Monarto Zoo

Monarto Zoo sits somewhat easier on my conscience.  Lots more room for the animals and plenty of space for them to sit out of public scrutiny if they wish.

First up we had a private trip to feed the giraffe.

Wow they are tall up close.  Just remember when composing a shot to look a the whole shot, not just the person – oops.

Once again, remember to look at all of the shot, otherwise it looks like you have a cannibal giraffe and an evil human not feeding carrots at all.

So lets move on to meerkats.  Cute meerkats.

Chimpanzees next.  So good to see they have lots of room to move around as well as a baby and the news that they are expecting two more babies in September – guess a return visit is on the cards.

Monarto has a bus tour through the park, where you can see the animals wandering free.  Even through the bus window good photos can be taken.

Adelaide Zoo again

While Baby Bear has to work I spent the morning catching up on ANZ Netball and the afternoon back at the zoo.

This is the first time I’ve seen the hippo out of the water 🙂

My, what big teeth they have, especially for eating grass.

Next door are the otters, they had just been fed so lots of chances for up close shots.

The orangutang were up in their tower today, surveying far and wide.

The zoo is not all about the animals.  There is a wide variety of plants and flowers to see also.  While waiting for the orang-utans to climb out of their tower I had a play with some ‘artistic’ shots.

The bird aviaries are amazing.

This wombat was minding his own business, when child was trying to pat him……. camera at the ready for the carnage but Mum eventually saw the sign “we bite”

This is the life, enjoying the sunshine.

While flicking through the many photos it wasn’t until I saw this on my desktop that I realised this baboon was looking straight down the lens.

Art Hotel

The artwork was definitely telling me to get some sleep

Playing Tourist

The Zoo.  Something that I struggle with.  Animals in captivity vs animal extinction.  However, for the chance to play with my largest zoom lens without a tripod and try to get some up close shots of the animals I put my struggle aside.

As we slowly trudged back to the car, a quick rest stop had me looking up.  I do love autumn colours.

In the evening we met up with some local friends for dinner.  The venue has to be seen to be believed/understood. Called the Bombay Bicycle Club the decor is mind boggling.  The most impressive was in the toilets, but I just couldn’t bring myself to digout the camera in the toilet, however, two indoor waterfalls should be enough to pique your curiosity.  The food was good, the serves generous but beware of minimum charges on the weekend.

Roseworthy

Baby Bear is studying Animal Science, the campus is around an hour drive from her current home.  Hopefully, next semester she will live on campus.  There is a lot of history to be explored dating back to the 1800’s.

Mummy Hugs

My Baby Bear is interstate at University.  A number of factors meant that my Baby Bear needed a hug.  Fortunately a quick trip to visit was able to be arranged.

Who can resist such a big smile?