. (I think he was just scratching, but he was definitely not shy.)

Clock-wise from top left: echidna, Aussie possum, wombat, and wallaby

Koalas! It was not koala feeding time while I was there, so this is as close as I got. I heard they smell bad anyway. :)

I didn't spend too much time looking at the "regular" zoo animals, but the giraffes have the best view of the skyline so I paid them a visit. 

After that, I made one last trek by the harbor and bid Australia farewell! The flight home was rough. I couldn't sleep on the PER-SYD leg, so I had already been awake about 30 hours when I boarded the SYD-DFW plane. Most normal people would have crashed on the nearly 16 hour flight, but I was not so lucky. I think I slept about 2 1/2! One more quick flight from DFW-LIT wrapped up my trip to the other side of the globe where I was picked up by my favorite people on the planet.