1. The Russells took a ferry one hot, pretty day and visited the Taronga Zoo, across the harbor from downtown Sydney.

2. The Taronga Zoo is located in a wonderful setting: along the harbor with great views of the Harbor Bridge and other sites. As a zoo, I would have to rate it as “OK.” The best part of the day was the Seal Show and the Bird Show. But, the zoo was clean, had some great foliage, and it was a nice visit for a few hours. Here are a few of the many shots taken that day.

3. The first cute feller we met was a huge Komodo Dragon.

4. “My, what nice teeth you have!”

5. There were three or four elephants in their area; they looked healthy enough.

6. The Fisher Cat was a vicious looking animal—sort of a fuzzier Wolverine. It likes to live in the trees, we were told.

7. Huge necks, long tongues, and pretty eyes and eyelashes made the young giraffes glamorous.

8. A family of four young giraffes had a great time eating leaves given to them by their caretaker.

9. A young Koala Bear munches down on some eucalyptus leaves in a special enclosure for the Koalas.

10. A humongous Kodiak Bear looks for some apples that the feeder tossed in his cage.

11. Some of the most fun animals to watch are the little Meercats—sort of a cuter Prairie Dog that is very active.

12. On some artificial rocky mountains, these Bighorn Sheep seemed to love climbing and sunbathing.

13. The Tapir is one ugly animal. It doesn’t seem to do much, either.

14. Two Giant Tortoises were “rocketing” around their pen looking for scraps of lettuce to eat.

15. A mule in pajamas— the Zebra.

16. The Seal Show was very enjoyable. The seals are so personable and the trainers did a good job with them.

17. The slippery seal would scamper to a high perch, then play catch with a ball or dive off into the water below.

18. A real showoff, this seal liked to milk the audience for applause.

19. A simple game of catch the ball and toss it back.

20. The Bird Show was fun, too—some pretty interesting birds would fly very close to us in the stands, then return to their trainer.

21. The falcons and eagles and even the parrots that flew around were well trained and fun to watch.

22. The cute little parrot did some tricks for her trainer and the audience.

23. A majestic Golden Eagle was part of the show.

24. This Cockatoo would take money from visitors, drop it in the box, and then get a treat from his trainer.

25. It was a fun day at the Taronga Zoo—though it was hot and humid, we enjoyed walking around and seeing the animals. The ride over on a ferry, as with all of our ferry rides, was nice—and the views of downtown Sidney and the harbor full of boats spectacular.